Spontaneous Ionization of Gases at High Temperature

When sufficient thermal energy is available, the molecules cules of a gas are ionized at a rate that can significantly affect the operation of an electrostatic precipitator. At a given temperature, thermal effects may depend more on the presence of minority ionic species such as O- and the alkali metals than on the bulk constituents of the gas, and the electrical behavior of a precipitator will be strongly influenced by traces of such impurities. These effects may become noticeable even below 1500°F.