Effects of fog salinity, air pressure and water flow rate on ac flashover of iron-rod short air gaps

A study of the ac flashover characteristics of short rod-rod air gaps in the presence of salt-fog is reported. The sparking voltage of air gaps from 0.2 to 1.4 cm was measured for wide ranges of fog salinity (370-10,000 /spl mu/S/cm), water flow rates (0.4-2.0 I/min) and compressed air pressure (0.18-0.69 MPa) forming the salt-fog. It has been found that the withstand voltage of air gaps in the presence of salt-fog is much lower than that for dry air. The breakdown voltage increases with increasing gap separation in the presence of salt-fog.