Evolution of the electrical characteristics of an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge system over one hour operation

Abstract In this work, long-time operation of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) characterized by a single thin dielectric was investigated. The discharge was operated under nitrogen at atmospheric pressure in a typical filamentary regime. Electrical measurements were performed, i.e., applied voltage, current and charge were retrieved. The Lissajous figure method combined with an equivalent circuit of the DBD was used to calculate the dissipated power, estimate the gas gap voltage V_g, evaluate the deposited charges Q_0 as well as the capacitances of the discharge cell. The results over a one-hour operation indicated that the total dissipated power remained constant, but a decrease of the gas gap voltage with an increase of the charge deposited was also depicted. For the capacitances, both dielectric and cell capacitances variations were studied from the Lissajous figures. The dielectric capacitance showed a voltage dependency over half a period of applied voltage.