Surface profile effect on streamer propagation and breakdown in air

In a uniform field arrangement, under direct voltage, positive streamer propagation and breakdown are investigated along cylindrical insulators with different profiles, inserted perpendicularly between two parallel plane electrodes. The basic properties of streamer propagation and breakdown, namely the electric field required for a stable propagation together with the associated velocity and the breakdown field together with time to breakdown, are measured as influenced by the pulse voltage amplitude used for the streamer initiation and by the insulator profile. It is shown that a strong relation between streamer propagation and breakdown exists, because the insulator profile exerts a similar influence on the breakdown and propagation fields. The effect of a shed on an insulating surface, forming an `obstruction' to streamer progress, is to increase the stability for propagation and breakdown fields, and to reduce the propagation velocity at all applied fields compared with those in the case of a smooth insulator. Along the surface of a smooth insulator, a streamer system propagates with a `surface' and an `air' component; however, a shed on an insulating surface modifies this system, resulting in only one component reaching the cathode     

Positive Streamer Propagation and Breakdown in Air: the Influence of Humidity

The influence of humidity on streamer propagation at conditions from the threshold for propagation to those for streamer-induced breakdown was investigated in a uniform field in air at atmospheric pressure. Experiments were carried out in a three electrode arrangement consisting of a 12 cm long parallel-plane gap, with an auxiliary needle in the earthed anode. Positive streamers were initiated by applying at the needle electrode a pulse voltage which varied in amplitude. These propagated towards the upper plane electrode which was stressed by a negative dc voltage. Under natural atmospheric conditions, propagation and breakdown probability curves were obtained for several values of absolute humidity in the range between 5 and 22 g/m³. Thus, distributions of the electric field required for streamer propagation and breakdown were obtained and the associated velocity of propagation and time to breakdown were measured. Besides humidity, the amplitude of the voltage used for streamer initiation and the ambient electric field were considered as influencing parameters on streamer properties. Empirical equations are presented expressing the effects of the above parameters on the intrinsic streamer properties. A comparison with previous work in the literature is made and this leads to the conclusion that the influence of humidity on streamer propagation and breakdown can be placed in a sounder quantitative basis.     

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     

大气中短空气间隙流注放电过程数值仿真

介绍了气体放电过程的流体数值模型,并将有限元(finite element,FE)和通量校正传输(flux-corrected-transport, FCT)法结合求解该模型。针对求解时间过长的问题,引入网格自适应剖分法和并行计算方法,提高了计算精度和效率。采用所提出方法仿真了棒板间隙流注放电过程,与实验结果吻合较好。基于仿真方法研究了电压大小、电极形状对放电的影响。基于气体放电现象的物理本质,从微观上研究了气体放电过程,得到了流注过程中空间电荷、电场分布等难以直接测量的微观参量。     

Positive streamer discharges along insulating surfaces

By measuring the currents associated with the streamer discharge along silicone rubber surfaces, parameters of streamer propagation such as the minimum field of streamer crossing, the field of stable streamer propagation, the mean velocity and the streamer charge distribution have been analyzed and compared to the streamer discharge in air alone. Clear differences were observed in the measured currents for the individual surfaces at low background fields (285 kV/m). For higher fields the streamer crosses the gap almost independently of the surface type. The minimum streamer field was found to be slightly increased compared to air. The field of stable streamer propagation also was higher than in air. It is ~ 570 kV/m, larger than that of the streamer discharge in air (~ 500), under the same conditions. The streamer speed was found slightly increased in the presence of the silicone rubber surface and the distinction between the individual surfaces was modest. A discussion on possible mechanisms for the observed differences in the streamer speed and currents with and without the insulator surfaces is presented. The net positive charge of the streamer along an insulating surface seems to be distributed along the streamer channel rather than localized in the front part of the channel as the case for the streamer in air     

Bird streamer caused flashover in EHV transmission line

The bird-streamer caused failures have become one of the major causes of transmission line outages. It is more common and widespread than generally believed, and greatly threatens the reliability of transmission lines. The laboratory study of such failures mechanism is seldom reported especially for long gaps such as 500 kV insulators. Presented in this paper are the results of long air gaps bird streamer flashover experiments conducted on 500 kV and 220 kV transmission line insulators. The experimental results demonstrated that bird-streamer caused surface flashover can happen in 500 kV insulators, however space flashover, because the bird streamer will split into different jets under high electric field cannot short circuit the long air gaps. The high risk areas of flashover for 220 kV and 500 kV insulators were defined in this paper: an elliptical area for 220 kV I string insulator and a symmetrical area beside the central line for 500 kV V string insulator. The influence of some main factors on flashover processes is also elucidated, such as volume, conductivity and viscosity of the streamer, and the insulator type and configuration. The paper has significant value in understanding the bird caused failure mechanisms and designing remedies.     

