Laser-induced breakdown characteristics of nonuniform dc coronadischarge fields

Laser-induced breakdown of nonuniform field gaps in atmospheric air was caused by an XeCl excimer laser. This laser beam was focused on the center of a rod-to-plane, needle-to-plane or hemisphere-to-plane gap with dc voltage. The laser energy dependency of breakdown voltage was investigated for positive and negative applied voltages and gap lengths of 15 to 25 mm. It was found that the positive breakdown voltage was higher than the negative one in the hemisphere-to-plane gaps or the rod-to-plane gaps with low voltages, where there is little or no space charge. However, the effect of polarity is reversed in the rod-to-plane gaps with large spacings and the needle-to-plane gaps. On the basis of the dependence of the discharge mode on this polarity effect, it can be seen that it was caused by the difference in development of positive and negative streamers in the corona discharge     

Comparisons of direct-current breakdown characteristics in dry air and SF6 gaps using a parallel-plane arrangement with variable height protrusion

Breakdown voltages in uniform and quasi-uniform field gaps are sensitive to the presence of small protrusion on the electrode surface in SF₆ at high pressures. The aim of the present work is to study direct breakdown and corona stabilized breakdown for the transitive region from uniform to nonuniform gap in dry air and SF₆ at low pressures up to a critical pressure when direct breakdown takes place by a leader discharge crossing the gap in SF₆. In a parallel-plane gap with a variable-height protrusion subjected to the dc voltage, corona onset voltage is remarkably controlled by the protrusion height. The present electrode arrangement has the advantage of directly measuring the minimum critical guiding field strength for the propagation of a streamer discharge at corona onset. The experimental observations have been explained qualitatively on the basis of a streamer model and precise electric field calculations of gap.     

Factors affecting corona on twin-point gaps under dc and ac HV

The factors affecting corona formation on twin-point/plane gaps are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. In the theoretical analysis, an electrostatic field computation program based on the charge simulation method was used to get the electric field profile on the plate for different gap lengths and interspacings between the two points. Also, the effect of voltage level, air pressure and gap length on the number of axial streamers occurring across the critical field line was introduced for a constant time duration. The variation of the integral of the ionization coefficient with the axial length from the point was studied. Finally, a study of the effect of air pressure and gap length on both the corona inception voltage and critical length was presented. Corona formation in single and twin-point/plane gaps also was investigated experimentally under both high direct and alternating voltages. There are many factors affecting such corona formation. The investigated factors were the interspacing between the two points, gap length between the point and the plane, ambient temperature, relative humidity, polarity or frequency of the applied voltage, and electrode material. In order to study and explain such phenomena, a photographic investigation together with a simultaneous measurement of both the applied voltage and the corona current were introduced. Curve fitting of the dc corona current vs. gap length and voltage for both single and twin-point/plane gaps gave the conventional relationship, but in case of twin point the power of the gap length varies between 1.2 and 1.3     

Effect of Discharge Electrode Parameters on the Flow Velocity Profile of the Wire?rod Type Electrohydrodynamic Gas Pump Exit

Experimental investigation has been conducted to study the effects of corona wire diameter, pipe length, and corona polarity on outlet flow velocity distribution profile of a wire-rod type electrohydrodynamic (EHD) gas pump. Upon applying negative or positive dc high voltage between a wire electrode (outer diameter (o.d.) 60 μm, 200 μm, or 300 μm) and a rod electrode (o.d. 3 mm) in atmospheric air, corona discharge occurs and EHD gas flow is generated in the direction from the wire electrode to the rod electrode through a cylindrical pipe (inner diameter (i.d.) 20 mm). For both polarities, the discharge current and average flow velocity increase monotonically on increasing the applied voltage before the onset of spark discharge. Using wire electrodes with a smaller diameter, stable corona discharge between corona onset and spark onset is generated in a wider voltage range, and the discharge current becomes larger, resulting in a higher flow velocity. The maximum average flow velocity of 2.0 m/s, corresponding to a flow rate of 38 l/min, was achieved with a wire of diameter 60 μm by applying a voltage of ?16 kV.     

