Volume added surface barrier discharge plasma excited by bipolar nanosecond pulse power in atmospheric air: optical emission spectra influenced by gap distance

In this paper, volume barrier discharge with different gap distances is added on the discharge border of high-voltage electrode of annular surface barrier discharge for generating volume added surface barrier discharge (V-SBD) excited by bipolar nanosecond high-voltage pulse power in atmospheric air. The excited V-SBDs consist of surface barrier discharge (d=0 mm) and volume added surface barrier discharges (d=2 mm and 3 mm). The optical emission spectra are recorded for calculating emission intensities of N₂ (C ³Ⅱ_u →B³Π_g ) and N₂⁺ (B ²Σ_u⁺ → X ²Σ_g⁺ ), and simulating rotational and vibrational temperatures. The influences of gap distance of V-SBD on emission intensity and plasma temperature are also investigated and analyzed. The results show that d=0 mm structure can excite the largest emission intensity of N ₂ (C ³ Π_u →B ³Π_g ), while the existence of volume barrier discharge can delay the occurrence of the peak value of the emission intensity ratio of N₂⁺ (B ²Σ_u⁺ → X ²Σ_g⁺ )/N ₂(C³Π_u →B³Π_g ) during the rising period of the applied voltage pulse and weaken it during the end period. The increasing factor of emission intensity is effected by the pulse repetition rate. The d=3 mm structure has the highest threshold voltage while it can maintain more emission intensity of N₂(C³ Π _u →B ³Π_g ) than that of d=2 mm structure. The structure of d=2 mm can maintain more increasing factor than that of the d=3 mm structure with varying pulse repetition rate. Besides, the rotational temperatures of three V-SBD structures are slightly affected when the gap distance and pulse repetition rate vary. The vibrational temperatures have decaying tendencies of all three structures with the increasing pulse repetition rate.     

Optical properties of γ-irradiated synthetic sapphire and yttria-stabilized zirconia spectroscopic windows

Synthetic sapphire and yttria-stabilized zirconia single-crystals were irradiated by increasing doses of γ-radiation to study the changes of their optical properties. The optical transparency of -Al₂O₃ was nearly constant up to the γ-radiation dose of 150 kGy for the spectral range of 400–1000 nm, while yellowish-brown coloration of (Zr_0.89Y_0.11)O_1.94 appeared for irradiation above 1 kGy. However, after a short-term heating in the temperature of 210^oC stable discoloration of zirconia can be achieved.     

Study of spatial and temporal evolution of Ar and F atoms in SF6/Ar microsecond pulsed discharge by optical emission spectroscopy

The study of sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) discharge is vital for its application in gas-insulated equipment. Direct current partial discharge (PD) may cause SF₆ decomposition, and the decomposed products of SF₆, such as F atoms, play a dominant role in the breakdown of insulation systems. In this study, the PD caused by metal protrusion defects is simulated by a needle-plate electrode using pulsed high voltage in SF₆/Ar mixtures. The spatial and temporal characteristics of SF6/Ar plasma are analyzed by measuring the emission spectra of F and Ar atoms, which are important for understanding the characteristics of PD. The spatial resolved results show that both F and Ar atom spectral intensities increase first from the plate anode to the needle and then decrease under the conditions of a background pressure of 400 Pa, peak voltage of −1000 V, frequency of 2 kHz, pulse width of 60 μs, and electrode gap of 5–9 mm. However, the distribution characteristics of F and Ar are significantly different. The temporal distribution results show that the spectral intensity of Ar decreases first and then increases slowly, while the spectral intensity of F increases slowly for the duration of the pulsed discharge at the electrode gap of 5 mm and the pulse width of 40–80 μs.     

