Patent ID: 8416552

Claim:
A gas ionization apparatus for converting a non-ionized gas stream that defines a downstream direction into an ionized gas stream, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving the non-ionized gas stream and for delivering the ionized gas stream to the target; means for producing charge carriers in the non-ionized gas stream in response to the provision of an ionizing signal having a cycle T with positive and negative portions, wherein the charge carriers comprise clouds of electrons, positive ions and negative ions that convert the non- ionized gas stream into the ionized gas stream, and wherein the electron cloud is produced during a time Tnc of the negative portion of the ionizing signal; a non-ionizing reference electrode, that is insulated from the ionized gas stream by a dielectric material, for monitoring the charge carriers in the ionized gas stream, at least a portion of the reference electrode being located downstream of the means for producing charge carriers by a distance L, and the time Tnc being less than or equal to a time Te that it takes the electron cloud produced during the time Tnc to move downstream by the distance L; and means, responsive to the reference electrode, for controlling the ionizing signal.