Three-dimensional LBE simulations of a decay of liquid dielectrics with a solute gas into the system of gas–vapor channels under the action of strong electric fields

Abstract

The three-dimensional simulations of an anisotropic decay of binary mixtures of a dielectric liquid with solute gas in a strong electric field are carried out. The Lattice Boltzmann Equation method (LBE) is exploited for computer simulations of the evolution of such systems with the newly arising interfaces between vapor and liquid phases. The parallel implementation of the LBE algorithm is realized on a large number of cores in the GPU. For the GPU programming, the CUDA technology is used.It is important that new regions of the low-density phase appear as thin quasi-cylindrical gas–vapor channels oriented along the electric field. The gas–vapor channels expand because of the diffusion of the solute gas from the mixture, evaporation of liquid into the channels and also due to the coalescence of channels with each other. The critical values of electric field necessary for such decay of a binary mixture are considerably lower than the critical electric field for pure dielectric liquids. Hence, if we take into account a solute gas, the electric fields for which the anisotropic mechanism of streamer channels generation and growth is operated, become considerably lower.Thus, at a breakdown of dielectric liquids in a strong electric field, the anisotropic instability is possibly the key mechanism of the generation of a gas phase, inception of conducting streamer structures, their fast growth in the form of thin filamentary channels, as well as branching of streamer structures during propagation.