Streamer Initiation Research Articles

On dynamics of downward-propagating sprite streamers

An approximate approach to estimating characteristics of downward-propagating single positive sprite streamers is presented. Within the framework of this approach, the dependences of streamer radius and velocity on the altitude were obtained. The influence of changes in the altitude of streamer initiation and in the electric field at this altitude on the streamer parameters is considered. Estimates of the optical emission rate are obtained.

Statistical analysis and interpretation on lightning impulse breakdown voltages of ester liquids under varying field uniformity

AbstractEster liquids (ELs), as the alternative transformer liquids to the conventional mineral oils (MOs), have been increasingly used in power transformers with high voltage ratings. Among various properties, the lightning impulse breakdown voltages (LIBDVs) have been studied elaborately in the past two decades under different electric field uniformities. The electric field uniformities do have an effect on the breakdown characteristics, for example, breakdown mechanisms, polarity effects, and differences of LIBDV between ELs and MOs, which is quantitatively investigated based on the LIBDVs collected from the literatures. The breakdown mechanism transition phenomenon between streamer initiation dominated breakdown and streamer propagation dominated breakdown has been reviewed firstly. Then, the transition field factor boundaries to observe the polarity effect on LIBDVs are taken at around 20 for ELs and 10 for MOs. Besides, the transition field factor boundaries to observe the LIBDV distinctions between ELs and MOs are about 109 and 14 under positive and negative lightning impulse, respectively. The systematic analysis and interpretation on the transition field factor boundaries among different phenomena can provide insights on insulation design of ELs filled power transformers.

INITIATION OF A STREAMER IN A LIQUID FROM THE SURFACE OF A BUBBLE IN WHICH A PARTIAL DISCHARGE OCCURRED

The analysis of experimental data on the initiation of streamers in a liquid di- electric from the surface of a free-floating up gas bubble after partial discharge is performed. Calculations of electric fields in a dielectric after partial discharge in bubbles corresponding to experimental conditions, with different degrees of deformation of the bubbles and their dif- ferent position relative to flat electrodes, have been carried out. The effect of image charges on the value of the maximum electric field on the surface of a spherical bubble is estimated. The probability of initiation of branching streamers from the bubble surface into the liquid is analyzed.

Breakdown Phenomena in Liquid Nitrogen Under Synchronized Transient Boiling and Impulse Voltage

Resistive superconducting fault current limiters constitute a promising solution for high voltage networks. During the resistive current limitation, transient overvoltages and heat dissipation occur on superconducting tapes, inducing fast boiling of surrounding liquid nitrogen (LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ). An experimental system reproducing the fast transient heating of a tape electrode, synchronized with a high voltage impulse is described. Breakdown voltages measurements in both polarities are carried out versus synchronization delay, pressure (0.10 to 0.40 MPa), temperature (77 K and 65 K). Breakdown voltages show complex variations with these parameters. More insight is obtained from the recording of pre-breakdown phenomena (streamer). The size of vapor bubbles has a large and counter-intuitive influence on streamer initiation: the smaller bubbles, the lower inception voltage. Subcooling LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> (by decreasing temperature and/or increasing pressure) sometimes has a beneficial influence (quenching of negative streamer propagation), but deleterious effects can be as well observed in other circumstances (by favouring positive streamer initiation).

Pre-Breakdown and Breakdown Phenomena in Liquid Nitrogen With a Tape–Plane Electrode Geometry

Pre-breakdown and breakdown phenomena are investigated in liquid Nitrogen (LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ) with a tape-plane electrode geometry. Different voltage waveforms are used: lightning and switching standard impulses, step impulse, and DC ramp. The influence of temperature is also investigated, by sub-cooling LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> down to 65 K. Breakdown voltage depends on polarity, gap distance, temperature, and HV waveform: the longer waveform, the lower breakdown voltage. Positive pre-breakdown streamers are about 3 decades faster than negative ones. With short duration lightning impulses, the propagation of slow negative streamers is quenched, resulting in higher breakdown voltage. In boiling conditions, slow negative streamers may propagate for long durations. Sub-cooling LN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> induces a slight increase of streamer initiation voltage, and impedes the propagation of slow streamers due to condensation.

