Neutralisation of static surface charges by a flow stabilized corona discharge ionizer in a nitrogen environment

The neutralisation of static-charges by a flow stabilized dc corona ionizer in pure nitrogen environments has been investigated experimentally. The ionizer consisted of a pair of hollow corona electrodes operated at different dc negative and positive voltages and placed in a grounded environmental chamber. The flow rate of gas and temperature in the chamber were from 6 to 10 l/min. and from −72 to 167°C, respectively. Measurements of charge decay rate and charge imbalance were secured using a half-sphere, conductive probe located 7.2 cm downstream from the ionizer. The results show that the neutralisation of objects can be achieved with adjusting positive and negative applied voltage of each electrode as well as gas flow rate of hollow electrodes even under pure nitrogen environments.