Streamer Velocity Research Articles

Shockwave Characteristics of Streamer Propagation in Insulating Liquids under Positive Lightning Impulse

This paper presents an experimental study focusing on the quantitative analyses of spatial characteristics of Mach-cone shaped shockwaves generated by streamers in a mineral oil and a synthetic ester in a fixed 12 mm needle-plane gap under positive lightning impulse. The influences of voltage level and liquid type are investigated. Results showed that Mach-cone shaped shockwaves are always observed ahead of actively propagating streamer channels. In the mineral oil, instantaneous streamer velocities undergo initial bursts before gradually decreasing and stabilizing at around 2 km/s. Shockwave pressures decrease from 6-8 GPa upon the streamer initiation to around 4 GPa as streamer propagates to a longer distance. Compared to the mineral oil, the initial bursts of instantaneous streamer velocities and shockwave pressures are lower in the synthetic ester. Investigated voltage levels from initiation to near breakdown do not impose significant effects on the observed shockwave parameters. In addition, the appearance of Mach-cone shaped shockwave is found to be an effective indicator of actively propagating streamer channel which can be used as a tool to quantify streamer main branches.

Electric field distributions along helium plasma jets

Results of simulations of streamers propagating along the atmospheric-pressure helium plasma jets ejected from a thin tube into ambient air are presented. The computational model includes the equations governing the helium–air mixture composition along and across the jet, as well as the equations, describing streamer propagation in the mixture, for the electric field and the charged species densities. Streamer velocity and spatial–temporal profiles of plasma parameters are obtained for various values of the helium flow rate. It is shown, in agreement with available experimental data, that the electric field values in the heads of streamers increase nearly linearly with the distance from the tube exit and that the slope of this dependence decreases with the growth of the helium flow rate.

Spatiotemporal analysis of streamer discharge in a wire-to-wire reactor with positive nanosecond pulse supply

The spatial and temporal distribution of the discharge streamers in positive pulsed wire-to-wire electrode configuration in atmospheric air is investigated by an electrical-optical diagnostic system. Time-resolved ICCD images show that the discharge streamers in wire-to-wire electrode develop in three phases: the primary streamer, the secondary positive streamer, and the secondary negative streamer. It is observed that the evolution of discharge streamers is strongly influenced by the amplitude of the applied voltage. The optical emission spectroscopy measurement of hydroxyl radical OH indicates that the OH is mainly generated in the secondary positive streamer near the anode region. But in the region near the cathode the emission of OH radicals can also be detected due to the secondary negative streamer. The influences of rise time, fall time and pulse duration on streamer dynamics and the subsequent radical production are observed. It is shown that the average propagation velocity of the primary streamer decreases with the increase of the rise time, while the variation of pulse width and pulse duration parameters have little effect on that of the primary streamer. The response surface methodology based on Box–Behnken design model is implemented to evaluate the contribution of the three critical pulse parameters on ozone production. The results of the response surface quadratic model show that the pulse rise time plays the most prominent role in the generation of ozone among the three pulse parameters of rise time, fall time and pulse duration.

Effect of surfactants on the lightning breakdown voltage of palm oil and coconut oil based Al2O3 nanofluids

In this paper, the effect of different types of surfactants on the lightning breakdown voltages of palm oil (PO) and coconut oil (CO) based aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanofluids is investigated. Three different types of surfactants were used in this study known as cationic (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)), anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)) and non-ionic (oleic acid (OA)). The volume percentage concentrations of Al2O3 dispersed into PO and CO were varied from 0.001% to 0.05%. The ratio of surfactant to the nanoparticles was set to 50% from the volume concentration of nanoparticles which equivalent to 1:2. In total, two types of refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) and one type of CO were examined for lightning breakdown voltage. The test was carried out based on needle-sphere electrodes configuration with 25 mm gap distance. The presence of Al2O3 improves both positive and negative lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPO and CO. Under the positive and negative polarities, the CTAB does provide further improvements on the lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPOA (1st type of samples) and CO at most of the volume of concentration of Al2O3. SDS and OA could also further improve the lightning breakdown voltage of CO at certain volume concentration of Al2O3. On the other hand, the lightning breakdown voltage of RBDPOB based Al2O3 nanofluid (2nd type of samples) does not further improve with the introduction of surfactants. At most of the volume concentration of Al2O3, the introduction of CTAB further increases the times to breakdown and decrease the average streamer velocities of RBDPOA under both polarities. The same finding is observed for CO under positive polarity with CTAB and SDS as well as under negative polarity in the presence of all surfactants. The streamer velocities and times to breakdown patterns of RBDPOB based Al2O3 nanofluid are inconsistent in the presence of all surfactants. It is found that RBDPO and CO based Al2O3 nanofluids have second mode of streamer whereby the streamer velocities are from 1 km s−1 to 1.63 km s−1 regardless with or without surfactants.

