Corona Transmission Line Energized by Very Short Pulse Voltages as Applied in Electrostatic Precipitators

Abstract

The corona-producing characteristics of a corona wire energized by a very short pulse voltage superposed on top of a dc base voltage are investigated in consideration of its application in electrostatic precipitators. A ``formation region'' of the pulse-induced negative corona is determined in terms of a Vb - Vp domain where Vb represents the dc base voltage and Vp the pulse peak voltage. A pulse voltage propagates in a form of a traveling wave along a transmission line out of an elongated corona wire and collection plates. It produces streamer coronas and loses its energy during propagation and finally becomes inactive so as not to produce coronas. As a result, a longitudinal distribution of the ionic current shows a decay towards the end of the line. An ``effective pulse energy'' We is defined as an energy to produce uniform current distribution on the entire collection plates. This value of We amounts to 0.8 J for a 200-m corona line. A ``pulse peaking'' to squeeze more corona energy from the pulse after corona-induced deterioration is tested using partial and total reflections, and its effectiveness is confirmed. A matched feeder concept to enable uniform distribution of pulse power to a number of corona transmission lines is also presented.