Measurements of DC breakdown in hydrofluoroolefine C₃H₂F₄

Hydrofluoroolefin C₃H₂F₄ belongs to a new class of refrigerants and gaining attention, especially in the automotive industry where it is used as a replacement for R-134a. This novel gas is also considered a promising alternative in gaseous particle detectors (RPC systems) and high-voltage insulation devices due to its low global warming potential. In this study, we present the results obtained from our Steady-State Townsend experiment (SST). The discharge was ignited in a plan-parallel electrode system placed inside a tight quartz tube with electrodes spaced 1.1 cm apart. The diameter (2r) of the electrodes was 5.4 cm. The design of the electrical circuit enabled the stable operation of the discharge near the breakdown conditions. These measurements yielded breakdown voltages (Paschen curve), critical electrical fields, spatially and spectrally resolved distribution of discharge emission, and effective ionization coefficients. Our research aims to understand the fundamental processes that occur in fluorocarbon gases when they are subjected to electric fields. These processes determine the characteristics and behavior of breakdown itself and gas discharges and can be used in modeling various gas discharge applications. The available cross-section data were used to analyze the collisional processes occurring in this gas. Additionally, we obtained effective ionization coefficients as transport coefficients that can be used for normalizing existing ionization cross-sections for electron scattering on all gases, including the HFO-1234yf.