How pulse polarity and photoionization control streamer discharge development in long air gaps

A 2D approach is used to simulate the properties of positive and negative streamers emerging from a high-voltage electrode in a long (14 cm) air gap for standard pressure and temperature. The applied voltage varies from 100 to 500 kV. To reveal the influence of photoionization, the calculations are made for various rates of seed electron generation in front of the streamer head. The difference between the properties of positive and negative streamers is associated with the different directions of the electron drift ahead of the streamer head. As a result, the peak electric field at the streamer head and the streamer velocity are higher for positive voltage polarity. The average electric field in the negative streamer channel is approximately twice that in the positive streamer channel, in agreement with available measurements in long air gaps. It is shown that photoionization in front of the streamer head is important not only for the development of strong positive discharges, but for the development of strong negative discharges as well. An increase in the photoionization rate increases the propagation velocity of the positive streamer and retards the propagation of the negative streamer.

Discharge propagation on a dielectric surface in a single-filament arrangement

Discharge development and streamer propagation on a dielectric surface were investigated in nitrogen-oxygen gas mixtures at atmospheric pressure. A coaxial pin-to-pin arrangement was used to generate single surface discharges driven by positive unipolar square wave high voltages of between 7 and 9 kV at 4.3 kHz. The development of surface discharges was recorded by ICCD and streak cameras. The discharges developed on the surface using pin electrodes attached directly to the dielectric plate. The accumulation over several discharge events showed a propagation front evolving from the electrode tip, while images of single discharges showed a non-uniform and branched structure of discharge channels. The electrode polarity influenced the discharge expansion and propagation velocity. Positive polarity of the metallic electrode (rising slope of HV pulses) led to a cathode-directed streamer with higher propagation velocities (5 × 105 m/s) than for negative polarity (relative to surface charges; falling slope). The increase in the O2 content in N2 from 0.1 to 20 vol% resulted in a decrease in discharge duration and an increase in streamer velocities.

The Sensitive Properties of Hydrate Reservoirs Based on Seismic Stereoscopic Detection Technology

AbstractHigher‐precision determinations of hydrate reservoirs, hydrate saturation levels and storage estimations are important for guaranteeing the ability to continuously research, develop and utilize natural gas hydrate resources in China. With seismic stereoscopic detection technology, which fully combines the advantages of different seismic detection models, hydrate formation layers can be observed with multiangle, wide‐azimuth, wide‐band data with a high precision. This technique provides more reliable data for analyzing the distribution characteristics of gas hydrate reservoirs, establishing velocity models, and studying the hydrate‐sensitive properties of petrophysical parameters; these data are of great significance for the exploration and development of natural gas hydrate resources. Based on a velocity model obtained from the analysis of horizontal streamer velocity data in the hydrate‐bearing area of the Shenhu Sea, this paper uses three VCs (longitudinal spacing of 25 m) and four OBSs (transverse spacing of 200 m) to jointly detect seismic datasets consisting of wave points based on an inversion of traveltime imaging sections. Accordingly, by comparing the differences between the seismic phases in the original data and the forward‐modeled seismic phases, multiangle coverage constraint corrections are applied to the initial velocity model, and the initial model is further optimized, thereby improving the imaging quality of the streamer data. Petrophysical elastic parameters are the physical parameters that are most directly and closely related to rock formations and reservoir physical properties. Based on the optimized velocity model, the rock elastic hydrate‐sensitive parameters of the hydrate reservoirs in the study area are inverted, and the sensitivities of the petrophysical parameters to natural gas hydrates are investigated. According to an analysis of the inversion results obtained from these sensitive parameters, λρ, Vp and λμ are simultaneously controlled by the bulk modulus and shear modulus, while Vs and μρ are controlled only by the shear modulus, and the latter two parameters are less sensitive to hydrate‐bearing layers. The bulk modulus is speculated to be more sensitive than the shear modulus to hydrates. In other words, estimating the specific gravity of the shear modulus among the combined parameters can affect the results from the combined elastic parameters regarding hydrate reservoirs.

