The destruction effect of a pulse discharge in water suspensions

A high-energy capacitor bank in a Blumlein circuit) was discharged over about through a 7 mm electrode gap in water suspensions of different materials - powder, wood materials (sawdust, needles) - and methylhydroxyethylcellulose dissolved in water. The Mach number of the compressional wave produced by the expanding discharge channel achieved a value of about 0.5. The destruction of added materials was tested using various methods: turbidity and covering ability of the -white, acid hydrolysis of beech sawdust, microbiological processes of spruce needles and molecular weight measurements of the cellulose derivative. In the used power conditions the physical destruction of materials dispersed in water (degassing and decomposition of physically bonded particles) is a dominant effect caused mainly by the compressional wave that can affect material in the whole volume. The chemical destruction probably occurs just in the vicinity or inside the plasma channel due to the action of plasma particles or energetic radiation.