Volume Diffuse Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Produced by Nanosecond High Voltage Pulse in Airflow

Volume diffuse dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma is produced in subsonic airflow by nanosecond high-voltage pulse power supply with a plate-to-plate discharge cell at 6 mm air gap length.The discharge images,optical emission spectra (OES),the applied voltage and current waveforms of the discharge at the changed airflow rates are obtained.When airflow rate is increased,the transition of the discharge mode and the variations of discharge intensity,breakdown characteristics and the temperature of the discharge plasma are investigated.The results show that the discharge becomes more diffuse,discharge intensity is decreased accompanied by the increased breakdown voltage and time lag,and the temperature of the discharge plasma reduces when airflow of small vclocity is introduced into the discharge gap.These phenomena are because that the airflow changes the spatial distribution of the heat and the space charge in the discharge gap.     

Research on Nanosecond Pulse Corona Discharge Attenuation

A line-to-plate reactor was set-up in the experimental study on the application of nanosecond pulsed corona discharge plasma technology in environmental pollution control. Investigation on the attenuation and distortion of the amplitude of the pulse wave front and the discharge image as well as the waveform along the corona wire was conducted. The results show that the wave front decreases sharply during the corona discharge along the corona wire. The higher the amplitude of the applied pulse is, the more the amplitude of the wave front decreased. The wave attenuation responds in a lower corona discharge inversely. To get a higher efficiency of the line-to-plate reactor a sharp attenuation of the corona has to be considered in practical design.     

Discharge Characteristics of SF6 in a Non-Uniform Electric Field Under Repetitive Nanosecond Pulses

The characteristics of high pressure sulphur hexafluoride (SF ₆ ) discharges in a highly non-uniform electric field under repetitive nanosecond pulses are investigated in this paper. The influencing factors on discharge process, such as gas pressure, pulse repetition frequency (PRF), and number of applied pulses, are analyzed. Experimental results show that the corona intensity weakens with the increase of gas pressure and strengthens with the increase of PRF or number of applied pulses. Spark discharge images suggest that a shorter and thicker discharge plasma channel will lead to a larger discharge current. The number of applied pulses to breakdown descends with the increase of PRF and ascends with the rise of gas pressure. The reduced electric field (E/p) decreases with the increase of PRF in all circumstances. The experimental results provide significant supplements to the dielectric characteristics of strongly electronegative gases under repetitive nanosecond pulses.     

Research on Nanosecond Pulse Corona Discharge with Cross Magnetic Field Applied

An application of magnetic field to the nanosecond pulse corona discharge is investigated. A cylinder reactor with different corona electrodes is set up for experimental study. A magnetic field with its direction perpendicular to the corona discharge is applied. Different discharge images are taken under single nanosecond pulse with a high sensitive UV-visible light imagine recorder. Experimental results show that with a cross magnetic field the nanosecond corona discharge both generates paths and develops homogeneously in space more than that without the magnetic field. The results may lead to a possibility to apply a cross magnetic field on nanosecond pulse corona discharge for getting higher desulfurization efficiency.     

Generation of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma by Repetitive Nanosecond Pulses in Air Using Water Electrodes

Dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） excitated by pulsed power is a promising method for producing nonthermal plasma at atmospheric pressure. Discharge characteri...     

Improvement of Spatial Uniformity of Nanosecond-Pulse Diffuse Discharges in a Multi-Needle-to-Plane Gap

Large-scale non-thermal plasmas generated by nanosecond-pulse discharges have been used in various applications, including surface treatment, biomedical treatment, flow con?trol etc. In this paper, atmospheric-pressure diffuse discharge was produced by a homemade nanosecond-pulse generator with a full width at half maximum of 100 ns and a rise time of 70 ns. In order to increase the discharge area, multi-needle electrodes with a 3×3 array were designed. The electrical characteristics of the diffuse discharge array and optical images were investigated by the voltage-current waveforms and discharge images. The experimental results showed that the intensity of diffuse discharges in the center was significantly weaker than those at the margins, resulting in an inhomogeneous spatial uniformity in the diffuse discharge array. Simulation of the electric field showed that the inhomogeneous spatial uniformity was caused by the non-uniform distribution of the electric field in the diffuse discharge array. Moreover, the spatial uniformity of the diffuse discharge array could be improved by increasing the length of the needle in the centre of the array. Finally, the experimental results confirmed the simulation results, and the spatial uniformity of the nanosecond-pulse diffuse discharge array was signi?cantly improved.     

