13_corona.ppt-ftp.pptVIP

Electrical Discharge An electrical discharge is the passage of electrical current through a material which normally does not conduct electricity. Consider, for example, a simple experiment which we have all experienced. If we hold two wires a few millimeters apart, and connect each to one pole of a battery, no perceptible electrical current flows through the air, because the air is insulating. However if these wire were connected to a high voltage source of several thousand volts, sparks will fly. The normally insulating air was transformed into a conductor, a process called electrical breakdown, and the sparks which we would see are a form of an electrical discharge. Normally air consists of neutral molecules of nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases, in which electrons are tightly bound to atomic nuclei. During the breakdown process, some of the negatively charged electrons are separated from their host atoms, leaving them with a positive charge. The negatively charged electrons, and the positively charged atoms (known as positive ions) are then free to move separately under the influence of the applied voltage. Their movement constitutes an electrical current. The collection of ions and electrons is known as a plasma, and one of its more important properties is that a plasma can conduct electrical current. Plasma There are several types of electrical discharges: The Corona is a partial discharge occurring when a highly inhomogeneous electric field is imposed. Typically, there is a very high electric field adjacent to a sharp electrode, and a net production of new electron-ion pairs occurs in this vicinity. The Corona typically has a very low current, and very high voltage. The Glow Discharge typically has a voltage of several hundred volts, and currents up to 1 A. A small electron current is emitted from the cathode by collisions of ions, excited atoms, and photons, and then multiplied by successive electron impact ionization collisions in the cathode fall regio