K. Yan

Analysis of streamer properties in air as function of pulse and reactor parameters by ICCD photography

Streamer properties such as their velocity, diameter, intensity and density, can be obtained by analysis of temporal and spatial resolved ICCD imaging. In this paper, experimental results on streamer generation and propagation as a function of several high-voltage pulse and reactor parameters are described. Experiments were performed on a large scale wire–plate reactor in ambient air. The set-up allows for independent variation of the parameters over wide ranges. The minimum gate time of the ICCD camera is 5 ns, allowing for a high temporal resolution. The camera can be triggered with a precision of 1 ns. Both negative and positive polarity pulses are investigated. The most important conclusions are as follows. (1) The streamer velocity ((0.5–2.5) × 106 m s−1) increases if the applied electric field and/or the voltage rise rate is increased. (2) The same is true regarding the velocity ((0.2–1.2) × 105 m s−1) with which the streamer diameter (0.7–3.0 mm) increases during propagation. (3) Typical properties (velocity, diameter, etc) of negative and positive polarity streamers vary less than 25%, especially when the applied electric field is high. (4) As long as the dc bias voltage is below the dc corona onset value it does not have a separate effect on the visual streamer properties. Only the total voltage (peak voltage + dc) is of importance. (5) A simple model was used to determine the electric field in the secondary streamer channel. It was found that in the light emitting part of the secondary streamer the electric field is approximately 21.5 kV cm−1. In the remainder (dark part) of the channel the electric field is around 6.5 kV cm−1. This paper shows mainly experimental findings. Not all observed relations and phenomena could be explained. This is partly caused by the fact that current theoretical and numerical models are not yet able to describe the experimental situation as used during this study.

An Industrial Streamer Corona Plasma System for Gas Cleaning

For pulsed corona plasma applications, it becomes important to develop pilot systems with large average power and high-energy conversion efficiency. Since the beginning of 2000, we have been working on an industrial corona plasma system with tasks of 10-30 kW in average power and higher than 90% of total energy conversion efficiency. The pulsed-power source should have the following specifications: rise time of 10-25 ns, pulsewidth of 50-150 ns, pulse repetition rate of up to 1000 pulses per second, peak voltage pulse of 70 kV, peak current of 3.5 kA, dc bias voltage of 10-35 kV, and energy per pulse of up to 30 J. Sixteen parallel wire cylinder reactors are used to match the source. Gas and reactor temperatures can be controlled individually with water flow around the outside of those cylinders. The system is designed for gaseous oxidation and electrostatic dust precipitation. The system has been used for up to 17 kW in average power. This paper reports the system in detail, discusses issues related to the matching between the source and the reactor, and presents an example of industrial demonstrations on odor abatement at 1000 m3/h. Finally, this paper also gives a general guideline for design of corona plasma systems

The electro-acoustic transition process of pulsed corona discharge in conductive water

A pulsed corona discharge in conductive water is studied theoretically and experimentally via pre-discharge analysis, thermodynamic and dynamic processes of a plasma-containing bubble, an acoustic signature and energy partitioning. The total particle density and electron density inside the bubble, internal temperature and pressure, bubble radius and bubble wall Mach number are simulated by solving a set of equations including the ideal gas equation, Rayleigh equation and energy balance equation. The bubble radius is also measured by a high-speed charge-coupled device camera on a homemade experimental device. The acoustic waveforms and their power spectral density are calculated indirectly. By using several diagnostic tools, the electrical parameters of the load, light emission from the plasma and acoustic waveforms are recorded simultaneously. Simulation and experimental results of the bubble radius and acoustic signature agree reasonably well over the range of energy inputs from 5 to 30 J per pulse. Different kinds of terminations or intermediates of the energy transition process are analysed through simulation and experimental data. The electro-acoustic efficiency varies from 0.8% to 1.9%, while most of the discharge energy is consumed by circuit loss, Joule heating and thermal radiation, or is transformed into kinetic energy in the water.

A high-voltage pulse transformer with a modular ferrite core

A high ratio (winding ratio of 1:80) pulse transformer with a modular ferrite core was developed for a repetitive resonant charging system. The magnetic core is constructed from 68 small blocks of ferrites, glued together by epoxy resin. This allows a high degree of freedom in choosing core shape and size. Critical issues related to this modular design are the size tolerance of the individual ferrite blocks, the unavoidable air gap between the blocks, and the saturation of the core. To evaluate the swing of the flux density inside the core during the charging process, an equivalent circuit model was introduced. It was found that when a transformer is used in a resonant charging circuit, the minimal required volume of the magnetic material to keep the core unsaturated depends on the coupling coefficient of the transformer and is independent of the number of turns of the primary winding. Along the flux path, 17 small air gaps are present due to the inevitable joints between the ferrite blocks. The total air gap distance is about 0.67 mm. The primary and secondary windings have 16 turns and 1280 turns, respectively, and the actually obtained ratio is about 1:75.4. A coupling coefficient of 99.6% was obtained. Experimental results are in good agreement with the model, and the modular ferrite core works well. Using this transformer, the high-voltage capacitors can be charged up to more than 70 kV from a low-voltage capacitor with an initial charging voltage of about 965 V. With 26.9 J energy transfer, the increased flux density inside the core was about 0.23 T, and the core remains unsaturated. The energy transfer efficiency from the primary to the secondary was around 92%.