Photographic Study on Spark Discharge Generated by a Nanosecond High-Voltage Pulse over a Water Surface

Spark discharge generated by a nanosecond positive high-voltage pulse over a water surface at atmospheric pressure in air was studied using a high speed camera system.Faint streamers form near the pin electrode and propagate towards the water surface.The time for the streamer propagating across the air gap was estimated to be about 50 ns to 60 ns with a propagation velocity of~1.3×10~5 m/s.It was found that the water conductivity and the gap distance have no significant effect on the propagation velocity of the streamer.After the streamers touch the water surface a brilliant spark channel forms across the air gap.The maximum diameter at the middle of the spark channel is about 1 mm,and approximately contracts with a radical velocity of about 2.0×10~3 m/s.No significant dependence of the maximum diameter and decay velocity of the spark channel on the water conductivity and the gap distance were recognized in the present work.The maximum conduction current for a gap distance of 5 mm is significantly larger than that for a gap distance of 10 mm at the same water conductivity,and shows an increasing tendency with increasing water conductivity for a fixed gap distance.Based on the maximum conduction current,the effect of water conductivity and gap distance on the electron density of the spark discharge plasma at the peak current was investigated.Within the range studied,the electron density in the spark channel is about 10~(15)cm~(-3)and increases with water conductivity at a fixed gap distance.     

Characteristics of Nanosecond Pulsed Discharges in Atmospheric Helium Microplasmas

Microplasmas are very interesting due to their unique properties and achievable regimes maintained at atmospheric pressures. Due to the small scales, numerical modeling could contribute to the understanding of underlying phenomena as it provides access to local parameters — and complements experimental global characteristics. A self-consistent formalism,applied to nanosecond pulsed atmospheric non-equilibrium helium plasmas, reveals that several successive discharges can persist as a result of a combined volume and dielectric surface effects. The valuable insights provided by the spatiotemporal simulation results show the critical importance of coupled gas and plasma dynamics — namely gas heating and electric field reversals.     

脉宽可调纳秒脉冲产生器

简要介绍了脉宽可调纳秒脉冲产生器的仪器结构、工作原理、电路设计、技术指标和镜子费措施，通过采用数字集成电路与模拟电路相结合，实现了在一台仪器中同时产生两种不同脉宽且脉宽可调的纳秒信号。     

A Repetitive Nanosecond Pulse Source for Generation of Large Volume Streamer Discharge

Using a unipolar pulse with the rise time and the pulse duration in the order of microsecond as the primary pulse, a nanosecond pulse with the repetitive frequency of several kilohertz is generated by a spark gap switch. By varying both the inter-pulse duration and the pulse frequency, the voltage recovery rate of the spark gap switch is investigated at different working conditions such as the gas pressure, the gas composition as well as the bias voltage. The results reveal that either increase in gas pressure or addition of SF6 to the air can increase the voltage recovery rate. The effect of gas composition on the voltage recovery rate is discussed based on the transferring and distribution of the residual space charges. The repetitive nanosecond pulse source is also applied to the generation of large volume, and the discharge currents are measured to investigate the effect of pulse repetition rate on the large volume streamer discharge.     

Improvement of Polytetrafluoroethylene Surface Energy by Repetitive Pulse Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment in Atmospheric Air

Improvement of polytetrafluoroethylene surface energy by non-thermal plasma treatment is presented, using a nanosecond-positive-edge repetitive pulsed dielectri...     

Operation Mode on Pulse Modulation in Atmospheric Radio Frequency Glow Discharges

The discharge operation regime of pulse modulated atmospheric radio frequency(RF) glow discharge in helium is investigated on the duty cycle and frequency of modulation pulses.The characteristics of radio frequency discharge burst in terms of breakdown voltage, alpha(α)-gamma(γ) mode transition voltage and current are demonstrated by the discharge current voltage characteristics. The minimum breakdown voltage of RF discharge burst was obtained at the duty cycle of 20% and frequency of 400 k Hz, respectively. The α-γ mode transition of RF discharge burst occurs at higher voltage and current by reducing the duty cycle and elevating the modulation frequency before the RF discharge burst evolving into the ignition phase, in which the RF discharge burst can operate stably in the γ mode. It proposes that the intensity and stability of RF discharge burst can be improved by manipulating the duty cycle and modulation frequency in pulse modulated atmospheric RF glow discharge.     