Streamer and Breakdown Characteristics of Transformer Liquids in Moderately Uniform Fields Under Negative Lightning Impulse

The identification of transition field factor boundary between streamer initiation dominated breakdown and streamer propagation dominated breakdown is important for understanding the breakdown mechanisms of transformer liquids and for the transformer insulation design in practice. Most previous studies focused on either very divergent field or nearly uniform field. This paper reports on breakdown voltage tests with three transformer liquids in moderately-uniform fields. The results show that the transition field factor boundary between streamer initiation dominated breakdown and streamer propagation dominated breakdown under negative lightning impulse is liquid dependent. It is 9.6 for a mineral oil, 7.3 for a GTL oil, and 42.0 for a synthetic ester. The difference of the transition field factor boundary helps explain the observed breakdown voltage distinction among the three transformer liquids. In addition, the characteristics of negative streamers leading to breakdown were also investigated in the moderately-uniform fields. Streamer mode transitions with gap distance were observed and clarified, which is from 1 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">st</sup> mode streamer to 2 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">nd</sup> mode streamer in both the mineral oil and GTL oil, while it is the 2 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">nd</sup> mode streamer to fast streamer in the synthetic ester.

Effect of voltage waveshape and pressure on streamer breakdown criterion for predicting flashover voltage of polymeric insulators

The flashover voltage (FOV) of an outdoor insulator varies with atmospheric conditions and the voltage waveshapes. When altitude increases, the FOV decreases due to various atmospheric factors, mainly the pressure. The FOV of the insulator changes under normal operating conditions and transient over-voltages. As the flashover is dominated by streamer mechanisms, this study addresses the application of the streamer breakdown criterion to predict the FOV under different waveshapes and pressures. The Streamer breakdown criterion requires three parameters: electric field distribution, the relation between electric field and effective ionization co-efficient and the appropriate streamer initiation constant (K). The electric field distribution is computed using a FEM based electrostatic solver and the corresponding effective ionization coefficient is calculated. Though the computational procedures of the first two parameters are well defined, uncertainty exist in the value of K, as K depends on the type of gas, electrode geometry, gap distance, pressure, voltage waveshapes, etc. Though many studies have been carried out on configurations under AC, DC and LI only with different ranges of K, reports on the effect of voltage waveshape on the same configuration at different pressures are lacking. Hence, FOVs of an 11 kV polymeric insulator under DC, AC, LI, SI and the steepest VFTO for various pressures (0.75–1.013 bar) are measured and exact Ks are extracted. The necessity of the voltage waveshape-specific K range is inferred and quantified for accurate prediction of FOVs and also inferring the possibility of prediction of FOV without doing any experiments. The applicability of the K range for different arc lengths is verified using SiR samples.

Study of Discharge Inception and Propagation in Liquid–Solid Insulation System under DC–LI Superimposed Constraints

High-voltage direct current (HVDC) links are starting to become widely implemented thanks to their interesting advantages such as reduced operation losses, the absence of reactive power, which allows energy transport via underground cables over long distances, and improved power control. The latter advantage is very essential for renewable energy resource integration into power grids. However, a thorough understanding of the behavior of insulation systems for HVDC components is critical so as to ensure a more reliable service. Indeed, the existence of the direct current (DC) voltage in HVDC components may induce surface and space charge accumulation that can stress insulation further or even promote discharge inception and propagation. As such, this work focuses on showcasing the effect of surface charge on streamers that develop on the interface of liquid–solid insulation due to the advent of lightning impulse (LI) voltage in the HVDC link. This study was performed using finite-element-based numerical simulations that include a quasi-electrostatic model for surface charge accumulation and an electrohydrodynamic fluid model for streamer initiation and propagation. The geometry used was point–plane configuration where the high voltage is applied to the needle electrode located above the liquid–solid interface. The obtained results suggest that streamer initiation is affected by both the accumulated surface charge density and polarity. For a positive streamer, an accumulation of positive surface charge increases the discharge inception voltage as a result of a weakening in the electric field, while an accumulation of negative surface charge decreases the discharge inception voltage due to an intensification in the electric field. Moreover, streamer travel distance and velocity are also both shown to be affected by surface charge accumulation.

