From: "Dave" <noone@nowhere.com>
References: <cf05nk$cc54$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu>
Subject: Re: Corona discharge questions
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 16:00:47 -0000
Newsgroups: sci.physics.plasma


"Brad Eckert" <nospaambrad1@tinyboot.com> wrote in message
news:cf05nk$cc54$1@saturn.cs.uml.edu...
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> Power line conductors need to be above a certain diameter to avoid
> power-robbing corona discharge. I have noticed that under certain
> conditions, there will be a little bit of discharge evident as a
> buzzing sound in the power lines. Other times, it's not buzzing.
>
> I assume that for a given metal surface, the threshold voltage varies
> depending on humidity, temperature and air pressure.

yep

>
> If you beam energy (microwaves or UHF) through power lines, would that
> increase the likelyhood of corona discharge? Does sunlight have an
> effect?

i suppose it could, but would have to be pretty high power. i don't think
sunlight itself is enough to affect corona other than it changes the air and
conductor temperatures. there are some high power lasers that can cause air
to ionize.

>
> Can the corona discharge phenomenon be used as a radiation detector? I
> mean, a general purpose detector that works with ionizing,
> non-ionizing and EM radiation?

well, non-ionizing radiation wouldn't affect corona since it would not have
enough energy to assist in the ionization... by definition. ionizing
radiation detectors can use high voltage tubes to detect radiation, but they
aren't specifically using corona, just a high enough voltage to cause a
breakdown when radiation triggers it.





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