American Journal of Modern Energy 2017; 3(5): 95-100 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajme doi: 10.11648/j.ajme.20170305.12 Positive Streamer Simulation in Air Using Finite Element Method Abd Elatif El-Zein, Mohamed Talaat, Ashraf Samir Electrical Power & Machines Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt Email address: Prof.elzein@yahoo.com (A. El-Zein), m_mtalaat@yahoo.com (M. Talaat), e.ashmir@gmail.com (A. Samir) To cite this article: Abd Elatif El-Zein, Mohamed Talaat, Ashraf Samir. Positive Streamer Simulation in Air Using Finite Element Method. American Journal of Modern Energy. Vol. 3, No. 5, 2017, pp. 95-100. doi: 10.11648/j.ajme.20170305.12 Received: August 20, 2017; Accepted: August 30, 2017; Published: September 26, 2017 Abstract: A new methodology for positive streamer process is presented. This process depends on the critical electric field value that required for streamer initiation. So, an accurate computational of the electric field distribution across needle-to-plane gap is required. A finite element method using Comsol Multiphysics program is adopted for this simulation. The streamer path has been considered as a conducting path of 300 micro-meter in length and 30 micro-meter in radius with 10 8 electrons on its head. The results have been verified with others. Keywords: Positive Streamer, Critical Electric Field, Needle-to-Plane, Finite Element Method 1. Introduction The electrical breakdown is an important electric phenomenon in dielectric materials. Conductors, in electrical equipment, are insulated by dielectric material in all three states to avoid flashover or short circuits between the parts of the electrical system with each other. Streamers are thin ionized filaments that break through a previously non-ionized region under the effect of an electric field. It is the pre-breakdown process and now became basically element in many electrical discharges. It is well-known that Streamers play important roles in production and growth of lightning channels. So, streamers have been strongly connected to development of lightning technology. In addition that is used for coating, powder formation and triggering fuel combustion in vehicle motors [1]. Nanosecond pulsed discharges are very operative in generating chemical radicals for the ignition of combustible mixtures too [2, 3]. The simulation methods are considered as one of the most suitable methods for studying the discharge process; there is several simulation methods used, with needle-to-plane configurations. Finite difference method (FDM), is a numerical method, is used for solving differential equations by approximating converting them into difference equations with many grid points. But, this method can only be applied on the uniform field gap [4-8]. Boundary element method (BEM) is a numerical computational method of solving linear partial differential equations which, is based on the integral of the boundary to achieve the controlling differential equation [7, 9]. It can be applied on many areas of engineering and science including fluid mechanics, acoustics, and electromagnetics. So, the surface of the problem domain is only needed to be modelled. Charge simulation method (CSM) [7, 10-16], is used for simulation of the electric field by several discrete number of imaginary charges which are existed inside the conductors. These charges are determined at several selected contour points at the conductor surfaces by satisfying the boundary conditions. All these charges are determined; the simulated electric field can be evaluated at any point around the conductors by using the principle of superposition. Finite element Method (FEM) is using the mesh generation techniques for distributing a complex problem to small elements so as to solve the problems according to boundary conditions [5, 7, 17-20]. FEM is used for detecting the solutions of the electric field distribution which satisfy the boundary conditions using partial differential equations. FEM can be suitable for complex configurations of the streamer systems progress in any case of the electrode shape, medium gases, volume of charges, and gap length. In generally, the 1.5-D simulation model of streamers is depended on a representation of a space-charge filament by a series of charged discs of equal radius with uniform densities