I believe the theory behind the PulStar Pulse Plug's plasma ball is as follows:
"With your spark plug, as you raise the voltage across the metal electrodes, an electron avalanche will cause a region of plasma to "ignite." This typically occurs at a sharp edge, but if there is a dust-mote floating between the electrodes, it can start at the surface of the dust. The region of plasma grows. It grows in somewhat the same way that a forest fire grows: it causes the air adjacent to itself to "ignite" and form more plasma. Plasmas in strong e-fields tend to form into narrow filaments. They are very much like growing crystals: crystals can grow like "frost" rather than like bulk polyhedra. "Frostlike" growth occurs when the growth is very fast, and the tip of the crystal grows faster than any other part. With plasmas, if growth is slow, you get a region of glow-discharge or "saint elmo's fire", while if growth is fast, you get narrow spines or treelike fractal shapes where the tips grow the fastest. Remember that sparks are conductive. A narrow spark is like a wire, and when you place a high voltage upon a wire, you will see an electric discharge at its tip. When the "wire" is MADE of electric discharge, then the tip grows longer and longer by converting the air into "more spark."
As the "plasma tree" grows outwards, remember that plasmas are conductive. The growing "tree" is like an extending wire. When this "plasma wire" touches the other electrode, it explodes! It creates a bridge across the high voltage power supply, and the power supply suddenly creates an enormous current through the conductive spark. The flash and noise of a spark is the same as the flash and noise of a wire placed across a large battery: a spark is a short-circuit. Yet sparks can also grow outwards without bridging the gap between the electrodes. In this case they look like silent blue plasma fingers, not noisy incandescent explosions."
William Beaty, Electrical Engineer
For further information please see the complete article at:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...3778.Ph.r.html
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