Two-dimensional simulation of transition from primary to secondary streamer discharge in air

Abstract

A Two-dimensional simulation of the atmospheric pressure needle-plane streamer discharge is presented in this paper. The model consists of three continuity equations for electrons and ions coupled with Poisson’s equation. Photon flux was estimated by the impact of the ionization reactions. The distributions of the electric field and photon flux from the primary streamer to the secondary streamer are discussed, where velocity of the primary streamer was 2.16×105 m/s and the radius of the filament of the secondary streamer varied from 0.012 cm to 0.02 cm. The variation in photon flux was similar to that of the electric field. When the streamer was close to the cathode, the photon flux exponentially increased from 4.5×1026 m-3s-1 to 2.42×1028 m-3s-1. The secondary streamer was similar to a uniform filament because of a uniform electric field.