Frequency and current–voltage characteristics of corona discharges in gas flows

The influence of a gas dynamic flow on the discontinuous structure and anomalous character of the current–voltage characteristics of a corona discharge in a high temperature medium is studied. Several aspects of these phenomena are studied theoretically. In the approximation of a local dispersion equation it is shown that a stationary structure cannot exist for an ionization front near a negative corona electrode. The theory of similarity and dimensionality is used together with experimental data to obtain functional relationships for the current–voltage and frequency characteristics of the discharge. In the case of a corona discharge in a hot jet of air it is shown experimentally that the discharge current is an order of magnitude greater than the corresponding quantity in motionless hot air and that stable emission occurs throughout the discharge gap.