Patent ID: 7122070

Claim:
A device for handling a fluid comprising: a corona discharge device including at least one corona discharge electrode and at least one collector electrode; and an electric power supply connected to said corona discharge and collector electrodes to supply an electric power signal by applying a voltage V t between said electrodes so as to cause a corona current I t to flow between said corona discharge and collector electrodes, both said voltage V t and corona current I t each being a sum of respective constant d.c. and alternating a.c. components superimposed on each other whereby V t =V d.c. +V a.c. and I t =I d.c. +I a.c ., wherein V RMS ≃V MEAN and I RMS >I MEAN ; wherein V RMS is the root-mean-square of V and I RMS is the root-mean-square of I.