低抖动纳秒高压脉冲源研究

根据某高能物理实验要求,利用真空平面三极管驱动高压触发管,研制出脉冲幅度达10 kV、前沿小于3.5 ns、抖动低于1 ns,负载电阻R_L为50 Ω时峰值电流可达200 A的高压负脉冲源。本文介绍了该脉冲源的系统组成及工作原理,并给出了系统输出波形。     

Volume added surface barrier discharge plasma excited by bipolar nanosecond pulse power in atmospheric air: optical emission spectra influenced by gap distance

In this paper, volume barrier discharge with different gap distances is added on the discharge border of high-voltage electrode of annular surface barrier discharge for generating volume added surface barrier discharge (V-SBD) excited by bipolar nanosecond high-voltage pulse power in atmospheric air. The excited V-SBDs consist of surface barrier discharge (d=0 mm) and volume added surface barrier discharges (d=2 mm and 3 mm). The optical emission spectra are recorded for calculating emission intensities of N₂ (C ³Ⅱ_u →B³Π_g ) and N₂⁺ (B ²Σ_u⁺ → X ²Σ_g⁺ ), and simulating rotational and vibrational temperatures. The influences of gap distance of V-SBD on emission intensity and plasma temperature are also investigated and analyzed. The results show that d=0 mm structure can excite the largest emission intensity of N ₂ (C ³ Π_u →B ³Π_g ), while the existence of volume barrier discharge can delay the occurrence of the peak value of the emission intensity ratio of N₂⁺ (B ²Σ_u⁺ → X ²Σ_g⁺ )/N ₂(C³Π_u →B³Π_g ) during the rising period of the applied voltage pulse and weaken it during the end period. The increasing factor of emission intensity is effected by the pulse repetition rate. The d=3 mm structure has the highest threshold voltage while it can maintain more emission intensity of N₂(C³ Π _u →B ³Π_g ) than that of d=2 mm structure. The structure of d=2 mm can maintain more increasing factor than that of the d=3 mm structure with varying pulse repetition rate. Besides, the rotational temperatures of three V-SBD structures are slightly affected when the gap distance and pulse repetition rate vary. The vibrational temperatures have decaying tendencies of all three structures with the increasing pulse repetition rate.     

Investigation on discharge characteristics of a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge reactor driven by AC and ns power sources

A coaxial dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) reactor with double layer dielectric barriers has been developed for exhaust gas treatment and excited either by AC power or nanosecond(ns)pulse to generate atmospheric pressure plasma. The comparative study on the discharge characteristics of the discharge uniformity, power deposition, energy efficiency, and operation temperature between AC and ns pulsed coaxial DBD is carried out in terms of optical and electrical characteristics and operation temperature for optimizing the coaxial DBD reactor performance. The voltages across the air gap and dielectric layer and the conduction and displacement currents are extracted from the applied voltages and measured currents of AC and ns pulsed coaxial DBDs for the calculation of the power depositions and energy efficiencies through an equivalent electrical model. The discharge uniformity and operating temperature of the coaxial DBD reactor are monitored and analyzed by optical images and infrared camera. A heat conduction model is used to calculate the temperature of the internal quartz tube. It is found that the ns pulsed coaxial DBD has a much higher instantaneous power deposition in plasma, a lower total power consumption, and a higher energy efficiency compared with that excited by AC power and is more homogeneous and stable. The temperature of the outside wall of the AC and ns pulse excited coaxial DBD reaches 158 ℃ and 64.3 ℃ after 900 s operation, respectively.The experimental results on the comparison of the discharge characteristics of coaxial DBDs excited by different powers are significant for understanding of the mechanism of DBDs,reducing energy loss, and optimizing the performance of coaxial DBD in industrial applications.     

Effects of O2 addition on the plasma uniformity and reactivity of Ar DBD excited by ns pulsed and AC power supplies

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) have been widely used in ozone synthesis, materials surface treatment, and plasma medicine for their advantages of uniform discharge and high plasma-chemical reactivity. To improve the reactivity of DBDs, in this work, the O₂ is added into Ar nanosecond (ns) pulsed and AC DBDs. The uniformity and discharge characteristics of Ar ns pulsed and AC DBDs with different O₂ contents are investigated with optical and electrical diagnosis methods. The DBD uniformity is quantitatively analyzed by gray value standard deviation method. The electrical parameters are extracted from voltage and current waveforms separation to characterize the discharge processes and calculate electron density n_e. The optical emission spectroscopy is measured to show the plasma reactivity and calculate the trend of electron temperature T_e with the ratio of two emission lines. It is found that the ns pulsed DBD has a much better uniformity than AC DBD for the fast rising and falling time. With the addition of O₂, the uniformity of ns pulsed DBD gets worse for the space electric field distortion by O₂⁻, which promotes the filamentary formation. While, in AC DBD, the added O₂ can reduce the intensity of filaments, which enhances the discharge uniformity. The ns pulsed DBD has a much higher instantaneous power and energy efficiency than AC DBD. The ratio of Ar emission intensities indicates that the T_e drops quickly with the addition of O₂ both ns pulsed and AC DBDs and the ns pulsed DBD has an obvious higher T_e and n_e than AC DBD. The results are helpful for the realization of the reactive and uniform low temperature plasma sources.     