Experimental investigation on streamer inception from artificial hydrometeors

In this study we use an experimental investigation to shed light on the lightning inception problem. From atmospheric observations, it is known that the electric fields in thunderclouds are significantly lower than required for electric breakdown in air. One theory to explain lightning inception is that hydrometeors, i.e. any liquid or solid water particles formed in the atmosphere, greatly enhance the local electric field and can thereby initiate an electron avalanche leading to a streamer discharge. In this study, we investigate streamer initiation in the presence of artificial particles with different shapes. A metal or dielectric (TiO2) particle is suspended between a high-voltage and a grounded planar electrode which are separated by 16 cm in 50 mbar air. The particles are shaped as ellipsoids with a length of 8, 4, 2, and 1 cm and with different aspect ratios. A negative high voltage pulse is applied with a rise time of 30 ns, a pulse width of 1–10 μs, a repetition rate of 1 Hz, and a maximum voltage between 1 and 50 kV. Results show that the required background electric field for breakdown in the presence of a dielectric particle is decreased to 0.4 times the air breakdown field. Moreover, we observed bipolar streamer development from the particles where negative streamers are thicker and slightly slower than positive streamers. Finally, we found that streamers from longer particles are thicker and faster.

Determination of the Pre-breakdown Electric Field near a Cathode Streamer in Water

The electrical strength of liquids under the influence of an impulse voltage is determined by the streamer initiation and propagation processes. For a streamer to grow and develop, a strong field must be present near its head. The field strength near a cathode streamer developing in water is estimated. Computer simulation of electro-optical studies of the pre-breakdown stage in water in the submicrosecond range that have already been carried out is performed, and the relevant processes are analyzed. During the simulation, all geometric, optical, and electrophysical conditions of the experiment were fully reproduced. A cathode streamer developing in a system of spherical electrodes in water is considered. The mathematical simulation was carried out using the finite element method inside the measuring cell volume. The experimental kerrogram intensity distribution field was numerically reproduced using the proposed model. The obtained 2D matrix was visualized, and the calculated kerrogram was compared with the experimental one. Calculations with a step of 2.5–5 µm allowed the fragments of interest to be analyzed in detail. Two streamer model versions were considered: a simplified one and a modified one, with the latter being closer to the real streamer kind. Computer simulation of the field near the streamer has shown the following. If the permittivity is assumed to be independent of the field strength, its value at the cathode streamer head does not exceed 1.9 MV/cm. At the same time, if the permittivity non-linearity is taken into account, the field strength estimated using both the streamer model was found to be around 2.4–3.1 MV/cm. It is shown that, despite the fact that the field strength somewhat exceeds the threshold value equal to 3 MV/cm, at which the dipole saturation state is possible, this does not lead to a noticeable change in the result. Thus, it has been confirmed that the field strength near the cathode streamer is essentially lower compared with that near the anode streamer.

An Experimental Study of Electromagnetic Field Propagation Due to Lightning Upward Leaders and Its Probability on Different Small-Scale Structures

