Experimental study of the modified Paschen's law: glow discharge of Ethanol (CH3CH2OH), Methanol (CH3OH) and its mixture

J. C. Palomares; Pedro Guillermo Reyes; A. Gómez; M. J. Rodríguez; C. Torres; J. Vergara; H. Martínez

doi:10.31349/RevMexFis.68.041502

Authors

J. C. Palomares Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
Pedro Guillermo Reyes Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
A. Gómez Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
M. J. Rodríguez Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
C. Torres Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos
J. Vergara Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos
H. Martínez Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31349/RevMexFis.68.041502

Keywords:

Plasma; Paschen’s Law, breakdown; ethanol; methanol

Abstract

A low-pressure ethanol and methanol discharge produced by a DC electric field was studied experimentally, analyzing the disruptive voltage between parallel electrodes with a circular geometry as function of pressure and distance according with the Paschen’s law, this states that the breakdown voltage is a function of the product of gas pressure and distance following the relationship: VB = f(pd). Detailed knowledge of the minimum breakdown voltage required to initiate the ethanol–methanol discharge will be useful to providing important information for future experiments and applications. In this experiment, a cylindrical chamber was used to generate a glow discharge of the ethanol (CH3CH2OH), methanol (CH3OH), and 50% mixture, over a pressure range of 0.07–5.00 Torr. Optical emission spectroscopy was performed in the wavelength range of 200–900 nm. The Paschen curves, measured experimentally for ethanol and methanol are presented, taking in account the coefficient obtained using the variation in Paschen’s law as a function of the distance and radius of the electrodes (d/r).

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