Engineering Commons^™

Measurement Of Photoionization Rates In Air, Justin K. Smith

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The ionization of gas molecules from the absorption of photons produced in different parts of a discharge is an important process in the development of streamers. Photoionization rates are essential in the propagation of streamers and are therefore important in simulations of computational codes. Although streamers are widely used in computational codes, there is a limited data set on the experiments measuring photoionization rates in gases. Usually, the photoionization rate data used in computational codes comes from a single source and the validity of this data combined with the photoionization model has been questionable. It is postulated there is a …

Identification Of The Corona Point In Point-To-Plane Geometries In Atmospheric Air, Leonardo Rossetti

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The minimum sustaining electric field for streamer propagation is directly correlated to the minimum electric field at the corona point. Corona is a product of non-uniform electric fields; the onset of corona occurs before electrical breakdown. As electric fields become increasingly uniform the required field strength to produce corona is increased as well. The field uniformity can be increased until a critical point in which electrical breakdown coincides with the onset of a positive corona, this is known as the corona point.

An experimental setup with a point to plane configuration allows precise changes in electric field uniformity, by gradually …