Self-trapping of electrons in liquid nitrogen

A possibility of electron self trapping in nitrogen is discussed. It is found that electrons are free when injected in liquid N₂ near the triple point and localized inside bubbles and in the gaseous phase, far enough from the critical point. On the saturation line near the critical point a transition of electrons from bound to free states takes place     

Dielectric breakdown characteristics of cryogenic nitrogen gasabove liquid nitrogen

We measured the DC dielectric breakdown characteristics of cryogenic nitrogen gas above a liquid nitrogen surface for needle-to-plane and sphere-to-plane electrode configurations. Experimental results revealed that the DC breakdown voltage of cryogenic nitrogen gas increased, as the distance from the gap axis to the liquid nitrogen surface diminished, i.e. as the liquid nitrogen surface got closer to the gap. The breakdown voltage proved to be enhanced not only by the temperature drop of nitrogen gas due to the existence of liquid nitrogen, but also by an effect of vapor mist arising from vaporization of liquid nitrogen. For the quasi-uniform electrode configuration, the relation between breakdown voltage and the gas density times the gap spacing agreed well with the Paschen curve for nitrogen with both the temperature falling and the vapor-mist density considered. For the nonuniform needle electrode, positive breakdown voltage was higher than negative one; the polarity effect was interpreted in terms of the electric field relaxation at the tip of the positive needle resulting from partial discharges observed only for the positive needle     

发电厂零排放工艺的新成就

美国 750 MW High Dessert电力工程项目将于 2 0 0 3年 7月投产。这将是南加州 1 0多年来第一个主要发电厂建设项目 ,也是第一个使用微过滤 ( microfiltratin,MF)—反渗透技术的零排放( ZLD,zeroliquid discharge)处理的电厂。水源匮乏以及对用电的急剧需求是采用零排放处理的主要原因。该工程的一次补给水源来自加州水渠( California Aquaduct) ,备用水源为地下水 ,通过一蓄水层筑堤系统送入电厂。1　零排放处理系统该系统包含 5个子系统 :( 1 )预处理系统澄清和过滤除去悬浮物和细菌 ,并对冷却水补充水、蒸汽循环的补给水、燃机冷却…     

Propagation characteristics of impulse creepage discharge in perfluorocarbon liquid

In this paper, the propagation characteristics of a creepage discharge on the surface of a solid insulator with a back electrode in perfluorocarbon liquid under an impulse voltage application are investigated. The propagation process is observed in detail by means of a high‐speed schlieren optical technique, and simultaneously waveforms of a current and a charge are also measured. Consequently, the polarity effect of the streamer propagation and the positive streamer which propagates stepwise can be seen. The latter is concurrent with the sparse current pulse which corresponds to the charge step‐variation. These results are compared with ones obtained in transformer oil. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 131(4): 19–28, 2000     

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.     

V-t characteristics of partial discharge inception in liquid nitrogen/ PPLP/sup /spl reg// composite insulation system for HTS cable

In this paper, we studied partial discharge (PD) inception characteristics and V-t characteristics of PD inception in liquid nitrogen (LN/sub 2/)/polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP/sup /spl reg//) composite insulation system for high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable. Experimental results revealed that the magnitude of initial PD was in the range of 2.0-30 pC irrespective of butt gap condition and the initial PD was generated at the first and third quadrant of voltage phase. PD inception electric field strength (PDIE) without butt gap was 5-10% higher than that with butt gap and thicker butt gap gave larger PDIE drop. Moreover, PDIE with butt gap depended on the butt gap thickness and the number of PPLP/sup /spl reg// layers. The reason is explained by the existing probability of weak points of electrical insulation at butt gap. Finally, lifetime indices n of V-t characteristics at PD inception were obtained as 80-100 irrespective of butt gap condition. These values showed enough flat characteristics of V-t phenomena of electrical insulation.     