In this paper, upward leader initiation and the probability of lightning flashes on different air terminal were analyzed in detail. With the growing global warming, lightning flash density has increased abruptly, especially in tropical countries. Upward leaders are the critical elements to be considered for defining comprehensive protective measures against lightning during thunderstorms. This article presents the lightning flashover phenomenon on scaled buildings with installed lightning rods. Moreover, the electric field and initialization of upward leaders from Lightning Air Terminals (LATs) were analyzed in detail using Ansys Maxwell as a simulation tool. For the experimental work, a high-voltage impulse generator was used. The air gap between the lightning rods and the top electrode was kept constant in all scaled structures. The purpose of using an identical air gap was to study the upward leader and its electric field for all structures. The effects of the upward leaders on the electric field plots are explained in detail and allowed the determination of the electric field’s intensity around each air terminal for the provided air gap between the tip of the rod and the top electrode. A low-cost lightning protection system was taken into account, as the economic crisis is worsening with time. A Franklin rod was used as the primary protection device for the initiation of the upward streamer. The experimental results were obtained in Malaysian weather conditions based on standard values of temperature and pressure. The study presented in this article shows that based on the experimental work, field plots were obtained for both the air insulation scenario and the condition when the upward leader was incepted. The simulation results showed a firm agreement with the measured values. Similarly, by upward leader inception, the strikes could be predicted accurately on every installed air terminal.

Hot plasma channel network formation in thunderclouds

The main intrigue of lightning initiation is that electric fields measured in thunderclouds have peak values about an order of magnitude lower than the dielectric strength of air and do not even exceed the minimum field needed for positive streamers propagation. It was recently established that pronounced decimeter-scale electric field fluctuations appear against the background of a relatively weak thundercloud large-scale electric field owing to turbulent mixing and polarization of hydrometeors. In the course of thundercloud development these field enhancements reach a level sufficient for initiation of positive streamers and their propagation over the distances of the order of decimeters. Streamers initiate, develop, decay, and merge with each other, thereby providing the appearance of an extensive hierarchical system of interacting plasma channels at different stages of development with embedded and growing hot segments. In this study the renormalization group approach is employed to calculate the value of thundercloud electric field that provides hot plasma channel network explosive formation. The calculated threshold field is considerably less than the minimum field required for positive streamers propagation and may be viewed as the true lightning initiation field.

The Influence of Diethylaniline and Toluene on the Streamer Propagation in Cyclohexane between a Point-Plane Gap under Positive Impulse Voltage Stress

Liquid insulation is used in high voltage equipment such as power transformers as both dielectric medium and coolant. Breakdown in liquid insulation tends to be governed either by streamer initiation under more uniform fields, or by streamer propagation under more non-uniform fields. A model streamer propagation study, which screens the effectiveness of additives based on cyclohexane and mixtures with diethylaniline (DEA) and toluene, is presented in this paper. The effect of additives, at different concentrations, on streamer propagation velocity in cyclohexane under an applied lightning impulse voltage of positive polarity is studied. Cyclohexane (ionisation potential 9.88 eV) was chosen because, being a hydrocarbon, it shares similarities with the constituents of common insulating liquids. Previous studies have also shown how, in general, the addition of additives of lower ionization potential than the bulk liquid can slow down streamer propagation in insulating liquids. A point-plane electrode configuration of 70 mm gap with a 5 μm tip radius is used and subjected to an applied positive polarity impulse of 1.2/50 μs. A high velocity imaging system is also used to capture streamer images to validate a Time-To-Breakdown (TTB) measurement approach used in inferring approximate streamer velocity. The DEA (ionisation potential 6.98 eV) was found to be an effective additive to slow down positive polarity streamers in cyclohexane in the applied voltage range (≈220–280 kV peak) in concentrations above approximately 0.33% (by volume). Toluene (ionisation potential 8.82 eV) was found not to significantly slow down streamers in cyclohexane, even at 10% concentration, for the same voltage range. This is postulated to be due to the fact that toluene does not have a low enough ionisation potential (with respect to that of the cyclohexane) to change the streamer branching characteristics sufficiently during propagation.