Experimental study on plasma actuation characteristics of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge

Combining high-speed schlieren technology and infrared imaging technology, related research has been carried out on the influence of parameters such as actuation voltage, repetition frequency, and electrode size of an actuator on the discharge characteristics, induced flow field characteristics, and thermal characteristics of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge. The results show that increasing the value of the actuation voltage can significantly increase the actuation intensity, and the plasma discharge area is significantly extended. Increasing the repetition frequency can increase the number of discharges per unit time. Both will cause more energy input and induce more changes in the flow field. The effect of temperature rise is more significant. The width of the covered electrode will affect the potential distribution during the discharge process, which in turn will affect the extension process of the plasma discharge filament. Under the same actuation intensity, the wider the covered electrode, the larger range the induced flow field and temperature rise is. Preliminary experimental analyses of high-frequency actuation characteristics, temperature field characteristics, flow field characteristics and actuation parameter settings provide support for the parameter selection and partial mechanism analysis of plasma anti-icing.     

Computer investigation of ion beam optics for a Freeman type ion source system

The present work investigates the computer analysis of the ion beam properties produced by a Freeman type system. The extraction for such system is composed of four electrodes that permit to keep a fixed output energy by means of two accelerating gaps and one decelerating gap. The latter allows reducing the beam divergence angle. The combination of the acceleration/deceleration sections provides to keep a low beam emittance at the source outlet. The simulation of single charged argon ion trajectories for a plasma concave of curvature 4 mm was first studied with and without space charge effect using acceleration/deceleration extraction system with the aid of the SIMION computer program. The voltage applied to the accelerating electrode was optimized to accomplish the suitable ion trajectories without hitting the extraction electrode. Then, two additional studies were performed: the influence of the acceleration voltage and extraction voltage on the beam emittance and beam diameter; and the effect of the extraction gap width (distance between the plasma emission surface and the acceleration electrode) on the shape of the ion beam envelope and the position of the ion beam waist. Last, the influence of the space charge on the ion beam envelope was also investigated.     

Simulation of Electrical Discharge Initiated by a Nanometer-Sized Probe in Atmospheric Conditions

In this paper,a two-dimensional nanometer scale tip-plate discharge model has been employed to study nanoscale electrical discharge in atmospheric conditions.The field strength distributions in a nanometer scale tip-to-plate electrode arrangement were calculated using the finite element analysis(FEA) method,and the influences of applied voltage amplitude and frequency as well as gas gap distance on the variation of efective discharge range(EDR) on the plate were also investigated and discussed.The simulation results show that the probe with a wide tip will cause a larger efective discharge range on the plate;the field strength in the gap is notably higher than that induced by the sharp tip probe;the efective discharge range will increase linearly with the rise of excitation voltage,and decrease nonlinearly with the rise of gap length.In addition,probe dimension,especially the width/height ratio,afects the efective discharge range in diferent manners.With the width/height ratio rising from 1:1 to 1:10,the efective discharge range will maintain stable when the excitation voltage is around 50 V.This will increase when the excitation voltage gets higher and decrease as the excitation voltage gets lower.Furthermore,when the gap length is 5 nm and the excitation voltage is below 20 V,the diameter of EDR in our simulation is about 150 nm,which is consistent with the experiment results reported by other research groups.Our work provides a preliminary understanding of nanometer scale discharges and establishes a predictive structure-behavior relationship.     

Discharge characteristics of a needle-toplate electrode at a micro-scale gap

To understand the discharge characteristics under a gap of micrometers,the breakdown voltage and current–voltage curve are measured experimentally in a needle-to-plate electrode at a microscale gap of 3–50 μm in air.The effect of the needle radius and the gas pressure on the discharge characteristics are tested.The results show that when the gap is larger than 10 μm,the relation between the breakdown voltage and the gap looks like the Paschen curve;while below 10 μm,the breakdown voltage is nearly constant in the range of the tested gap.However,at the same gap distance,the breakdown voltage is still affected by the pressure and shows a trend similar to Paschen's law.The current–voltage characteristic in all the gaps is similar and follows the trend of a typical Townsend-to-glow discharge.A simple model is used to explain the non-normality of breakdown in the micro-gaps.The Townsend mechanism is suggested to control the breakdown process in this configuration before the gap reduces much smaller in air.     

