Spark breakdown of liquid hydrocarbons. I. Fast current and voltage measurements of the spark breakdown in liquid n‐hexane

摘要

A fast coaxial discharge line for the study of the electric breakdown of liquid hydrocarbons is described. It allows the simultaneous measurement of discharge current (up to 5 kA) and voltage (up to 50 kV) with nanosecond time resolution. The spark gap is of tip‐plane geometry. A detailed frequency analysis of the discharge and measurement circuits has been performed. Examples for the spark breakdown of n‐hexane under a variety of conditions are presented.