Fundamentals and Environmental Applications of Non-thermal Plasmas: Multi-pollutants Emission Control from Coal-Fired Flue Gas

Simultaneous control of multi-pollutants emission from coal-fired flue gas is essential for environmental quality. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) technologies have made numerous successful applications of combined removal for sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrous oxide, particulate matter and mercury. Nitric oxide, elemental mercury can be oxidized in the gas phase, while fine particle gets agglomeration in the same NTP device. SO2 gets absorbed after heterogeneous oxidation by discharge. All the gaseous pollutants and aerosols generated will be further oxidized and captured in wet NTP device. Applications of NTP and typical configurations are also summarized.

Novel multiple-switch Blumlein generator

The Blumlein generator has been one of the most popular pulsed-power circuits. The pulse forming lines are charged simultaneously, and then discharged via a single switch, such as a spark gap. The generator can be used for single pulse or at a high repletion rate. However, for large pulsed power generation, one critical issue for such a single-switch based circuit topology is related to large switching currents. In this article, we propose a novel Blumlein circuit topology based on multiple switches. The pulsed forming lines are charged in parallel and then are synchronously commutated via multiple switches. No special synchronization trigger circuit is needed for the proposed circuit topology; this robust circuit topology is simple and very reliable. A prototype multiple-switch Blumlein generator with two spark-gap switches has been experimentally evaluated with both resistive and corona plasma loads. In terms of the switching currents, it is observed that the two switches can be synchronized within 2–3 ns. The energy conversion efficiencies are 82% and 76.8% for a matched resistive load and a plasma reactor, respectively.

Synchronization of multiple spark-gap switches by a transmission line transformer

A transmission line transformer (TLT)-based multiple-switch circuit topology was recently proposed for pulsed-power generation. By means of a TLT, multiple spark-gap switches can be synchronized in a short time (ns). It is attractive to be used to design a long-lifetime repetitive large pulsed-power source (100kW, 1kHz) for various kinds of applications, such as corona plasma-induced gas cleaning. To gain insight into the synchronization principle and switching behavior of the individual switch, an equivalent circuit model was developed and an experimental setup with two spark-gap switches and a two-stage TLT has been constructed. We observed that in terms of switching currents, the two switches can be synchronized within 2–3ns. The equivalent circuit model approximately fits the experimental results.

Multiple-gap spark gap switch

A triggered multiple-gap spark gap switch has been developed and tested under atmosphere. By means of an LCR trigger circuit, the multiple-gap switch can be used very reliably. For the same switching voltage (35.5kV), with increasing the number of gaps from 2 to 6, the switching current rise time is reduced from 13.5to6ns, and the energy efficiency is increased from 87% to 92%. An eight-gap switch was also tested, and the switching current rise time is much smaller than the usable rise time of the current probe (3.5ns). One interesting application of the multiple-gap switch is to improve the switching performance in the multiple-switch and transmission lines based pulsed power circuit. To verify this application, a six-gap switch was tested. In contrast to a single-gap switch, the output current rise time was improved from 21to11ns by the six-gap switch.

Characteristics of back corona discharge in a honeycomb catalyst and its application for treatment of volatile organic compounds.

The main technical challenges for the treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with plasma-assisted catalysis in industrial applications are large volume plasma generation under atmospheric pressure, byproduct control, and aerosol collection. To solve these problems, a back corona discharge (BCD) configuration has been designed to evenly generate nonthermal plasma in a honeycomb catalyst. Voltage-current curves, discharge images, and emission spectra have been used to characterize the plasma. Grade particle collection results and flow field visualization in the discharge zones show not only that the particles can be collected efficiently, but also that the pressure drop of the catalyst layer is relatively low. A three-stage plasma-assisted catalysis system, comprising a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) stage, BCD stage, and catalyst stage, was built to evaluate toluene treatment performance by BCD. The ozone analysis results indicate that BCD enhances the ozone decomposition by collecting aerosols and protecting the Ag-Mn-O catalyst downstream from aerosol contamination. The GC and FTIR results show that BCD contributes to toluene removal, especially when the specific energy input is low, and the total removal efficiency reaches almost 100%. Furthermore, this removal results in the emission of fewer byproducts.

An efficient, repetitive nanosecond pulsed power generator with ten synchronized spark gap switches

This paper describes an efficient, repetitive nanosecond pulsed power generator using a transmission-line-transformer (TLT) based multiple-switch technology. Within this setup, a 10-stage TLT and ten high-pressure spark-gap switches are adopted. At the input side, ten spark-gap switches are interconnected in series via the TLT, so that all the spark-gap switches can be synchronized automatically. At the output side, all the stages of the TLT are connected in parallel, thus a low output impedance (5 ¿) is obtained, and a large output current is realized by adding the currents through all the switches. Experimental results show that 10 spark-gap switches can be synchronized within about 10 ns. The system has been successfully demonstrated at repetition rates up to 300 pps (Pulses Per Second). Pulses with a rise-time of about 11 ns, a pulse width of about 55 ns, an energy of 9-24 J per pulse, a peak power of 300-810 MW, a peak voltage of 40-77 kV, and a peak current of 6-11 kA have been achieved with an energy conversion efficiency of 93-98%.