Discharge electrode configuration effects on the performance of a plasma sparker

A multi-electrode array is commonly applied in a plasma sparker to generate stable acoustic pulses.In this paper,the effects of the electrode configuration on the performance of a plasma sparker have been investigated.In terms of the load electrical characteristics,the electrode radius and distance have negligible influence on the electric characteristics,whereas a larger electrode number results in a smaller voltage and a larger current but has little effect on the load energy.Regarding the acoustic characteristics,both the expansion and collapse pulses can be increased by decreasing the electrode tip radius.the influence of the electrode number and electrode gap distance on the amplitude of the expansion pulse was found to be negligible.And the amplitude of the collapse pulse decreases significantly with increasing electrode number.Increasing the electrode number decreases the energy efficiency for intense bubble interactions,thus,a small electrode tip radius and a small electrode number are preferred for the design of a plasma sparker if the total discharge energy is given.     

A low-jitter self-triggered spark-discharge pre-ionization switch:primary research on its breakdown characteristics and working mechanisms

MV pulsed switch plays a key role as the transfer switch in large electromagnetic pulse simulators.To broaden the range of self-triggering time,a novel spark-discharge pre-ionization switch,in which the main gap electric field is superposed at the trigger gap to let the electrons in its spark channel also become initial electrons,is proposed and tested.The design idea is:as electrons in the spark channel of the trigger gap always exist after its breakdown,the injection time of pre-ionization should have a more negligible effect on reducing the switch jitter.The experiment results under pulses with a rise time of～100 ns support the above assumptions.When the operating voltage is from～300 to～800 kV and the self-triggering time is～45％to～75％of the peak time,the breakdown time delay jitter is less than 2 ns,and the breakdown voltage jitter is smaller than 1.25％.Under specific self-triggering time,the breakdown time delay jitter is less than 1.5 ns,and the breakdown voltage jitter is smaller than 0.8％.     

Suppression of runaway current by electrode biasing and limiter biasing on J-TEXT

The avoidance of runaway electrons (REs) generated during plasma disruption is of great concern for the safe operation of tokamak devices. Experimental study on the suppression of runaway current by electrode biasing (EB) and limiter biasing (LB) has been performed on the J-TEXT tokamak, which could be an alternative way to suppress the runaway current. The experimental results show that the higher the voltage value, the smaller the runaway current in both EB and LB experiments. The runaway current can be completely suppressed at an electrode biased voltage of +450 V and a limiter biased voltage of +300 V. The comparison of the energy spectra during the runaway plateau phase shows that the maximum energy max (ERE) and radiation temperature THXR of hard x-rays (HXRs) are significantly reduced after the application of +200 V limiter biased voltage. The electric field generated by the biased voltage may be the key factor to suppress the runaway current, and the measured radial electric field increases obviously after the voltage is applied. This may result in an increase in the loss of REs to realize the suppression of runaway current.     

Electrical Characteristics of Pulsed Corona Discharge Plasmas in Chitosan Solution

Pulsed discharge plasma has exhibited active potential to prepare low molecular weight chitosan. In the present study, the viscosity of ehitosan solution was decreased noticeably after treated with pulsed corona discharge plasma. An experimental investigation on electrical characteristics of pulsed corona discharge plasma in chitosan solution was conducted with a view toward getting insight into discharge process. Factors affecting I-V curve, single pulse injec- tion energy and pulse width were studied. Experimental results showed positive effect of pulsed peak voltage on discharge plasma in chitosan solution. Pulse-forming capacitor greatly influenced the discharge form, and 4 nF was observed as a suitable value for efficiently generating stable discharge plasmas. As the electrode distance was larger than 10 ram, it had slight impact on dis- charge plasma due to the excellent conductive-property of chitosan solution. The injection energy significantly increased with air flow rate, while the pulse width hardly changed as the air flow rate increased from 0.5 m^3/h to 1.0 m^3/h. This study is expected to provide reference for promoting the application of pulsed corona discharge plasma to ehitosan solution treatment.     

