Evolution of three-electrode pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge: primary streamer, transitional streamer and secondary reverse streamer

Abstract

The streamer evolution of three-electrode pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) in atmospheric air is studied with basic morphologic features, electrical characteristics and numerical simulation. Time resolved ICCD images demonstrate that besides the primary and secondary reverse streamers, a novel discharge mode-transitional streamer is also responsible for sustaining the streamer development in the three-electrode pulsed SDBD, which is different from the streamer mechanism in traditional two-electrode pulsed SDBD. Moreover, the discharge mode transition from the primary streamer to the transitional streamer is observed in a relative narrow discharge gap of 5 mm, while a relative large discharge gap of 19 mm results in a new phenomenon in which the primary streamer transits to the secondary reverse streamer without the process of transitional streamer. To determine the deposited energy of each streamer phase, an equivalent circuit model is built and it shows that the transitional streamer possesses the main energy. To make a further understanding of the formation and propagation of three streamer phases, a 2D fluid model is implemented and the streamer evolution and species distribution are analyzed. The results exhibit that the gathered positive ions in primary streamer head does not move forward when it is close to the second grounded (SG) electrode surface, because the same positive polarity of a cathode layer is formed on the SG electrode surface.

Streamer dynamics and charge self‐erasing of two counter‐propagating plasmas in repetitively pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge

“…Therefore, a low electric field is formed in the discharge gap, which can induce the generation of the transitional streamer characterized with no pronounced propagation direction. The similar luminous phenomenon of the transitional streamer is also observed in the three-electrode pulsed SDBD on which a second grounded electrode is placed on the same side of the HV electrode [42]. With the development of the transitional streamer, more and more positive charges are deposited on the dielectric surface.…”

“…From these sequences for snapshots of plasma emission, it can be noted that the two distinct discharge phases are initiated from the edge of the HV electrode and propagated with a certain direction, which are named as the primary streamer and secondary streamer, respectively. Between the primary and secondary streamers, a new plasma optical emission process which does not show a pronounced propagation direction in the discharge gap, is defined as the transitional streamer [42]. Time‐resolved images clearly pointed out that the primary streamers are initiated with the increasing pulse voltage and interact with each other at the middle position of the dielectric surface.…”

Characteristics of three-electrode pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge: streamer-to-spark transition and hydrodynamic expansion

“…A three-electrode configuration powered by pulse voltage coupled with directcurrent (DC) voltage is utilized to enhance the electrical energy and effective area of the discharge plasma [16][17][18]. The DC component can be replaced by a grounded electrode without an additional power supply, which also can reinforce the performance of SDBD [19]. Although a similar electrode configuration is developed in this work, the emphasis is different from that of the previous paper.…”

“…Although a similar electrode configuration is developed in this work, the emphasis is different from that of the previous paper. Our previous work focuses on the underlying physical mechanism of a surface streamer in a three-electrode pulsed SDBD [19]. However, the intensity of hydrodynamic expansion induced by surface streamer discharge is limited because of the low deposited energy.…”

Experimental research on the influence of temperature on the discharge signal of void defects in GIS

“…Faster particle movement accelerates the propagation of the streamer to a certain extent [17], which shortens the time for the streamer to penetrate the void. In the process of streamer discharge, the current varies with the development of the streamer and quickly reaches the peak value when the streamer penetrates the void [18]. Therefore, the temperature rise can accelerate the change of the discharge current, which affects the amplitude of the excited UHF electromagnetic wave.…”