空间电荷对SF_6气体正雷电冲击击穿的作用

利用两种实验方法对比测试了预注入单极性空间电荷时,SF_6气体极不均匀场间隙正雷电冲击击穿特性。分析表明;直流叠加冲击电压法不适用于观察空间电荷的作用,而切换直流/冲击电压法能有效地反映空间电荷对冲击击穿的作用。     

Computation methods for one-dimensional bipolar charge injection

Kerr electrooptic field-mapping measurements have shown strong space charge effects in high-voltage stressed dielectrics, where the magnitude and sign of injected charge depends on electrode material. With appropriate choice of electrode material combinations and voltage polarity is possible to have uncharged, unipolar positively or negatively charged, or bipolar charged dielectrics. The bipolar homocharge case lowers the electric field at both electrodes due to space-charge shielding, and thus allows a higher voltage without breakdown. Using charge-transport analysis the authors consider the general case of charge injection from both electrodes and solve time and space dependences of the electric field and charge distributions and the time dependences of the terminal voltage and current. This analysis extends earlier work by including nonequilibrium charge dissociation and recombination so that the effective ohmic conductivity is not constant but varies with time and position due to local net charge density. Specific cases discussed are the open-circuit voltage decay of an initially charged capacitor, the charging and discharging by a Marx generator, and alternating voltage excitations     

多针电极结构双极电晕放电伏安特性

为提高电晕放电的能量密度和放电稳定性,提出了针阵列电极结构的双极电晕放电方式并研究了多针电极结构双极电晕放电的伏安特性。实验得出放电电流I随针尖半径a和电极间距d的增大而减小,随相邻针尖间距s的增大而增大,但当s≥40 mm时,相邻针尖的相互作用已很小,I几乎不变;d对火花击穿电压的影响较大,a对其的影响较小。由于电极结构的对称性,高压电极的极性对放电无明显的影响,正负电晕放电的伏安曲线和火花击穿电压均较为接近。将多针电极双极电晕放电电流I等效成电极间距为d/2的多针对板正、负电晕放电电流I1和I2相加,分析了I>I1+I2的原因,并推知其电离区内电子密度也有相应规律。     

Control of corona characteristics with third electrode and biasvoltage

A novel corona control system consisting of a point-to-plate air gap with a cylindrical third electrode has been proposed. Negative and positive coronas from a point-to-plate air gap with a cylindrical third electrode set up close to the corona point of the needle have been investigated with emphasis on the role of the cylindrical third electrode, the bias voltage amplitude and polarity. It was found that the point-to-plate air gap with the cylindrical third electrode had a negative resistance characteristic on its I-V characteristic for negative polarity discharge, which is very different from the same electrode system without the third electrode. Discharge characteristics of the needle point, such as the corona onset voltage and the corona activity, could be controlled by adjusting the field intensity of the corona point by changing the corona point height from the third electrode and varying the bias voltage amplitude and polarity of the third electrode     

The effect of the electrode gap on breakdown in liquid dielectrics

It is a well known fact that the breakdown voltage of an insulating liquid increases nonlinearly with increasing electrode gap. Under nonuniform field dc conditions two breakdown voltages are determined depending on the electrode polarity. Using point-plane geometries, with gaps of 5 mm or larger, one finds that typical transformer oils have higher breakdown voltages when the point is negative than when it is positive. Recently, perfluorinated polyethers have been found to produce opposite results when using average gap sizes of 5 to 10 mm. To elucidate this situation a study of the effect of gap size on breakdown voltage has been undertaken. The results show that for the polyethers at larger gaps the sequence is reversed. These observations are explained in terms of the respective streamer developments in these liquids and the relative stability of their negative ions. In the case of the conventional hydrocarbon type oils, the positive streamer usually grows slightly faster than the negative one, but the streamer inception voltages of both are rather similar. In the case of perfluorinated polyethers the positive streamers move at least 10× faster than the negative ones, but they require much higher inception voltages than negative ones. At gaps ≳12 mm and the associated higher applied voltages this breakdown at negative polarity occurs at higher voltages than at the positive one. The negative ions of the perfluoro compounds are much more stable than those of conventional hydrocarbons. The discharge of the negatively charged perfluoro ions requires much higher fields than do those of conventional hydrocarbons. The implications of these observations are discussed in some detail     

Corona Inception and Breakdown in Nonuniform Field with Insulating Support in Air

Corona inception and breakdown was investigated in air for point-to-plane gaps with cylindrical spacers under 60-Hz ac voltages. The effect of a series gap, between the high-voltage point electrode and the spacer, on corona inception and breakdown voltages was also studied. For epoxy spacers the corona inception voltage decreased but the breakdown voltage increased, compared to an equivalent point-to-plane air gap without a spacer. The corona inception voltage characteristic was found to exhibit a maximum at a certain value of the series air gap. The results are interpreted in terms of recently reported observations of spacer surface charging in air and in other insulating gases and insulating barriers.     