Characteristics of Electrode-Water-Electrode Discharge and its Application to Water Treatment

Atmospheric air discharge above the surface of water is an effective method for water treatment.The leakage current and Joule heating of water are reduced by the air gap,which raises the energy efficiency of the water treatment.However,the application of this kind of discharge is limited by a pair of conflicting factors：the chemical efficiency grows as the discharge gap distance decreases,while the spark breakdown voltage decreases as the gap distance decreases.To raise the spark breakdown voltage and the chemical efficiency of atmospheric pressure water surface discharge,both the high-voltage electrode and the ground electrode are suspended above the water surface to form an electrode-water-electrode discharge system.For this system,there are two potential discharge directions：from one electrode to another directly,and from the electrodes to the water surface.The first step in utilizing the electrode-water-electrode discharge is to find out the discharge direction transition criterion.In this paper,the discharge direction transition criterions of spark discharge and streamer discharge are presented.By comparing the discharge characteristics and the chemical efficiencies,the discharge propagating from the electrodes to the water surface is proved to be more suitable for water treatment than that propagating directly between the electrodes.     

1d3v PIC/MCC simulation of dielectric barrier discharge dynamics in hydrogen sulfide

In this study, we computationally examined the dynamics of dielectric barrier discharge in hydrogen sulfide. The simulations were performed with a 1d3v particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision model in which a parallel-plate electrode geometry with dielectrics was used. Particle recombination process is represented in the model. The discharge mode was found to be initially Townsend discharge developing from the cathode to the anode, and at the peak of the current, a more stable glow discharge develops from the anode to the cathode. A higher applied voltage results in sufficient secondary electrons to trigger a second current peak, and then the current amplitude increases. As the frequency is increased, it leads to the advance of the phase and an increase in the amplitude of the current peak. A higher dielectric permittivity also makes the discharge occur earlier and more violently in the gap.     

Characteristic Analysis of AC Plasma Arc in Water

An experimental system of AC arc discharge in water was designed with pole-pole electrodes and a peak voltage of 1500 V and a test circuit was set up using virtual instrument technology. The mechanism of an AC plasma arc generated in water was analyzed. The voltage- current characteristic of the AC plasma arc was obtained from the waveform. The temperature characteristic was tested with a spectrum diagnosis system, and the effect of different electrode materials on the striking voltage and peak current was analyzed. The results show that when a power supply of 6 KW is applied on electrodes with a gap of 2 mm in water, the striking voltage is from 900 to 1300 V, the arc voltage is from 40 to 100 V, the arc current is from 2 to 7 A, and the zero rest period is from 1 to 2 ms. In addition, the arc voltage and current are different for electrodes in aluminum, copper and stainless steel. The arc voltage is lower and the current is higher for an aluminum electrode than those for copper and stainless steel ones. The highest temperature of the arc is 7643 K.     

Electrolytic Extraction of Ce from NaCl-KCl Molten Salt

In order to optimize the technological conditions of cerium preparation by electrolytic reduction of molten salt, the electrochemical behavior of CeCl₃ in NaCl-KCl molten salt and the electrodeposition process on Mo electrode were carried out. The results indicate that Ce³⁺ can be quickly electrolyzed at the cathode potential more than 1.9 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) using Mo rod (ø4 mm). Increasing the concentration of Ce³⁺ is beneficial to the electrolytic reaction. The optimal electrolytic voltage is determined to be 4.41 V using two-electrode system, and the cathode potential is 2.27 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). It is found that the voltage increases with the decrease of cathode area when the anode area is fixed, and the cathode area is changed. Under the experimental conditions, the voltage varies linearly with the electrode center distance. Compared with the change of electrode center distance, the effect of current change on voltage is more significant.     

NaCl-KCl熔盐体系电解制备金属铈工艺研究

为优化熔盐电解还原制备金属铈的工艺条件,开展了NaCl-KCl熔盐体系中CeCl₃的电化学行为及电解工艺研究。结果表明,在830 ℃下,以钼棒为工作电极、石墨棒为对电极、阴极电位高于1.9 V(Ag/AgCl为参比电极,下同)时,Ce³⁺可快速电解,提高Ce3+浓度有利于反应的进行。槽电压为4.41 V、相应的阴极电位为2.27 V时,电流效率最佳。固定阳极面积改变阴极面积的研究结果显示,随着阴极面积的减小,槽电压逐渐升高。实验条件下,槽电压随电极中心距的变化是线性的,与电极中心距的改变相比,电流的变化对槽电压的影响更显著。     