Spectroscopic study of bipolar nanosecond pulse gas-liquid discharge in atmospheric argon

Atmospheric gas-liquid discharge with argon as a working gas is presented by employed nanosecond pulse power. The discharge is presented in a glow-like mode. The discharge powers are determined to be less than 1 W, and remains almost constant when the discharge duration time increases. Bountiful active species are determined by capturing optical emission spectra,and their main generation processes are also discussed. The plasma gas temperature is calculated as 350 K by comparing the experimental spectra and the simulated ones of N_2(C~3Ⅱ_g→B~3Ⅱ_g, Δv =-2). The time resolved vibrational and rotational temperature is researched to present the stability of discharge when pulse voltage and discharge duration vary.The electron density is determined to be 10~(16) cm~(-3) according to the Stark broadening effect of the H_α line.     

The Nonlinear Behaviors in Atmospheric Dielectric Barrier Multi Pulse Discharges

An in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the complex nonlinear behaviors in atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge is significant for the stable operation and effective control of the plasma. In this paper, we study the nonlinear behaviors in argon atmospheric dielectric barrier multi pulse discharges by a one-dimensional fluid model. Under certain conditions, the multi pulse discharge becomes very sensitive with the increase of frequency, and the multi pulse period-doubling bifurcation, inverse period-doubling bifurcation and chaos appear frequently. The discharge can reach a relatively steady state only when the discharges are symmetrical between positive and negative half cycle. In addition, the effects of the voltage on these nonlinear discharges are also studied. It is found that the amplitude of voltage has no effects on the number of discharge pulses in multi-pulse period-doubling bifurcation sequences; however, to a relatively stable periodic discharge, the discharge pulses are proportional to the amplitude of the applied voltage within a certain range.     

Experimental study on nanosecond pulsed pin-to-plate discharge in supersonic air flow

Development of magnetohydrodynamic acceleration technology is expected to improve wind tunnel simulation capability and testing capability. The underlying premise is to produce uniform and stable plasma in supersonic air flow, and gas discharge is an effective way to achieve this. A nanosecond pulsed discharge experimental system under supersonic conditions was established, and a pin-to-plate nanosecond pulsed discharge experiment in Mach 2 air flow was performed to verify that the proposed method produced uniform and stable plasma under supersonic conditions. The results show that the discharge under supersonic conditions was stable overall, but uniformity was not as good as that under static conditions. Increasing the number of pins improved discharge uniformity, but reduced discharge intensity and hence plasma density. Under multi-pin conditions at 1000 Hz, the discharge was almost completely corona discharge, with the main current component being the displacement current, which was smaller than that under static conditions.     

Discharge characteristics and reactive species production of unipolar and bipolar nanosecond pulsed gas-liquid discharge generated in atmospheric

In this paper,unipolar pulse (including positive pulse and negative pulse) and bipolar pulse voltage are employed to generate diffuse gas-liquid discharge in atmospheric N2 with a trumpet-shaped quartz tube.The current-voltage waveforms,optical emission spectra of excited state active species,FTIR spectra of exhaust gas components,plasma gas temperature,and aqueous H2O2,NO2-,and NO3-production are compared in three pulse modes,meanwhile,the effects of pulse peak voltage and gas flow rate on the production of reactive species are studied.The results show that two obvious discharges occur in each voltage pulse in unipolar pulse driven discharge,differently,in bipolar pulse driven discharge,only one main discharge appears in a single voltage pulse time.The intensities of active species (OH(A),and O(3p)) in all three pulsed discharge increase with the rise of pulse peak voltage and have the highest value at 200 ml min-1 of gas flow rate.The absorbance intensities of NO2 and N2O increase with the increase of pulse peak voltage and decrease with the increase of gas flow rate.Under the same discharge conditions,the bipolar pulse driven discharge shows lower breakdown voltage,and higher intensities of excited species (N2(C),OH(A),and O(3p)),nitrogen oxides (NO2,NO,and N2O),and higher production of aqueous H2O2,NO2-,and NO3-compared with both unipolar positive and negative discharges.