Switching impulse strength of air insulation: leader inceptioncriterion

The author introduces a general criterion for leader inception of phase-to-ground air insulation under positive critical switching impulses. This criterion established the correspondence between continuous leader initiation in the vicinity of the highly stressed electrode and conditions prevailing later at the instant of the final jump. The criterion is applied to several complex electrode configurations, including rod-rod, conductor-rod, and conductor-structure gaps, where both analytic and digital techniques are used to compute the leader inception voltage, 50% breakdown voltage, and gap factor. The theory has been systematically tested against available experimental results with quite satisfactory agreement     

静态模拟气固两相体起晕和击穿的实验研究

研究了非均匀电场中的静态模拟气固两相体放电的击穿、起晕特性及固相物介电常数、占空比、放电间隙、电压极性和种类对击穿电压与起晕电压的影响。结果表明:实验范围内,正极性大占空比时,随放电间隙的增加,两相体的起晕电压逐渐低于空气的起晕电压。正极性和交流电压下,两相体的击穿电压比空气高。     

低气压棒-板间隙操作冲击放电特性及电压校正

为了研究高海拔地区空气间隙的操作冲击特性,在大型人工气候室内对0.25～2m的棒-板间隙的操作冲击50%放电电压与气压p、间隙距离d的关系进行了系统的实验研究。结果表明:操作冲击50%放电电压U50随着气压p的下降呈幂指数关系下降,间隙长度不同,气压影响指数n不同;通过分析得到了不同间隙长度下的U50气压校正公式;U50与不同间隙距离d之间的关系与电压极性有关:正极性时U50与间隙距离d的线性关系较好,负极性时有明显的饱和性,且U50的气压影响特征指数n与电压极性有关。试验结果显示操作冲击50%放电击穿时间与电压极性和间隙距离有关。     

交直流复合电压下棒-板电极起晕电压实验分析

为了获得复合电压作用下电极的起晕特性,在室内搭建了复合电压下无锈棒-板电极起晕特性实验平台,采用串联的复合加压方式,即一个电极上施加直流电压,另一个电极上施加交流电压,以紫外光子计数的突变作为电晕起始判据,获得了直流和交流复合电压下的电极起晕特性。同时对比了不同直流电压极性、电极加压方式和不同复合电压升压方式下电极起晕电压的特点,探究复合电压下棒电极半径和棒板间隙对电极起晕电压的影响。实验结果表明:在相同的大气条件及电极布置下,由于空间电荷影响,棒电极正直流、板电极交流加压方式下的起晕电压比棒电极交流、板电极正直流加压方式下的起晕电压高;在棒-板气隙间距0~5cm范围内,定直变交复合升压方式下,交直流分量有效值叠加后的起晕电压随着直流分量的增加而升高,定交变直方式下,该值随着交流分量的增加而下降,且交直流分量间互为线性关系。本文的研究成果可以为进一步研究复合电压作用下电极的电晕机理及起晕电压的准确预测奠定坚实基础。     

DC corona discharge of a metal filament particle withinparallel-plate electrodes

For the prevention of a particle-initiated breakdown within gas-insulated switchgear, fundamental characteristics of particle motion were investigated. It was found that the particle motion depends not only on Coulombic force, but on the corona discharge from the tip of a particle. Thus, the corona current from a fixed particle on the lower electrode was measured, for either positive or negative corona case. The measured current showed different characteristics of current depending on the polarity. The corona onset voltage of negative corona is somewhat lower than positive, but the breakdown voltage of negative corona is much higher. Although the current characteristics follow the square law, the applicable region of this law for positive corona is very small. Positive corona depends on the tip configuration contrary to negative corona     

Gaseous electrical discharge characteristics in air and nitrogen at cryogenic temperature

