Multi-species simulation of Trichel pulses in oxygen

摘要

The development of negative corona Trichel pulses in oxygen between a spherical cathode and a plane is investigated using a plasma chemical model of ten selected species, which includes electrons, ions and neutrals. The interaction among these species is described by a model that incorporates the most important plasma chemical processes, such as ionization, electron attachment and detachment, electron impact dissociation and excitation, and clustering. The spatio-temporal evolution of charged and neutral species and their reaction rates are evaluated along different moments during the pulses. The case of the first Trichel pulse is considered separately, since its characteristics clearly differ from the subsequent pulses. The results show that the negative space charge is constituted of different types of ions, depending on the stage of the pulse. Moreover, a spatial segregation of negative ions is observed during the post-pulse period. Regarding neutral species, ozone increases linearly with time, without being considerably affected by the occurrence of pulses.