R. Messaoudi et al., INFLUENCE OF HUMIDITY ON CURRENT WAVE-FORM AND LIGHT-EMISSION OF A LOW-FREQUENCY DISCHARGE CONTROLLED BY A DIELECTRIC BARRIER, IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation, 3(4), 1996, pp. 537-543
The aim of this work is to determine the effect of humidity on a silen
t discharge in air. A point to plane configuration has been used. Curr
ent and emission spectra of the discharge have been recorded in dry an
d humid air for short and long inter-electrode gaps and with the plane
electrode coated by a silicone rubber plate alone or under a polyprop
ylene film. Results show the typical corona discharge regimes. For a l
ong gap, humidity decreases the number of breakdown streamer pulses. F
or a short gap, the behavior observed depends on the surface conductio
n of the dielectric in contact with the discharge. These results show
that the presence of humidity in the discharge cell not only modifies
the gas but also the surface states of the dielectrics coating the ele
ctrodes. The surface charge decay appears as a major parameter, since
it is related to the local field value which results from the applied
field and the reverse field induced by charge accumulation during prev
ious discharges.