Computer simulation of the electrostatic field of corona discharge with a matrix of corona electrodes

Abstract

The present article discusses a computer model of an electrization chamber for a corona-discharge electric field in a surface modification plant. Its fundamental distinction from the existing models with one straight electrode consists in corona electrodes built into the array. The results of computer-generated simulation show that the electric field of the corona discharge gets steady in less than 4 milliseconds. At the electrode cross-section diameter d=0.6 mm, the electrode spacing 2a=20 mm, the potential U=25 kV, and the corona current magnitude at the electrode surface I=0.5 mA/m, the volume charge density at the electrode surface is 170 µC/m3 (106 charged ions in 1 mm3). There are no ions in the dead centre (x=a, y=a). At the same time, at the distance of 0.01a from the dead centre, the volume charge density remains quite high, 85 µC/m3. The corona discharge is unstable, and the position of the dead centre x=a±δ (y=a±δ) therefore will change along the height of a tubular cylinder.