An atmospheric pressure discharge is an
electrical discharge
An electric discharge is the release and transmission of electricity in an applied electric field through a medium such as a gas (ie., an outgoing flow of electric current through a non-metal medium).American Geophysical Union, National Research C ...
in
air or another
gas at
atmospheric pressure.
An electrical discharge in a gas forms
plasma
Plasma or plasm may refer to:
Science
* Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter
* Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral
* Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics
Biology
* Blood pla ...
. Plasmas are sustained if there is a continuous inflow of
energy to maintain the required
degree of ionization
The degree of ionization (also known as ''ionization yield'' in the literature) refers to the proportion of neutral particles, such as those in a gas or aqueous solution, that are ionized. For electrolytes, it could be understood as a capacity o ...
by counterbalancing the
recombination events that lead to extinction of the discharge. The number of recombination events per unit time and per unit volume is proportional to the
density of each recombining plasma species (
ions and
electrons)
and, thus, grows fast with the gas pressure. Therefore, compared to lower-pressure discharges, atmospheric discharges require a higher
power to maintain.
Typical atmospheric discharges are:
*
DC arc
ARC may refer to:
Business
* Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s
* Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services
* ...
*
Lightning
* Atmospheric-pressure
glow discharge
*
Dielectric barrier discharge
Dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) is the electrical discharge between two electrodes separated by an insulating dielectric barrier. Originally called silent (inaudible) discharge and also known as ozone production discharge or partial dischar ...
References
Electrical discharge in gases
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