The polarity effect of nanosecond voltage pulses on the propagation of streamers in a point-to-plane gap filled with air

The results of experimental studies of the effect of polarity on the streamer velocity at various voltage amplitudes are presented. In the experiments, nanosecond voltage pulses were applied across an 8.5 mm point-to-plane gap filled with air at a pressure of 100 kPa. The formation of positive and negative streamers has been experimentally studied using a HSFC-PRO four-channel ICCD camera and a Hamamatsu C10910-05 streak camera. Waveforms of voltage and discharge current pulses were also recorded. The propagation velocity of streamers was estimated by streak images. It was found that a negative streamer crosses the gap faster than a positive one. This is most likely due to the presence of runaway electrons with the negative polarity of a pointed electrode. The experiment showed that runaway electrons are generated before the formation of a negative streamer. Runaway electrons can preionize the gas in the gap.

Formation of a Negative Streamer in a Sharply Nonuniform Electric Field and the Time of Generation of Runaway Electrons

The formation of a negative streamer in air is investigated at different pressures in a sharply nonuniform electric field under the conditions of nanosecond and subnanosecond breakdowns. The investigations are performed with a four-channel ICCD-camera and an ultrafast streak-camera. In a separate series of experiments, the generation of runaway electrons is investigated in the course of streamer formation by measuring the dynamic displacement current. It is shown that the streamer velocity changes during its motion from the electrode with a small curvature radius towards the opposite flat electrode. The data are obtained on the instantaneous streamer velocity. It is shown that runaway electrons are generated at the start of the streamer.

Measuring and Modeling Streamer Velocity at an Air Discharge in a Highly Inhomogeneous Electric Field

The velocities of the positive and negative streamers in the air at atmospheric pressure are experimentally, theoretically, and computationally studied at the discharge of the needle–plane gap by the nanosecond voltage pulses. The data on variation in the streamer’s velocity are obtained, including the data at various amplitudes of the voltage pulses. It is established that the streamer’s velocity varies along its motion and is maximum at the electrode with a small curvature radius and at the planar electrode. It is demonstrated that the character of variation in the computational values of the streamer’s velocity over the gap agrees with the experimental data.

Streamer characteristics of PEEK surface in nitrogen driven by positive repetitive pulse voltage

In this work, we present a detailed analysis on the observed streamer characteristics of PEEK (polyetheretherketone) surface in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure driven by positive repetitive pulse voltage, including the forward discharge streamer and the back discharge streamer. Fast oscilloscopic technique and digital photographic technique were employed to observe the streamers of surface discharges, and current pulse waveform analysis technique and image analysis technique were used to analyze the characteristics of the observed streamers. The experimental results show that the current pulse of forward discharge streamer has a shorter rise time, a higher current amplitude, a faster current rising rate, a shorter fall time, a faster current falling rate and a smaller charge quantity than those of back discharge streamer at the same voltage amplitude. Besides, the forward discharge streamer has a longer stopping length, a faster propagation velocity and a stronger maximum light intensity than back discharge streamer at the same voltage amplitude. Furthermore, the correlation between the electrical characteristics and optical characteristics of the streamer was analytically derivated, and the current rising rate of the streamer is proportionally correlated to the product of the streamer stopping length and the streamer velocity square.

Positive streamers: inception and propagation along mineral-oil/solid interfaces

This paper presents an experimental characterization of the prebreakdown phenomena in liquid/solid interfaces. The characterization is devoted to the 2nd mode positive streamers initiated and propagated along interfaces of mineral-oil and solids with different chemical composition and physical properties. Polymers of low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and papers made of kraft paper and a kraft fibril paper (made from cellulosic micro and nano fibrils), lignin-free paper and paper with high lignin content (referred to as k107 kraft paper) are used as the solid to study their influence on the streamer inception and propagation. The streamers are initiated at the interface by applying steps of voltage to a point-plane electrode arrangement with a solid (dielectric barrier) into the gap. The solid is placed diagonal to the oil gap and near to the point electrode. Shadowgraphs, charge and light intensity recordings are obtained during the inception and propagation of the streamers. Thus, estimations of the streamer length, velocity, current and average charge, are also presented. A time delay has been observed before the initiation of the streamer. This delay is probably correlated to the initiation process and formation of the gaseous phase of the streamer near to the interface. The threshold propagation voltage of the 2nd mode streamers at mineral-oil/solid interfaces is shown to be independent of the interface. However, the inception voltage is highly influenced by the interface. Additionally, the observed characteristics of streamers propagation (e.g. current, length, velocity, etc) along the tested interfaces cannot be fully explained by a capacitive coupling effect (permittivity mismatch). This open a discussion for the possibility that properties of the solid such as chemical composition, wettability and surface roughness can influence the streamer propagation.

