Computational Studies of Positive and Negative Streamers in Bubbles Suspended in Distilled Water

Abstract

We perform computational studies of nanosecond streamers generated in helium bubbles immersed in distilled water under high pressure conditions. The model takes into account the presence of water vapor in the gas bubble for an accurate description of the chemical kinetics of the discharge. We apply positive and negative trigger voltages much higher than the breakdown voltage and study the dynamic characteristics of the resulting discharge. We observe that, for high positive trigger voltages, the streamer moves along the surface of the gas bubble during the initial stages of the discharge. We also find a considerable difference in the evolution of the streamer discharge for positive and negative trigger voltages with more uniform volumetric distribution of species in the streamer channel for negative trigger voltages due to formation of multiple streamers. We also observe that the presence of water vapor does not influence the breakdown voltage of the discharge but greatly affects the composition of dominant species in the trail of the streamer channel.