Characteristics of a high-current transient glow discharge in dry air

Abstract

The transition of a high-current glow to an arc and the energy dissipation during the glow phase have been investigated in dry air by static breakdown. The measurements have been made for uniform-field gaps up to 2 cm at gas pressures of 1-20 Torr. A low-inductance capacitor of 1.89 µF and a discharge circuit with a coaxial system were used to produce a transient glow discharge with a current in excess of 400 A. The experimental results showed that the high-current glow discharge occurred at a cathode current density of 3.2 A cm-2, which is almost two orders larger than the value deduced from the formula for Cu-air normal glow; jn = 240×10-6p2, where jn and p are the current density and gas pressure, respectively. The transition from the glow to an arc starts to develop in the discharge region near the cathode. The energies dissipated in the discharge or in the cathode fall region during the glow phase depend on the gas pressure and/or the electrode separation. However, the dissipated energy density in the cathode fall region during the glow phase is independent of the gas pressure and the electrode separation, and is approximately 0.035 J cm-3 in the present experiment.

Influence of Streamer-to-Glow Transition on NO Removal by Inductive Energy Storage Pulse Generator

“…shows the time dependence of the discharge current, the voltage between the electrodes, and the energy consumed for different circuit conditions. The energy consumed was calculated based on a multiplied value of the discharge current and the voltage (Takaki et al, 2000). The peak voltages between the electrodes were 19, 25, 27 kV for conditions 1, 2, and 3, respectively.…”

Optical and Electrical Diagnostics of a High-Frequency Glow–Arc Discharge and Its Application to the Synthesis of Carbon Nanofibers

“…The dynamic plasma electron density in the arc regime was calculated by substituting the electrical database and the temperature value obtained by the OES analysis in (5). The result is presented in Fig.…”

“…Some of these reports describe the temporal variations of voltage and current during this process and their effects on the electrode sublimation [1]- [5]. The majority of these works have been carried out using a dc power supply with consequent high-power consumption (a few kilowatts).…”

“…This assertion has been corroborated by some authors. Takaki et al [5] shows that the gap length is a dominant factor affecting not only the electrical breakdown voltage but also the melting spot formed at the anode surface by microarcs. Hirata et al [6] found that the energies dissipated in the discharge or in the cathode fall region during the glow phase depends on the gas pressure and/or the electrode gap.…”

Production of an Atmospheric‐Pressure Glow Discharge Using an Inductive Energy Storage Pulsed Power Generator

“…This requires a high density of power deposition into a weakly ionizing plasma for a high pressure gas medium because of the short mean free path of electrons. In general, the high‐density power deposition induces a thermal instability, which causes a change in discharge mode from a spatially uniform glow to an arc 28–30. Much of the effort to generate stable glow discharges at atmospheric pressure has focused on preventing the onset of instabilities, particularly in the region close to the cathode, because of the high electric field and, consequently, the high power deposition compared to that in the positive column of the discharge 28…”