Title :
Effect of Spacer Surface and Geometry on Surface Discharge in Gas Using PIC Simulation
Author :
Tewari, Somesh Vinayak ; Roy, Amitava ; Sharma, Archana ; Mittal, Kailash Chandra
Author_Institution :
Accel. & Pulse Power Div., Bhabha Atomic Res. Centre, Mumbai, India
Abstract :
The presence of spacer in a spark-gap system leads to a reduction in breakdown voltage. This paper studies the effect of spacer surface profile and surface protrusions on the breakdown voltage in compressed gases. Different spacer profiles comprising of conical angled insulators, bush-bar insulators, and double ended frustum insulators are used to study the effect of spacer profile on spacer efficiency under nanosecond pulsed voltage using particle-in-cell simulation. The effect of protrusions on the surface of the insulators is modeled to study the effect of teeth height on spacer efficiency. An increase in spacer efficiency from 86% in case of cylindrical spacer to 97% with negative angled and bush bar spacer is observed for a 20-mm spacer length placed between the spark gap electrodes with nitrogen as background gas.
Keywords :
electrodes; finite difference time-domain analysis; nitrogen; plasma simulation; plasma-wall interactions; spark gaps; surface discharges; 3D finite difference time domain-based PIC simulation; N2; breakdown voltage; bush bar spacer; bush-bar insulators; compressed gases; conical angled insulators; cylindrical spacer; double ended frustum insulators; nanosecond pulsed voltage; nitrogen gas; particle-in-cell simulation; size 20 mm; spacer surface profile effect; spark gap electrode system; surface gas discharge; surface protrusion; teeth height; Cathodes; Discharges (electric); Electron emission; Geometry; Insulators; Ionization; Surface discharges; Dielectric materials; gas discharges; ionization; nitrogen; spark gap; spark gap.;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2014.2379915
