Development and testing of the installation for studying the laboratory analog of ball lightning

A spherical plasmoid is the result of a unique type of pulsed «Gatchina» discharge, in which a plasma clot grows out of the discharge and separates from the central electrode and its glow lasts in free flight for several hundred milliseconds without an external electrical power source before dissipating. To date, there is no detailed understanding of the processes that determine the key stages in the development of a pulsed «Gatchina» discharge and are necessary to establish the mechanisms of formation of long-lived spherical plasmoids, so experimental studies are urgent. A setup has been created to study this type of discharge. The main units of the installation are described, including: a reactor, high-voltage equipment, current and voltage sensors, and a gas spark gap. In addition, a number of experiments are described and a set of preliminary data are included that provide a basis for further research: the discharge current and voltage across the capacitor, the shape and color of the resulting plasmoids, the ejection of particles from the plasmoid and the bursts of balls inside the plasmoid. The following important results were obtained: formations of spherical and toroidal bulk plasmoids were demonstrated; observation of the color of plasmoids showed that they change color during their life during propagation (yellow, red, purple, green colors were observed); the emission of brightly glowing small particles from the plasmoid was recorded in an autonomous mode; it is shown that round glowing balls flare up inside the plasmoid during its life. As a result of the experiments, no high variability from discharge to discharge was observed. When the discharge is realized, plasmoids with similar basic characteristics (size, lifetime, current strength, flight speed, etc.) are stably reproduced with a spread of up to 20% of the «Gatchina» one.

capacity, capacitor bank, reactor, spark gap, resistance, high-voltage voltage source, Gatchina discharge, ball lightning, plasmoid, Tesla

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