γ射线测距中散射光子影响因素的蒙特卡罗模拟

基于散射光子的γ射线测距技术,具有测距精度高、响应速度快、可靠性高、体积小、重量轻等特点,适用于在苛刻空间环境中实现近距离高精度的高度测量。本文采用蒙特卡罗程序MCNP建立模型,模拟不同条件下散射光子的能量、强度的变化规律,分析了探测距离、源 探距离、γ射线能量、靶目标厚度以及靶目标材料的变化对反散射峰光子能量与强度的影响,得出以下结论：反散射峰光子能量与靶目标厚度（>7 cm）、靶目标材料无关,与γ射线能量、源 探距离正相关,与探测距离负相关;反散射峰光子强度与靶目标厚度（>7 cm）无关,与探测距离正相关,与γ射线能量、源 探距离、靶目标材料负相关。对于不同靶目标材料,模拟计算的反散射峰光子能量分布区间与理论计算结果一致,证实本文γ射线散射光子测距技术的仿真方法可行、结果可信。     

低本底高分辨测量技术在16N衰变的出射α粒子测量中的应用

¹⁶N的β延迟α衰变能谱在Ec.m.≈12 MeV处有一低能峰,该α峰的形状和高度可用于约束12C(α,γ)16O反应截面的E1部分,对其进行测量具有重要意义。本工作尝试采用重离子注入法对其进行测量,在兰州重离子加速器国家实验室RIBLL1放射性束流线上产生了16N放射性束流并将其注入到双面硅微条探测器(DSSD)中,利用DSSD对其β延迟α能谱进行了测量。通过选用薄的DSSD探测器、DSSD正反面能量符合关系以及DSSD点火数约束等方法,显著减小了16N衰变产生的电子对α能谱测量的干扰,将α能谱的测量阈值降低到800 keV左右,成功观测到了Ec.m.≈12 MeV处的低能峰。该方法为间接研究12C(α,γ)16O反应率开辟了一条新的实验方法。     

Research on the characteristics of atmospheric air dielectric barrier discharge under different square wave pulse polarities

Energy efficiency limits the application of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge(DBD),such as air purification,water treatment and material surface modification.This article focuses on the electrical and optical effects of the DBD under three square wave pulses polarities-positive,negative and bipolar.The result shows that under the same voltage with the quartz glass medium,the discharge efficiency of bipolar polarity pulse is the highest due to the influence of deposited charge.With the increase of air gap distance from 0.5 to 1.5 mm,average power consumed by the discharge air gap and discharge efficiency decrease obviously under alumina,and increase,and then decrease under quartz glass and polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA).Through spectrum diagnosis,in the quartz glass medium,the vibration temperature is the highest under negative polarity pulse excitation.Under bipolar pulse,the vibration temperature does not change significantly with the change of air gap distance.For the three dielectric materials of quartz glass,alumina and PMMA,the molecular vibration temperature is the highest under the quartz glass medium with the same voltage.When the gap spacing,pulse polarity or dielectric material are changed,the rotational temperature does not change significantly.     

Temporal evolution of atmospheric cascade glow discharge with pulsed discharge and radio frequency discharge

Atmospheric cascade discharges with pulsed discharge and radio frequency(RF)discharge were experimentally investigated by the temporal evolution of discharge spatial profile and intensity.The indium tin oxide(ITO)coated glass was employed as the transparent electrode to capture the discharge distribution above the electrode surface.It is demonstrated that in the pulsed discharge with dielectric barrier,the first discharge at the rising edge of pulse voltage is uniformly ignited and then forms an expanding plasma ring on the ITO electrode surface,which shrinks to the same diameter as that of bare stainless steel electrode with the generation of second discharge at the falling edge of pulse voltage.The discharge profiles along the electrode surface and discharge gap of the successive RF discharge are dependent on the intensity and spatial distribution of residual plasma species generated by the pulsed discharge,which is determined by the time interval between the pulsed discharge and RF discharge.It is demonstrated that the residual plasma species before the RF discharge ignition help to achieve the stable operation of RF discharge with elevated intensity.