TSSP: List Archives

From: boris petkovic
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 09:05:57 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: [TSSP] Topload breakout potentials

Hi Paul,All,

(before I return back to mountains)

Paul wrote:
 
while the
> streamers maintained
> the topload at around its breakout voltage (590kV)
> then the
> total effective capacitance required of topload +
> streamers
> to hold that energy would be 
> 
>   Ceff = 2 * E/V^2 = 2 * 16.4 J/ 590kV^2 = 94pF.
> 
> Now the resonator has a Cee of around 40pF so 54pF
> must come
> from the streamers - 54 streamer-feet at 1pF/foot,
> that's
> nine at 6 foot.  And that loading would detune the
> secondary
> by 50%.
---
I must say that there is (intentionally?)  error
introduced in analysis above.For start,I offer just a
few reasons here to support my standpoint on this
matter:
Streamer (or streamer-leader if like) loading doesn't
detune system that much.With powerfully excited
secondary of any properly balanced "input
power-secondary size" system you'll get detuning about
10 % the best (Yet coming-up msms are TBD factor
there).
One cannot attribute all the charge  emitted by corona
flash (which limits electrode surface E-field
tresholds) to  be exchanged in post oscillation
between top electrode and "hot" arc  .Situation is
quite difficult to understand (at least was for me
),but corona flash(es)-arc dynamics are multistage
nonlinear processes.Seems that nature finds way that
great portions of  inital flashes termed as "cold"
that carry lot of charge "isolate" from corresponding
toroid-hot arc current events.
If I rememeber,Malcolm send some time ago post "Ion
cloud loading" asking for experiment that would decide
how much "floating charge cloud" would interfere with
shifting secondary frequency down .Experiment shown it
turned out very little shift was present?
This isn't maybe the best illustration if you have on
mind  incomparability of these events in energy,peak
power violence,and charge perhaps.
Question  to all:why  "end" of power arc from TC shows
in many cases much more brilliance  than rest of arc
channel ?It cannot be only due to possible some higher
resistivity or "evaporation" of material particles
there I guess.It's diggressing from  corona mode
discharge discussion but reasons may be related.
---
> 
> Let's see, taking 1pF and 220k per some length of
> streamer,
> that's a Q of 1/(2 * pi * 66kHz * 1pF * 220k) = 11.
> 
> Pretty low, eh?
---
In context what I said already I should say that Terry
Fritz linear arc model is  "energetic" model of
arc.That means it's basically derived from msm of arc
dissipation and damping and as such it serves good if
you know lenght of arc in advance.
---- 
 
> Now that's a worst case because this naive
> arithmetic assumes
> all the energy passes through the streamers on every
> half cycle
> which is obviously not the case.
---
It's breaking a teeth problem if you think lineary
here.
Try following "gendanken" experiment.Imagine coil with
 smooth top electrode.Attach short wire on it and
apply considerable power(large bangs) to system.No
matter how much you increase power ,top electrode will
emit only one arc chanell.Conclusion is that some
process must persist that will hold max field bellow
certain treshold.
---     
> 
> So how're we going to measure topvolts now?  We're
> stacking
> a lot of assumptions onto this 26kV/cm surface field
> threshold
> but we know that space charge will alter that and
> allow the
> topvolts to rise further.  A scope trace of topvolts
> should
> match the model to within the accuracy of the firing
> voltage
> estimate (less a bit for loss) up to the breakout
> point, so
> that's something we can use to qualify a measurement
> method.
> Throw in a simultaneous base current measurement and
> you can
> forget losses and firing voltage - from the Ibase we
> can calibrate
> the topvolts to around 1% pre-breakout. Therefore
> don't worry about
> calibrating a topvolts detector if you can provide
> the Ibase.
> 
> Those E-field pickup things won't do - they respond
> to topload
> (+streamer) charge rather than potential, and we
> need the 
> potential.   The two are related by the
> topload+streamer
> capacitance, which of course is varying.  The
> E-field pickup
> doesn't really give any more information than an
> Ibase trace,
> since Ibase = total external E-field pickup
---
E-field probes with a minimum capacitive loading
should be placed on surface of toroid.That would help
I assume if secondary and toroid are big enough (Thor
would serve excellent for performing such msms). 

Cheers,
Boris  

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