气体放电表面电荷和空间电荷测量方法

气体放电是气体具有导体性质和作用的一种现象。目前广泛应用于机械加工、化工生产、材料制备和环境保护等领域。放电电荷量作为气体放电中的关键参数,其精确性关系到放电系统的控制和实际应用效果。从表面电荷和空间电荷两个方面阐述了气体放电系统中常用电荷测量方法的测量原理、探头结构。在此基础上分析了各种测量方法的测量准确性和实际应用情况。     

Thermal bubble breakdown in liquid nitrogen under nonuniform fields

The electrical forces acting on thermally induced bubbles in nonuniform field gaps with/without fins and the correlation between bubble behavior and dielectric characteristics in liquid nitrogen are studied. The results show that the gradient force and Maxwell stress strongly affect the bubble dynamics and bubble shape in the gap. Especially the pronounced gradient force near the fin tip reduces the growth of bubble there. These electrical forces acting on the bubble result in a lesser effect of thermal bubble on the breakdown voltage if the fins are formed to guide a bubble trapped in the groove from a higher field region to a lower one     

Effects of liquid conductivity upon gaseous discharge of droplets

The effect that liquid conductivity has upon gaseous breakdown and conduction between a droplet and a sharp grounded metal point was investigated as a function of the droplet charge level and point-to-droplet gap. A uniform stream of equally spaced 1210 μm droplets was studied in passing the point at 2.05 m/s at a rate of 465/s. The negative droplet charge was set at 24, 40, 55, and 60% of the Rayleigh hydrodynamic instability limit (i.e. 3×10^-10 C) for liquid conductivity values in the 10^-4-10¹ S/m range characterizing electrostatic crop sprays. No significant conductivity effect was found for charges up to the 55% level; the most conductive liquid exhibited a significantly (α<0.10) higher discharge current at the 60% charge level. For close gaps, droplets departed the grounded point region with a reversed charge, indicating they were overneutralized by a positive-ion flux from the grounded point     

Area and volume effects on breakdown strength in liquid nitrogen

We measured dc and ac breakdown voltages in liquid nitrogen (LN ₂) with a sphere-to-plane electrode configuration. Experimental results revealed that the breakdown voltage in LN₂ did not increase monotonously but partially decreased as the sphere diameter increased at a constant gap length. Thus, the existence of the area and the volume effects on the breakdown voltage in LN₂ was verified quantitatively; the breakdown strength decreased when increasing the {SEA}₉₀ (90% stressed electrode area) and the {SLV}₉₀ (90% stressed liquid volume). By changing the experimental conditions, it was verified that both area and volume effects, having a mutual correlation, simultaneously lead to the degradation of the breakdown strength in LN₂. In order to examine the area and the volume effects for the larger {SEA}₉₀ and {SLV}₉₀, we also measured the breakdown voltage with a coaxial cylindrical electrode. It was concluded that the dc and ac breakdown strengths in LN₂ decreased as the {SEA}₉₀ and the {SLV}₉₀ increased varying widely from 10⁰ to 10⁵ mm² and from 10 ^-1 to 10⁵ mm³, respectively     

Dielectric behavior of insulating materials under liquid nitrogen

Measurements were made to assess the AC breakdown voltages in liquid nitrogen (LN/sub 2/) with different electrode configurations such as sphere-sphere, needle-needle, hemisphere-hemisphere, plane-plane, sphere-needle, etc. Experimental results reveal that the breakdown voltage is a function of electrode geometry and gap length. This study also addresses the effect on the breakdown strength of solid insulating materials under LN/sub 2/ environment with a sphere-sphere electrode configuration. In this paper, special emphasis has been attributed to the effect on loss index of a variety of dielectrics dipped in LN/sub 2/. The measured values of breakdown strength and loss index have been compared with those obtained under atmospheric condition. The study reveals that the breakdown strength of cellulosic materials like paper or pressboard increases manifold while the loss index decreases significantly when dipped in LN/sub 2/ with variations of the order of 50% to 90%. However, for impervious noncellulosic materials like Perspex (acrylic glass) or presspahn, the increase in breakdown strength is not that pronounced and the decrease in loss index is of the order of 2 to 30%.     

Partial discharge inception characteristics under butt gap condition in liquid nitrogen/ PPLP/sup /spl reg// composite insulation system for high temperature superconducting cable

The partial discharge (PD) inception characteristics are studied in liquid nitrogen (LN/sub 2/)/polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP/sup /spl reg//) composite insulation system for high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable. Experimental results revealed that the magnitude of the initial PD increased as the PD inception electric field strength was increased, because the injected energy increased. Initial PD was generated at the first and third quadrant of applied AC voltage phase. The probability of initial PD at the positive and negative voltage phase was almost the same. The reason is because liquid nitrogen is a nonpolar molecule and we used symmetric electrode configuration with uniform electric field distribution. Finally, it was pointed out that PD inception electric field strength (PDIE) depended on the volume of the butt gap because of the increasing probability of weak points of electrical insulation, and PDIE linearly decreased with increasing stressed volume of the butt gap in the log-log scale.