Characteristics of long-gap AC streamer discharges under low pressure conditions

The generation and propagation of a streamer is a significant physical process of air gap discharge. Research on the mechanism of streamers under low-pressure conditions is helpful for understanding the process of long-gap discharge in a high-altitude area. This paper describes laboratory investigations of streamer discharge under alternating current（AC） voltage in a low pressure test platform for a 60 cm rod–plane gap at 30 kPa, and analyzes the characteristics of streamer generation and propagation. The results show that the partial streamer and breakdown streamer all occur in the positive half-cycle of AC voltage near the peak voltage at 30 kPa. The partial streamer could cause the distortion of current and voltage waveform, and it appears as the branching characteristic at the initial stage. With the extension of the streamer, the branching and tortuosity phenomena become gradually obvious, but the branching is suppressed when the streamer crosses the gap. The low-pressure condition has little influence on the tortuosity length and the tortuosity number of the streamer, but affect the diameter of streamer obviously.

Numerical Study on Comparison of Negative and Positive Surface Discharge in c-C_(4)F_(8)/CF_(3)I/CO_(2) Gas Mixture

The dynamics of negative surface discharges in c-C_(4)F_(8)/CF_(3)I/CO_(2) gas mixture is investigated here with a 2D fuid model.The distributions of ion concentration,electric field strength and photon flux during the propagation of the streamer are obtained by solving the drift-diffusion equations of particles and Poisson's equation,and the photon flux variation function during the propagation is also fitted.It is found that the streamer branches occur when the streamer transitions from the upper surface of the insulator to the side surface,and then when the streamer approaches the plane electrode,the photon flux will increase significantly.On this basis,the positive and negative surface discharge models are compared in terms of streamer characteristics,particle characteristics and streamer branches.It is found that the streamer has a higher electron concentration and electric field in the positive model.The streamer develops“floating”in the positive surface discharge,while it is close to the surface of the insulator in the negative model.In addition,the negative streamer branch has a wider width and develops further.

Optical Observation of Streamer Branches in a 1 m Rod-Plate Air Gap under Positive Impulse Voltages

In this study,based on two CMOS cameras,an orthogonal optical observation platform has been set up for positive streamer branches under 1 m rod-plate air gap.The Monopodia branch and the Dichotomous branch have been proposed for steamer branch classification.The branch length,the branch angle and the optical diameter are statistical obtained and compared for the two branch types under different impulse voltages.The empirical function between the branch length Ls and the inception voltage Ui of the Monopodia branch has been obtained.The distributions of the branch angle and the axial angle of the two types have been given,and the mean optical diameters have been provided.Based on the comparisons,the formation mechanism of the two branch types has been proposed.This experimental result can provide the basic data to the numerical calculation of positive long air gap discharge.