Abstract
Ball plasmoid discharges are a unique type of atmospheric-pressure plasma discharge with a lifetime on the order of a hundred milliseconds without attachment to a power source. These discharges are generated by a moderate current pulse over the surface of an aqueous electrolyte, and some consider the spherical plasmoid that results to bear some resemblance to ball lightning. This article presents the first analysis of the electrical properties of ball plasmoid discharges in a reversed-polarity configuration, i.e., with the central electrode serving as the anode rather than as the cathode. These experiments demonstrate that ball plasmoids can indeed be generated with either electrode polarity with similar observable properties. These results are contrary to what has previously been discussed in the literature and raise additional questions regarding formation mechanisms of ball plasmoids. Analysis of images and electrical measurements collected at various discharge energies show that two distinct processes occur during discharges with our circuitry and in this reversed-polarity configuration: the formation of spark channels between the anode and electrolyte, and the generation of streamers and a jet from the surface of the anode.
Highlights
Several publications have described the generation and analysis of ball plasmoid discharges [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
We have presented experiments which examine the electrical properties of reversed-polarity ball plasmoid discharges for the first time
We have demonstrated that two processes occur during the discharge, namely the formation of spark channels and the formation of a jet at the anode, and that these processes can be described with different time constants
Summary
Several publications have described the generation and analysis of ball plasmoid discharges [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. Some authors claim that this system is analogous to naturally-occurring ball lightning; the methods used in this article to generate ball plasmoid discharges are not sufficiently similar to make a comparison to this mysterious phenomenon In addition to this long lifetime, there are several components of the discharge which are fundamentally interesting, but make analyzing this system difficult. It has been shown [12] that the early stages of ball plasmoid formation are governed by the development of streamers (arcs) between the central electrode and grounded electrolyte, and that these arc channels are highly dynamic. We demonstrate that when ball plasmoids are generated in a reversed-polarity configuration (with our circuit), two distinct processes are occurring, namely, electrical connection between the anode and electrolyte via spark channels, and the emanation of streamers and a jet from the anode
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