An accurate electrical model for atmospheric pressure DBD plasma in air with experimental validation

Abstract

DBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharge) Plasma is generated with two or more electrodes separated through some dielectric material in plasma generating gas medium. DBD is essentially a capacitive coupled discharge and therefore, it essentially has capacitive component in the model. In this paper, a new electrical model for roller DBD plasma in air is presented that emphasizes the importance of stray inductance of mesh electrodes in the generation of steamer free plasma. Due to this stray inductance and capacitor in the circuit, the voltage and current oscillations of a few MHz are generated. These oscillations are damped out through plasma resistance of the model. The stray inductance, air gap capacitance and plasma resistance form a tank circuit that gets pulsating energy with a frequency of 10 to 100 kHz. In each pulse, the voltage and current oscillations are damped out in 8 to 10 micro seconds through plasma resistance only and hence, no external resistor is required for controlling the plasma discharge current. The damping of oscillations also ensures the plasma to be streamer free. This model also emphasizes on the generation of large current oscillations across the plasma that is highly unusual in the conventional DBD model. The simulation of this model in MATLAB simulink and its experimental results are presented in this paper.