A finite volume method for electrostatic three species negative corona discharge simulations with application to externally charged powder bells

• Numerical modeling of three species corona discharge in air and oxygen in wire-cylinder and needle-plane geometries.
• Current density measurements of corona discharge with distances and voltages used for industrial spray painting applications.
• Current density profiles of externally charged powder bells matched with simulations.
• Finite volume algorithm in cylindrical coordinates using higher order convective schemes.
• Validation of numerical algorithm for corona discharge model with one and three species.

A three species model for steady-state negative corona discharge is studied. Ionization, attachment, and recombination reactions are modeled. A novel unstructured finite volume algorithm to solve the equations is presented, using the secondary emission of electrons from the cathode to set boundary values for the electrons.To show the usefulness of the method for industrial applications it is used to characterize the electrostatic properties of an externally charged rotary powder bell used in the automotive industry. Experimental current density profiles are reconstructed with good accuracy, which validates the model and the method with real experimental data.