M. Cernak et al., EFFECT OF CATHODE SURFACE-PROPERTIES ON GLOW-TO-ARC TRANSITION IN A SHORT POSITIVE CORONA GAP IN AMBIENT AIR, Journal of physics. D, Applied physics, 28(6), 1995, pp. 1126-1132
Measurements were made of current growth waveforms corresponding to th
e glow-to-are transition in a 1 cm positive point-to-plane gap in cond
itions similar to those in pulsed corona devices used for flue gas cle
aning. The glow-to-arc transition was significantly accelerated using
a freshly polished unconditioned cathode surface. A duration of glow-t
o-arc transition as short as 25 ns was observed using a graphite-coate
d cathode. A possible explanation in terms of the cathode sheath break
-ups is presented.