blast gap flow rates

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

I did a bit of calculating.. I don't think you'll be able to use the gap
itself as the throttle for the flow...

In choked (supersonic) flow, an 1/8" hole at 60 psig will flow 985 SCFH (or
around 16 CFM).. a fairly hefty compressor...

To get down around 1 CFM (60 SCFH), you need an orifice around 0.033 inches.

For comparison, the area of a 0.06 inch gap around a 1/4" hole in the
middle of an electrode would be 3.14*.25*0.06, or 0.0471 square inches
(about the area of that 1/4" hole...)