Positive streamer propagation in large oil gaps: electricalproperties of streamers

This paper presents experimental data and calculations concerning the electrical properties of positive streamers in mineral oil at large gaps and HV. The experiments concern the measurement of charge, electric field, and the determination of the potential drop along streamers, either in the liquid alone, or for streamers guided within insulating tubes. Calculations of charge and field distribution around streamers are carried out by charge simulation. To do this, streamers are represented by objects with simple shapes (spheres or cylinders) equivalent to their macroscopic aspect. These models lead to a correct agreement with measured streamer charge and field on the plane electrode. Qualitative correlations are established between calculated field distributions and streamer behavior such as velocity, transitions between propagation modes. It is also concluded that the potential drop in streamers and branching both act as regulating mechanisms that help to keep the streamer tip field, and hence the velocity, constant over a wide voltage range     

Parallel streamer discharges between wire and plane electrodes in water

Streamer discharges in tap water and distilled water have been generated by applying a voltage pulse from 120 to 175 kV and 500 ns duration to a wire-to-electrode configuration. Electrical and optical diagnostics were used to explore the temporal development of the streamers in tap and distilled water, at various applied voltages and both polarities. With the wire serving as anode, multiple, parallel streamer discharges were generated. The number density of these streamers along the wire decreases with decreasing electric field on the surface of the wire. The dependence of the streamer density on electric field indicates the role of field enhancement at inhomogeneous microstructures along the wire as streamer initiation mechanism. The appearance of the discharge was different for tap and distilled water. However, the measured average streamer propagation velocity from the positive wire to the grounded plane electrode, of 32 mm//spl mu/s, was independent of the water conductivity and the applied voltage. This suggests the existence of a self-sustained electric field at the streamer head. With the wire serving as cathode, only a weak light emission from the area close to the wire was observed, and streamers did not appear for the same voltage amplitude as with the positive polarity. This suggests that an ionic current flowing in the water is not dominant in the streamer propagation process.     

Streamer propagation along insulating surfaces

Results concerning the propagation of streamers along insulating surfaces under uniform electric field are presented. The basic properties of streamers, namely the electric field required for a stable propagation and the propagation velocity, have been measured and compared with propagation in air alone as a reference. The results have shown that in the experimental arrangement used significant space charges due to streamer branching are absent, therefore the properties observed are considered as characteristic of a single streamer. Streamers propagate stably with an intrinsic propagation field and a characteristic velocity that depend on the nature of the insulating material. For electric fields higher than the minimum field required for a stable propagation, a streamer system propagates with a `surface' and an `air' component     

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.     

High field conduction and prebreakdown phenomena in dielectric liquids

The present paper is mainly devoted to phenomena occurring in point-plane electrode geometry, where breakdown is the result of the initiation and propagation of prebreakdown phenomena called "streamers". In this configuration, an investigative study of the streamer initiation processes, requiring very high electric field strengths (/spl sim/ MV/cm), and of propagation (requiring low electric field, /spl sim/ kV/cm) can easily be carried out for negative streamer development as well as for the positive case. From analysis of experimental results in pure liquids the physical processes connected with streamer initiation and propagation, particularly the electronic ones, are presented and discussed. Estimations of the main parameters of slower subsonic streamers and of the faster filamentary ones (such as field strength at the streamer tip, field inside the channel, charge density, etc.) have been obtained from qualitative considerations and compared to experimental data.     

Measurement of streamer charge distribution on an insulator in SF6 Gas

The charge density produced by streamers on an insulator surface in SF₆ has been investigated by using a probe method with a high-speed temporal resolution. Concentric circular probes, which also act as a plane electrode, are used in this probe method. Probe signals are observed oscilloscopically and converted into the charge densities through a numerical calculation. This method reveals the charge distribution before a disturbance caused by the “back discharge.” The charge density thus obtained ranges from several nC/cm² up to about 60 nC/cm². The density depends on the pressure, voltage height and the position of the streamer. The electric field on the insulator is analyzed numerically taking into account the surface charge. The internal electric field of the streamer is found to be 40 ～ 50 kV/cm · atm when the streamer ceases its propagation. However, it partly exceeds the critical one (89 kV/cm · atm) during the propagation.     

正流注传播动力学特性随气压湿度的变化

为了解流注传播电场测量中大气参数的影响,利用“三电极系统”研究了不同气压湿度条件下正流注的传播电场和传播速度。利用两个光电倍增管检测流注在平行极板间的传播,获得了流注传播电场的概率分布及平均传播速度,得到了无外加脉冲电压时流注传播的“稳态电场”与相对空气密度、湿度间的经验公式,并和其它研究者提出的公式进行了比较。研究表明:流注传播的“起始电场”和“稳态电场”随着外加脉冲电压的减小而增大,随着气压和湿度降低而减小;电场强度相同时,流注平均传播速度随着气压和湿度的增大而减小,其数量级为105m/s。     

Study of the Development of Positive Streamers Along an Ice Surface

This paper presents the results of fundamental investigations on the inception and propagation of corona discharge on an ice surface stressed with a standard lightning impulse voltage. High-speed photography and photomultiplier techniques were used to observe and record the propagation of the streamers. The effects of several experimental parameters such as freezing water conductivity and HV rod electrode radius on the streamer inception parameters were investigated. Moreover, time to first streamer, inception voltage and corresponding field, as well as streamer propagation velocity and charge deposited by a streamer on ice surface were measured. The results are discussed and emphases are laid on the main factors influencing the development of positive streamers on ice surface.     

