Low-Current “Gliding Arc” in an Air Flow

Abstract

This paper describes the result of the investigation of a gas discharge in a flow of air with electrode geometry typical for the so-called gliding arc. The feature characteristic of the experimental conditions is a rather low level of an average discharge current (of about 0.2 A). The discharge is initiated due to a spark breakdown in the narrow part of the gap. After that, the spark discharge is transformed into a kind of a glow discharge. At the subsequent stage, the plasma column travels in the gap under the effect of a gas flow, and the current is sustained in the regime of a normal glow discharge. The typical cathode-voltage-drop value in this regime is estimated to be about 300 V, an average electric field in the positive column plasma is (700-800) V/cm, and the neutral-particle temperature in the negative glow region is T ≈ 1100 K.