Abstract
We present a software to simulate the propagation of positive streamers in dielectric liquids. Such liquids are commonly used for electric insulation of high-power equipment. We simulate electrical breakdown in a needle–plane geometry, where the needle and the extremities of the streamer are modeled by hyperboloids, which are used to calculate the electric field in the liquid. If the field is sufficiently high, electrons released from anions in the liquid can turn into electron avalanches, and the streamer propagates if an avalanche meets the Townsend–Meek criterion. The software is written entirely in Python and released under an MIT license. We also present a set of model simulations demonstrating the capability and versatility of the software.
Highlights
With a higher demand for computational power, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods can be applied to solve the equations for generation and transport of charged particles during a streamer discharge [16,17], while the stochasticity and branching of streamers can be introduced by adding impurities [18]
We have previously described our streamer model for positive streamers where the propagation is based on an electron avalanche mechanism [22]
We have proposed a mechanism in which the propagation speed of a streamer increases if the liquid cannot absorb radiation energy to excited states, as a result of a strong electric field reducing the ionization potential [24]
Summary
Dielectric liquids, transformer oils, are used as electric insulation in high-power equipment such as power transformers [1]. To prevent equipment failure due to electrical discharges, new insulating liquids as well as additives are tested, experiments are carried out to better understand the physical nature of the phenomena, and simulations are performed to test the validity of predictive models [2,3]. Since electrical discharge events are rare at operating conditions, model experiments are designed to induce discharge in the liquid. In one such model experiment, a needle electrode is placed opposing a planar electrode, where the needle–plane gap is insulated by a liquid [2].
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