Generation of DC corona discharge in supercritical CO/sub 2/ for environment protection purpose

The generation of dc corona discharges in supercritical CO/sub 2/ using a point-plane electrode is studied experimentally. The results reveal a bizarre situation for CO/sub 2/ breakdown voltages, which is much lower in near the supercritical point than the measured in the normal high pressure gas. An explanation is probably because of the extensive cluster formation under the supercritical fluid condition. Therefore, it can be concluded that corona discharge in supercritical fluid condition may be generated with very low voltage.