Brush discharge plastics. The ability of an electrical discharge to cause an explosion in flammable atmospheres is measured by the "effective energy" of the discharge. The effective energy of brush discharges is 10-20 mJ, much larger than that of corona discharges 0.1 mJ. Therefore, brush discharges are considered an explosion hazard, while corona discharges are not. Brush discharges can occur from charged insulating plastics (for example polythene) to a conductor. Brush discharge A brush discharge is an electrical disruptive discharge similar to a corona discharge that takes place at an electrode with a high voltage applied to it, embedded in a nonconducting
Electric discharge in gases the tube, either as a separate piece of material (e.g. nickel-63 in krytrons) or as addition to the alloy of the electrodes (e.g. thorium), to preionize the gas and increase the reliability of electrical breakdown and glow or arc discharge ignition. A gaseous radioactive isotope, e.g. krypton-85, can also be used. Ignition electrodes and keepalive discharge electrodes can also be employed. The E/N ratio between the electric field E and the concentration of neutral particles N is often used, because the mean energy of electrons (and therefore many other properties of discharge) is a function of E/N. Increasing the electric