In designing superconducting electrical power apparatus, the knowledge of cryogenic gas and liquid insulation characteristics is essential. The authors have studied the discharge characteristics of relatively long-gap configurations in air and nitrogen at a cryogenic temperature. A sphere-to-sphere electrode with a gap length of 20 to 150 mm is used for measurements in uniform electric field. The breakdown voltage characteristics basically obey Paschen's law at cryogenic temperature for 50 Hz, AC, DC and lightning impulse voltage applications. A rod-to-plane electrode with a gap length of 20 to 330 mm is used for measurements in nonuniform electric field. In air at cryogenic temperature and nitrogen gas at both room and cryogenic temperature, streamer-like corona discharge appears near the tip of the rod electrode before the breakdown, and the breakdown voltage increases linearly with gap length. In air at room temperature thin film-like corona discharge, however, appears near the tip of the rod electrode before breakdown, and the breakdown voltage becomes higher than the other case. In order to examine the variation of corona discharge characteristics, some additional experiments are conducted. As a result, it becomes clear that thin film-like glow corona discharge appears when electronegative gas is contained and sufficient electrons are supplied from the cathode.     

Streamer current in a three-electrode system

A study has been conducted on positive streamer discharges in air at atmospheric conditions for a three-electrode system, The electrode system consisted of two parallel planes (one grounded and one supplied with a negative dc voltage) and a small, insulated needle, sticking out from the center of the grounded plane. A triggering positive square impulse voltage of 5 μs duration was applied to the insulated needle and the currents associated with the streamer discharge were measured simultaneously on all three electrodes. During the streamer propagation, the current measured at the needle was the conduction current while the other two were the displacement (or capacitive) currents generated by the movement of charge in the electrode gap. The objective of this study is to identify the three currents and to investigate if simple representations of the streamer can reproduce the displacement currents measured at the plane electrodes. Two models for the streamer were applied: (1) a charged sphere moving in the background field and (2) a channel with a constant voltage gradient extending in the gap. In both models it was assumed that the streamer propagated with a constant velocity, which was estimated from the measurements. The motion of the streamer was simulated by a series of electrostatic calculations, using a field calculation program. Comparison of the measurements with the simulations indicates that the charge of the streamer is confined to a spherical region (i.e. streamer head) and it is increasing continuously during its advancement in the electrode gap. A discussion on advantages and disadvantages with the two investigated models (sphere vs. channel with potential gradient) is conducted, and a possible hybrid model is suggested. In the proposed model, features from both considered streamer representations are included     

Effect of electrode ice layer on prebreakdown current in liquidnitrogen

The effect of ice on dc prebreakdown events was investigated using a needle-to-plane electrode system in liquid nitrogen at 77.3 K. It was found that H₂O ice has marked effects on prebreakdown current, corona onset voltage and breakdown voltage. The breakdown voltage at atmospheric pressure depends on microscopic cracks in H₂ O ice     

非均匀电场中气固混和体直流电晕特性研究

实验研究了非均匀电场中流化床状态气固混和体的直流电晕特性 ,观察了Al2 O3 气固混和体和聚丙烯气固混和体在不同极性、不同电压下的电晕波形。关于电压极性、占空比以及间隙距离对两种气固混和体起晕电压影响的实验发现 ,起晕电压随占空比增加而降低 ;正极性下Al2 O3 气固混和体的起晕电压比聚丙烯气固混和体低 ,而负极性下则相反     

Flow electrification phenomenon in forced air-cooled rotatingelectric machines

The factors affecting air-flow electrification under both HVDC and HVAC of variable frequency have been investigated experimentally on air flow between coaxial-cylinder and point-to-cylinder systems in a synthetic open cycle. Instantaneous measurements of the air flow electrification (AFE) `streaming current' and corona current `radial current' are presented as a function of mass flow rate, air temperature, pressure and relative humidity, electrode configurations, and voltage amplitude, polarity and frequency. The results reveal that both streaming and radial currents augment with voltage, relative humidity, mass flow rate, and temperature. On the other hand, both the streaming and the radial currents do not vary with pressure. Increasing the frequency of the applied HVAC significantly reduces the streaming current, while the radial current increases linearly. Similar trends of the results are observed for both electrode systems. For the point-to-cylinder system under negative HVDC, increasing the mass flow rate drastically reduces both corona inception and breakdown voltages, while positive HVDC gives only a slight effect. The present work confirms the significant role of the AFE on the field failures occurring inside forced air-cooled rotating electric machines. Therefore, such phenomena should be taken into consideration in the design of such machines