An experimental investigation on corona quenching

Current–voltage characteristics of a wire-and-tube electrostatic precipitator were measured under conditions of corona quenching. It was found that corona quenching is associated with an increase or decrease of the corona onset voltage (depending on the discharge electrode diameter) and with a strong deformation of the current–voltage characteristic for voltages close to the corona onset voltage. The current state of knowledge, describing corona quenching as a simple shift of the current–voltage characteristic to higher voltages, apparently goes back to measurements of less resolution. Possible mechanisms leading to an understanding of the newly observed phenomena are discussed.