Abstract
Characterization of surface discharge phenomena is difficult because of numerous factors which affect the phenomena. This paper reports on an investigation into the fundamental characteristics of surface discharge in air at atmospheric pressure. The developing length of the surface streamer L is determined by Vs which is the instantaneous voltage of the high voltage electrode when the streamer occurs. L changes linearly with Vs. When the surface streamer develops over 60mm in length, the relationship between L and Vs deviates from a linear one and the value of L tends to saturate with increasing Vs. It is observed that as a streamer develops a steep pulse current of greater than 1010A/s flows. The voltage drop due to the inductance of the power supply circuit is too large to be disregarded.
