Spark Discharge is a first-of-its-kind text, providing a comprehensive and systematic description of the spark breakdown of long gas gaps. It discusses the nature of a long spark, physical peculiarities of relevant gas discharge processes, methods and results of experimental studies, and analytical and numerical models. The most important applications in high-voltage engineering are covered in a single volume.
The straightforward presentation of complicated materials, the deep insight into the nature of the processes, and the simplified mathematical descriptions of the phenomena, make Spark Discharge an excellent textbook for students and an indispensable reference for researchers, physicists, and engineers.
Lightning and Long Spark Leaders
Corona and Spark Discharges
Avalanche and Streamer Mechanisms of Gas Breakdown
What Is a Breakdown?
2 Basic Information on Processes in Ionized Gases
Drift and Diffusion of Electrons and Ions
Molecular Ionization and Excitation
Electron Loss and Liberation
Electron and Ion Gases in Electric Fields
Breakdown by Avalanche Multiplcation
Induced Charge and Circuit Current
Strongly Ionized Equilibrium Plasma
Equilibrium Plasma Arc with Current
3 Basic Processes in Spark Breakdown
Streamer as an Ionization Wave
Electrical Properties of a Plasma Channel
Gas Temperature and Energy Balance
Initial Ionization Mechanisms
The Streamer Inception
Is a Streamer Breakdown Possible?
An Ionization Wave in Spark Breakdown
4 Experimental Techniques
High Voltage Sources
Voltage Measurement
Current Measurement
Current Data Analysis
Gap Charge Measurement
Electric Field Measurement
Optical Registration of Discharge
Synchronization
Gap Field Data: Theory and Reality
5 Long Streamers
Phenomenology and Dimensions
Streamer Velocity
Streamer Channel Field
Current and Charge Data Analysis
Numerical Simulation
The Ionization Expansion Model
6 The Leader Process
General Description
Leader Velocity Measurement
Current and Charge Measurement
Channel and Streamer Zone Fields
Leader Channel Expansion
Comparison of Leader and Streamer Parameters
Streamer Zone and Cover Charges
The Origin of Leader Current
Streamer-Leader Transition
Leader Support Voltage
The Leader Family
7 Electrical Strength of Long Gaps
A Weakly Nonuniform Gap
A Strongly Nonuniform Gap
The Time-Voltage Characteristic
Breakdown Voltage Deviation
A Supplement
References
Index
Biography
YuriP. Raizer