Volume and surface memory effects on evolution of streamer dynamics along gas/solid interface in high-pressure nitrogen under long-term repetitive nanosecond pulses

Evolution of the surface streamer and the discharge mode transition from the corona discharge to the surface flashover were investigated by pulse sequence resolved electrical and optical measurements under long-term repetitive nanosecond pulses (RNP). The test sample was a cylindrical epoxy resin insulator attached with a needle electrode in 0.1–0.4 MPa nitrogen. Under positive RNP, the inception phase of subsequent streamer discharges decreases with increasing the pulse repetition frequency (PRF), and a periodical streamer stagnation phenomenon appears at high gas pressure. Under negative RNP, the surface streamer does not illustrate symbolic decreasing tendencies in light intensity and corona inception phase in gas gap. The dependence of the evolution of surface streamer velocity on PRF is correlated with the repulsive force from surface charges and the accessibility of seed electrons. Statistical characteristics of back discharges under negative RNP are qualitatively explained by the local electric field around the triple junction. The reversal phenomenon of polarity effect of the allowable repetitive working coefficient is probably resulted from the corona stabilization effect, the surface electron detrapping process, and the assistance of background electric field. Principal results qualitatively support that behaviors of surface streamer and flashover are dominated by the electric field distribution, volume and surface memory effects as well as their interactions and bidirectional transformations, which are different from the monotonically facilitative tendency predicted by the metastable-species-dominated memory effect mechanism.

Streamer Breakdown with Runaway Electrons Forming Diffuse Discharges in an Inhomogeneous Electric Field

The results of experimental investigations of formation of diffuse nanosecond discharges in a nonuniform electric field in air and other gases at the pressures within 12.5–400 kPa are presented. The experiments were performed using a four-channel ICCD-camera, an ultra-fast streak-camera, and wideband oscilloscopes. It is found out that spherical streamers are formed in a sharply nonuniform electrical fields under high voltages in a pre-breakdown stage of the discharge, irrespective of the gas used (air, nitrogen, hydrogen, methane, neon, or helium). The data are obtained on the instantaneous streamer velocity in air at different voltages and on the displacement current caused by the electric field re-distribution in the gap during the streamer formation. Beams of runaway electrons are recorded. The mechanism of formation of anode- and cathode-directed streamers at high voltages is discussed.

Two-dimensional simulation of transition from primary to secondary streamer discharge in air

A Two-dimensional simulation of the atmospheric pressure needle-plane streamer discharge is presented in this paper. The model consists of three continuity equations for electrons and ions coupled with Poisson’s equation. Photon flux was estimated by the impact of the ionization reactions. The distributions of the electric field and photon flux from the primary streamer to the secondary streamer are discussed, where velocity of the primary streamer was 2.16×105 m/s and the radius of the filament of the secondary streamer varied from 0.012 cm to 0.02 cm. The variation in photon flux was similar to that of the electric field. When the streamer was close to the cathode, the photon flux exponentially increased from 4.5×1026 m-3s-1 to 2.42×1028 m-3s-1. The secondary streamer was similar to a uniform filament because of a uniform electric field.

Effect of h-BN and Fe3O4 nanoparticles on streamer propagation and dissipation in vegetable oil based nanofluids

Nanoparticles enhance the positive and negative lightning breakdown voltages of vegetable insulating oils due to a reduced streamer velocity. Pre-breakdown streamers in vegetable oil based h-BN and Fe3O4 nanofluids were observed using the shadowgraph method under a lightning impulse voltage. The propagation of streamers until their stopping length is analyzed using shadowgraph images for the different nanofluids. The results suggest that these nanofluids present a higher breakdown voltage per unit length compared with pure oil. Secondary reverse streamers are observed to appear at the dissipation stage of the streamer. In particular, the secondary reverse streamer of the nanofluids appeared earlier and seemed to be shorter than that of pure oil under positive impulse voltages. The underlying mechanism was analyzed using space charge theory.

