Electrical Properties Associated with Discharge Developments in Water Subjected to Impulse Voltages

Abstract

-This paper describes electrical and optical characteristics of discharge developments in water under inhomogeneous fields caused by impulse voltages. Predischarge current and discharge light images were observed for different water resistivities and applied voltages between the hemispherical water tank and the needle electrode. The electrical parameters characterizing discharge developments are analyzed based on the discharge light images and voltage-current (V-I) curves, and electrical resistances derived by voltage and current waveforms. As a result, when the streamer corona is initiated at the tip of the needle electrode, the transient resistance suddenly drops and V-I curves form a 'loop'. The length of streamer propagation is increased with increasing peak value of the applied voltage, and the streamer corona extension is enlarged with increasing water resistivity. The electrical resistances before streamer corona initiation are rarely changed by different applied voltages. On the other hand, the electrical resistances after streamer corona initiation are found to be inversely proportional to the peak value of the applied voltage, and the decreasing rates for higher water resistivities are much higher than those for lower water resistivities. The time to streamer corona initiation and the time to the second current peak become shorter as the voltage increases. Finally, the calculated resistances after streamer corona initiation are almost the same trace of measured resistances, but they are smaller than the measured values.

Hydrodynamic Modeling for Discharge Analysis in a Dielectric Medium with the Finite Element Method under Lightning Impulse

“…2. Tip-sphere electrodes expressed in IEC standard #60897 [8]. The positive streamer was tested with the tip radius of 40 µm.…”