Transient spark in air at atmospheric pressure

Author

Janda, M. ; Machala, Z. ; Stancu, G.D. ; Pai, D. ; Lacoste, D.A. ; Laux, C.O.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Astron., Earth Phys. & Meteorol., Comenius Univ., Bratislava, Slovakia

fYear

2008

fDate

7-12 Sept. 2008

Firstpage

349

Lastpage

352

Abstract

We have investigated a novel type of streamer-to-spark transition discharge in air at atmospheric pressure, named the transient spark (TS). Despite the DC applied voltage, TS has a pulsed character with very short (<100 ns) high current (>1 A) pulses, with repetitive frequencies of a few kHz. The emission of N₂ 2^nd and 1^st positive, N₂ ⁺ 1^st negative, and of the atomic N and O lines, was detected. The non-equilibrium character of TS was confirmed by calculated vibrational (3000-5000 K) and rotational (500-1500 K) temperatures. Additionally, temporal emission profiles were obtained using PMT measurements.

Keywords

air; photomultipliers; plasma diagnostics; plasma transport processes; sparks; DC applied voltage; O₂; PMT measurements; air streamer-to-spark transition discharge; atomic nitrogen line; nonequilibrium character; oxygen line; photomultiplier tube; pressure 1 atm; rotational temperatures; temperature 3000 K to 5000 K; temperature 500 K to 1500 K; temporal emission profiles; transient spark; vibrational temperatures; Atmospheric measurements; Atomic measurements; Electrodes; Optical filters; Plasma measurements; Plasma temperature; Pollution measurement; Sparks; Stimulated emission; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Gas Discharges and Their Applications, 2008. GD 2008. 17th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Cardiff

Print_ISBN

978-0-9558052-0-2

Type

conf

Filename

5379217