Patent ID: 7202435

Claim:
A method for cooling exhaust gases in a circuit-breaker, the circuit-breaker having at least two power contact pieces, and at least one arcing chamber, that is filled with an isolating gas, extends along a longitudinal axis, and contains an arc area, the method comprising: heating the isolating gas in the arc area in which an arc burns between the at least two power contact pieces during a disconnection process, wherein at least one of the at least two power contact pieces is configured as a tubular hollow contact; and dissipating hot gas from the arc area into an exhaust volume, through at least one intermediate volume between the hollow contact and the exhaust volume, the hot gas passing through at least one opening in a wall of the hollow contact into the at least one intermediate volume that is enclosed by a wall, such that a gas jet is produced that impacts on the wall, the impact resulting in swirling gas which induces heat transfer to the wall, thus reducing a volume of the swirling gas, wherein a pressure in the intermediate volume exceeds a pressure in an end part of the hollow contact.