Features of streamer formation in a sharply non-uniform electric field

The streamer formation in a point-to-plane gap filled with atmospheric-pressure air has been experimentally studied using a streak camera and a four-channel intensified charge-coupled device camera with simultaneously recording waveforms of voltage and discharge current pulses. A large diameter streamer was observed at various amplitudes of nanosecond voltage pulses. The instantaneous streamer velocity was measured using the streak camera. It was found that the streamer has a high velocity at the initial stage of development, but it rapidly decreases. The minimum streamer velocity corresponds to the maximum diameter. The streamer velocity increases again by an order of magnitude when it approaches the opposite electrode. It was found that the streamer velocity correlates with the value of a displacement current induced by its propagation. At the initial stage of the streamer development during subnanosecond breakdown, the displacement current can reach several kiloamperes; this is comparable to the conduction current after the breakdown.

나노세컨드 펄스 DBD 플라즈마의 멀티스케일 모델링을 위한 비평형 플라즈마 유동 해석 및 검증

In a nanosecond pulse discharge, the computational cost is high because of the characteristic time difference between the plasma and the flow. In order to reduce the computational cost, multi-scale modeling study of nanosecond pulse discharge plasma is needed. In this study, we developed and verified a non-equilibrium plasma solver for nanosecond-pulse Dielectric Barrier Discharge(NS-DBD) multi-scale modeling study. To simulate the non-equilibrium phenomena, 17 chemical species / 54 chemistry reaction models were used. The governing equations included chemical species continuity equations, a electrical potential equation, and Navier-Stokes equations. Numerical results show that streamer velocity and micro shock wave speed are comparable to those of other experimental results. This study is expected to contribute to the future study of NS-DBD multi-scale modeling.

Effect of Shape, Surface Modification and Concentration of Al2O3 Nanoparticles on Breakdown Performance of Transformer Oil

The Al2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) with favorable features were prepared in our lab to develop transformer oil/paper insulation system with better insulation performance. The nanofluids (NFs) were prepared with different shapes (nanorods, nanoplates), surface modifications (oleic acid, C2, C18) and concentrations (0.6 g/L, 0.8 g/L, 1.2 g/L) of Al2O3 NPs. The positive lightning impulse (LI) breakdown voltages (VBDs) of mineral oil were improved by 1.11 times with nanorod shape, oleic acid surface modification and 0.8 g/L concentration of NPs. The effects of Al2O3 NPs with different gap distances on insulating properties of NFs under LI voltage were examined. It was noted that after Al2O3 NPs suspension, the positive LI VBDs of transformer oil (TO/MO) were enhanced but the negative LI VBDs of were decreased. The significant improvement in insulating performance of NFs is interpreted in light of electron traps theory. It was found that suspended NPs can enhance the shallow trap desity. The generated electrons would lose their kinetic energy through repeatedly trapping and de-trapping process, leading to decline in elcetron mobility. The higher trap density of NPs will lower average energy, and lower mobility of electrons are obtained. The electrons with lower energy are easy to be captured by those molecules with high electron affinity, and be converted into negative space charges. These negative space charge decreases the electrical field strength at the front of positive streamer and therefore reduce the propagating velocity of positive streamer.

Near-surface electron transport and its influence on the discharge structure of nanosecond-pulsed dielectric-barrier-discharge under different electrode polarities

We perform a systematic numerical investigation of the nanosecond-pulsed surface dielectric-barrier-discharge evolution under different electrode polarities. For both positive and negative electrode polarities, two discharge strokes take place corresponding to the leading edge and the trailing edge of the nanosecond voltage pulse. During the first discharge stroke, the positive streamer propagates along the dielectric surface accompanying a thin plasma sheath layer, while the negative streamer stays attached to the dielectric surface. The resultant propagation velocity of the positive streamer is found to be faster than that of the negative streamer. During the second discharge stroke, a plasma sheath layer forms between the negative streamer and the dielectric surface due to the electrons drifting away from the near-surface region, while the sheath layer between the positive streamer and the dielectric surface fades away due to the electrons drifting toward the dielectric surface. For both positive and negative electrode polarities, it is revealed that a strong downstream body force is generated when the plasma sheath layer exists, due to the high net charge density and strong electric field in the near-surface sheath layer.