Effects of Airflows on Nanosecond Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge at Atmospheric Pressure

Dielectric barrier discharge in air at atmospheric pressure is produced using nanosecond pulsed supply. The effects of airflows on the discharge characteristics, such as discharge current, breakdown voltage, discharge uniformity, and luminous intensity, are investigated at different discharge gaps and pulse repetitive rates. The peak value of the primary discharge current is increased and the luminous intensity is decreased when the airflow rate increases from 0 to 10 m/s at any discharge gap and pulse repetitive frequency. At 1200-Hz pulse repetitive rate, the discharge becomes more uniform at the bigger discharge gap and the breakdown voltage increases when airflow is introduced into the discharge gap. However, at 100-Hz pulse repetitive rate, the discharge uniformity does not change and breakdown voltage decreases when airflow is introduced into the discharge gap. The experimental results also show that the discharge characteristics have significant changes with the airflow rate increasing from 0 to 10 m/s, while almost no obvious change is observed with the airflow rate increasing from 10 to 30 m/s.