A Study on the Phenomenon of Streamers in White Mineral Oil

This paper presents the results of a study on streamers in white mineral oil. The experiments have been performed with a point-plane electrode system with a distance of 8 cm among the electrodes under the effect of step voltage. The influence of the amplitudes and polarities of the voltage on streamers has been carefully investigated in detail. It is observed that the increased voltage changes the shapes and speeds of the streamers, which results in different propagation modes. As the voltage in effect exceeds a threshold value, the velocities of the streamers increase sharply. Positive streamers propagate with higher velocities but they have lower breakdown and acceleration voltages compared to negative streamers. During the propagation of the streamers, the appearance of current and light pulses has been recorded. The reason for the transition from low to Fast mode streamers is to be discussed