Neutralization of charged dielectric materials using a dielectric barrier discharge

Safety and efficiency are two characteristics that must be satisfied by an electric charge neutralizer. The dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), which has the advantage of preventing arc transition, is an interesting tool to safely neutralize unwanted charge. This paper is aimed at studying the efficiency of neutralizing charged polyethylene (PE) granules by using a dielectric barrier discharge. During this study, several factors were considered such as the amplitude and the frequency of the AC voltage, the polarity and the charging mode of the samples, as well as the electrode configuration. Two DBD electrode configurations were considered: simple DBD and a DBD with installed metallic grid. The obtained results show that using the DBD can lead to excellent neutralization results when the grid is installed. With the appropriate voltage amplitude and frequency and with grid installed, the elimination of nearly 99% of the initial surface charges can be achieved. The metallic grid placed between the DBD electrode and the target enhances significantly the neutralization efficiency.