Relay charge transport in thunderclouds and its role in lightning initiation

A new mechanism of charge transport inside a thundercloud is suggested and numerically investigated. The considered mechanism can be called “relay” because it is provided by a dynamical network of a relatively small amount of continuously decaying and arising conducting plasma formations. It manifests itself in two consecutive modes corresponding to pre-streamer and streamer/leader stages of thundercloud development. The first one is provided by dynamics of conducting ionic spots recently described by Iudin et al.1 that prepare conditions for initiation of positive streamers. The second mode relies on dynamical network of streamer/leader discharges and finally results in the formation of a compact well-conducting structure that bridges an area of strong electric field inside a thundercloud and can be associated with a lightning “seed”. The effectiveness of relay charge transport strongly depends on the relative proportion of conductive elements (plasma formations) and drastically increases in the field-dependent case.

Pre-Breakdown and Breakdown Behavior of Synthetic and Natural Ester Liquids under AC Stress

In the last decades, a large focus is being placed on the sustainability and safety of the power transformer spectrum. Ester liquids, which have interesting properties such as high fire point and biodegradability, are gaining needed attraction. Since in-service condition, thermal aging deteriorates the physicochemical and electrical properties of liquid dielectrics, it is important to study their long-term behavior. In this contribution, the pre-breakdown and breakdown behavior of ester fluids (synthetic and natural) under AC stress are investigated. Important characteristics, such as partial discharge pre-inception voltage, partial discharge inception voltage, breakdown voltage, average streamer velocity, and inception electric field, were assessed. The influence of the radius of curvature (of high voltage needle electrode) as well as the thermal degradation of typical ester liquids are also discussed. Mineral oil was also included in the tests loop as a benchmark for comparative purposes. It is found that the pre-inception voltage of ester liquids was, in most cases, higher than that of mineral oil. For a given radius of curvature, the streamer inception and breakdown voltages decreased with thermal aging. During the streamer initiation, the electric field at the electrode tip decreased with the increase in the radius of curvature. The velocity of the streamers seems to increase with the decrease in the radius of curvature. The period of vulnerability, the so-called “delay time”, seems to be independent of the aging or the radius of curvature for a given condition of the liquid.

On the electrical breakdown of GFRP wind turbine blades due to direct lightning strokes

Lightning puncture damage on the wind turbine blades can pose a severe threat to the safe operation of large-capacity wind turbines. We investigated its formation by performing long air gap discharge experiments under positive and negative downward leaders. Upward streamers were observed to emit from the sample blade before its electrical breakdown. To explain this phenomenon, a numerical model considering the streamer discharge in air, charge transport in GFRP laminate and surface charge accumulation on air-solid interfaces was established. It is found that streamer discharges can be triggered inside the blade hollow to generate space and surface charges, which strengthen the electric field on the outer blade surface and contribute to the upward streamer initiation. The upward streamer development leads to the accumulation of surface charges with opposite polarities on the two sides of GFRP laminate, which causes the electric field on the GFRP laminate to exceed its electrical breakdown threshold. The electrical breakdown, which occurs before the thermal effect of lightning current appears, is the initial stage of lightning puncture damage of blades. The electrical discharge inside the blade hollow and the surface charge accumulation on the GFRP blade should be suppressed to prevent the puncture damage of blades.

Study on Dominant Parameters Determining Streamer Initiation From Hydrometeors in Thundercloud Fields

AbstractThis study reports a study trying to find the dominant factor on streamer initiation from an isolated hydrometeor in thundercloud fields at 7 km altitude corresponding to an atmosphere pressure of about 0.453 atm. Three parameters are considered including hydrometeor size, shape, and electric quantity. The simulation results indicate that a larger hydrometeor is more likely to initiate a streamer discharge at a lower ambient field for noncharged hydrometeors. The charge on hydrometeor plays a prominent role when a charged hydrometeor has a smaller size, and it is easier to initiate a streamer in this case. At 0.25 Ek, a positive streamer discharge has been presented for a charged hydrometeor with a radius of 0.5 mm. The critical field to form streamer discharge for a column shape hydrometeor without charge is much smaller than that for a spherical hydrometeor. If smaller hydrometeors are charged, the critical field for a spherical hydrometeor becomes lower than that for a column one. The electric quantity charged on hydrometeor has little effect on the critical field for both spherical and column hydrometeors, when the hydrometeor size is larger enough. The charge on hydrometeor plays a dominant role in streamer initiation when hydrometeor is smaller, but hydrometeor shape becomes more important for larger hydrometeor. Streamer discharge can be predicted by Meek number, but stable streamer cannot be ensured. Streamer branch will be met when ambient field is lower than 0.25 Ek.