Streamer propagation in mineral oil in semi-uniform geometry

Presents a study of streamer propagation in transformer oil, with point-plane and semi-uniform geometry. The latter is made of parallel plane electrodes, with a thin triggering point of calibrated size. By reducing the length of the point, it is possible to move progressively from a point-plane geometry to a quasi uniform geometry. The propagation of streamers is impeded by the presence of a metallic plane behind the triggering point, that reduces the field on propagating streamers. The effect varies widely according to the streamer type considered. The propagation of negative and fast positive streamers is nearly quenched, whereas slower filamentary positive streamers (usually responsible for breakdown in oil) are less affected. This shows that many results obtained in point-plane geometry can not be simply extrapolated to the more realistic case of uniform field     

Variation of the Dynamics of Positive Streamer with Pressure and Humidity in Air

The dynamics of positive streamer in air under different pressure and humidity conditions was studied. The widely used three-electrode system was used to obtain the streamer propagation probability and average propagation velocity as a function of background field. A simulation was performed based on the 1.5D fluid model. Simulated intrinsic stability field for streamer propagation and corresponding average propagation velocity were in agreement with those deriving from experimental results. The intrinsic stability fields obtained with the empirical equations proposed by the author and other investigators were compared. It was analyzed that the effect of the amplitude and duration of voltage pulse applied on the needle. The statistical distribution of propagation field was explained by the dispersion of discharge time delay. The decrease of intrinsic stability field with the reduction of pressure and/or humidity was due to the increase of the conductivity of the streamer channel as a result of the weakening of attachment and/or electron-ion recombination effect.     

Characteristics of laser-triggered electric discharges in air

An experiment of laser-triggered electric discharges has been conducted in a uniform background electric field. By focusing the beam of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser (wavelength 532 nm, pulse duration 5 ns) in a narrow (15 mm) plane-parallel air gap exposed to a DC voltage, streamer discharges and disruptive discharges were triggered. The laser energy and the background electric field strength were varied in the ranges 0-180 mJ and 0.8-1.4 MV/m, respectively, and the laser plasma was induced either close to the anode, close to the cathode or mid-gap. From images of the electrode gap and from current measurements, the occurrence of and time to the streamer discharge and the disruptive discharge were determined. No distinct level was found of either the laser energy or the plasma energy for the transition from one discharge case to another, even if the general trend was that the energy required for a certain discharge case was reduced when increasing the background electric field. These and other observations make the method of laser triggering a less suitable method for studies of streamer initiation and streamer propagation, but revealed several interesting features of laser-triggered electric discharges.     

Gas Heating and Formation of Single Linear Discharge Channel on Repetitive Branched Streamer Corona

Under a nonuniform field in an atmospheric short gap, a branched pulse streamer corona changes to a single filamentary discharge (SFD) for a split second just before sparkover occurs. This SFD is a pretransitional phenomenon of sparkover. Therefore, it is very important to study SFD for an understanding of the sparkover mechanism. In this work, the SFD was recreated well by applying a highly repetitive impulse voltage to a needle‐plane gap in synthetic air with dilute CO₂. The characteristics of the SFD, including the channel temperature, the propagation of the streamer head, and the formation process, were investigated by means of an intensified charge coupled‐device (ICCD) camera and a spectroscopic measurement system. It was found that the transition to SFD progresses with localized gas heating along the discharge channel. Furthermore, it was revealed that the SFD is a nonbranched positive streamer.     

Effects of additives on prebreakdown phenomena in n-hexane

Prebreakdown phenomena in n-hexane are observed in detail for positive and negative polarities by using simultaneously a high speed schlieren technique and an LED current measuring system, when an impulse voltage (1.1/225 μs) is applied to a point-to-plane electrode gap. Furthermore, the effects of several additives on the streamer propagation are investigated. Especially the effects of electron-trapping additives on negative streamer propagation and of low ionization potential additives on the positive streamer propagation, are examined, as is a correlation between the shape and the propagation velocity of the streamers     

Influence of humidity on current waveform and light emission of alow-frequency discharge controlled by a dielectric barrier

The aim of this work is to determine the effect of humidity on a silent discharge in air. A point to plane configuration has been used. Current and emission spectra of the discharge have been recorded in dry and humid air for short and long inter-electrode gaps and with the plane electrode coated by a silicone rubber plate alone or under a polypropylene film. Results show the typical corona discharge regimes. For a long gap, humidity decreases the number of breakdown streamer pulses. For a short gap, the behavior observed depends on the surface conduction of the dielectric in contact with the discharge. These results show that the presence of humidity in the discharge cell not only modifies the gas but also the surface states of the dielectrics coating the electrodes. The surface charge decay appears as a major parameter, since it is related to the local field value which results from the applied field and the reverse field induced by charge accumulation during previous discharges