Breakdown model of a short plane-parallel gap

Abstract

A two-dimensional model of the high-voltage breakdown has been developed, consisting of the Poisson equation and the conservation equations for electrons, ions, and excited particles. The model is based on the assumption of a low degree of ionization, so that the transport coefficients of the gas are uniquely determined by the local electric field, i.e., the model is limited to the initial stages of the channel formation. It is applied to a short plane-parallel gap in He at atmospheric pressure. The discharge is started by releasing the cloud of electrons near the cathode, and its sequence is followed up to 1.11 μs. Cathode emission is taken to include that due to ion and metastable impact and the photoeffect. The discharge develops from the initial Townsend-type discharge governed by cathode emission and the direct and Penning volume ionization, and progresses to the space-charge dominated stage. At the moment when the calculations are terminated, the maximum densities have already attained values of 1.6×1010, 2.5×1011, and 1.8×1012 cm−3 for the electrons, ions, and excited particles, respectively. The maximum axial component of the space-charge electric field is approximately 3.3 kV cm−1.

Positive and negative polarity current pulse characteristics of a helium glow discharge in a cylinder-plane electrode gap at atmospheric pressure

“…In the development of the 2D model of the short gap breakdown, Novak and Bartnikas 14,15,17,18 made certain postulates that define its validity. Since their model is being deployed here, it is well to reiterate these at this juncture.…”

“…There has been considerable, relatively recent activity reported in the area of discharge modeling, 14,15,17-21,34,38,39,58 -64 14,15,[17][18][19][20][21]58,59 hydrogen, 62 and nitrogen. [58][59][60] It should be remarked that Refs.…”

“…1-4͒ in relation to partial discharge measurement and detection in electrical power apparatus, 5,6 this field of endeavor has undergone a very rapid growth in activity, particularly in the last two decades, due to the impetus of widely encompassing practical application of dielectric barrier discharges ͑DBD͒ to the deposition of thin films and surface treatment, 7,8 as well as in excimer lamps and plasma display panels, and other applications. [9][10][11][12] A substantial amount of literature has thus accumulated that deals with DBD and the spark-to-glow and -pseudoglow transition process ͓so-called atmospheric pressure glow discharges ͑APGD͔͒ in a number of gases between parallel-plane electrodes, including helium, [1][2][3][4][5][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] nitrogen, 4,27-31 argon, 4,[23][24][25][27][28][29] neon, 25,32 krypton, 25 sulphur hexafluoride, 4 oxygen, 4,27 air ͑including air-like mixtures͒ 4,20,27,…”

Finite Volume Method for Streamer and Gas Dynamics Modelling in Air Discharges at Atmospheric Pressure

“…Fine resolution is used only where it is necessary, enabling the model to be extended to a fully two-dimensional form and thereby making it possible to model complex geometries. Moreover, the first works that adapted the FEM to the charged carrier conservation equations were the papers of Yousfi et al (Yousfi et al, 1994) and Novak and Bartnikas (Novak & Bartnikas, 1987) but the former restricted its application to 1.5D problems. Finally, a few works on 3D streamer discharge modeling using either FVM or FEM numerical schemes have been performed by Kulikovsky (Kulikovsky, 1998), Park et al (Park et al, 2002), Akyuz et al (Akyuz et al, 2003) Georghiou et al (Georghiou et al, 2005) Pancheshnyi (Pancheshnyi, 2005) and Papageorghiou et al (Papageorghiou et al, 2011). 3.…”

Approaches for Numerical Simulation of Partial Discharges

“…The solution for fluid motion using FEM-FCT algorithm used by Georghiou was originally developed by Lohner [16]. Around the same time, Novak and Bartnikas [17] developed a 2-D solution for Poisson's equation and the charge conservation equation using FEM. Use of unstructured grids in all these cases helps keep the number of unknowns small without unduly compromising on the accuracy.…”