From decimeter-scale elevated ionic conductivity regions in the cloud to lightning initiation

In this work, we represent the lightning initiation scenario as a sequence of two transitions of discharge activity to progressively larger spatial scales: the first one is from small-scale avalanches to intermediate-scale streamers; and the second one is from streamers to the lightning seed. We postulate the existence of ion production centers in the cloud, whose occurrence is caused by electric field bursts accompanying hydrometeor collisions (or near collisions) in the turbulent thundercloud environment. When a new ion production center is created inside (fully or partially) the residual ion spot left behind by a previously established center, there is a cumulative effect in the increasing of ion concentration. As a result, the essentially non-conducting thundercloud becomes seeded by elevated ion-conductivity regions (EICRs) with spatial extent of 0.1–1 m and a lifetime of 1–10 s. The electric field on the surface of an EICR (due to its conductivity being at least 4 orders of magnitude higher than ambient) is a factor of 3 or more higher than ambient. For a maximum ambient electric field of 100 kV/m typically measured in thunderclouds, such field enhancement is sufficient for initiation of positive streamers and their propagation over distances of the order of decimeters, and this will be happening naturally, without any external agents (e.g., superenergetic cosmic ray particles) or extraordinary in-cloud conditions, such as very high potential differences or very large hydrometeors. Provided that each EICR generates at least one streamer during its lifetime, the streamers will form a 3D network, some parts of which will contain hot channel segments created via the cumulative heating and/or thermal-ionizational instability. These hot channel segments will polarize, interact with each other, and cluster, forming longer conducting structures in the cloud. When the ambient potential difference bridged by such a conducting structure exceeds 3 MV, we assume that the lightning seed, capable of self-sustained bidirectional extension, is formed.

Effect of Electric Field Uniformity on Breakdown Mechanisms of Dielectric Liquids under Lightning Impulse

The electric field uniformity imposes a significant effect on the breakdown mechanisms of dielectric liquids. In general, breakdown is dominated by streamer initiation under uniform field, while it is dominated by streamer propagation under non-uniform field. This paper presents a study on identifying and quantifying the transition field factor boundary, represented by the field enhancement factor f, between the two dominating breakdown mechanisms. The methods for deducing the transition field factor boundary are introduced. The first method from our previous study was developed by measuring and processing both the streamer initiation and breakdown voltages. In this paper, a new method is developed by only processing the breakdown voltage data. Based on the breakdown results reproduced from the literature, the transition field factor boundaries are derived for the mineral oil under both positive and negative lightning impulses. It is found that the negative transition field factor boundary is lower than the positive one. A four-region model is proposed to describe the effect of impulse polarity on breakdown mechanisms of dielectric liquids and to interpret the transition of breakdown mechanisms with respect to the field uniformity.

Blue Flashes as Counterparts to Narrow Bipolar Events: The Optical Signal of Shallow In‐Cloud Discharges

AbstractNarrow Bipolar Events (NBEs) are powerful radio emissions from thunderstorms, which have been recently associated with blue optical flashes on cloud tops and attributed to extensive streamer electrical discharges named fast breakdown. Combining data obtained from a thunderstorm over South China by the space‐based Atmosphere Space Interactions Monitor, the Vaisala GLD360 global lightning network and very low frequency/low frequency radio detectors, here we report and analyze for the first time the optical emissions of blue luminous events associated with negative NBEs and located at the top edge of a thundercloud. These emissions are weakly affected by scattering from cloud droplets, allowing us to estimate the source extension and optical energy involved in the process. The optical energy in the 337‐nm band emitted by fast breakdown is about 104 J, which involves around 109 streamer initiation events.