Scaling of energy delivered through an electrostatic discharge to a small series load

We study the energy delivered through a small-resistance series “victim” load during electrostatic discharge events in air. For gap lengths over 1 mm, the fraction of the stored energy delivered is mostly gap-length independent, with a slight decrease at larger gaps due to electrode geometry. The energy to the victim scales linearly with circuit capacitance and victim load resistance but is not strongly dependent on circuit inductance. This scaling leads to a simple approach to predicting the maximum energy that will be delivered to a series resistance for the case where the victim load resistance is lower than the spark resistance. • We investigated how initial stored energy divides between spark and a series load. • Energy delivered to victim load scales linearly with capacitance and resistance. • Circuit inductance did not significantly affect the energy delivered to victim load. • Scaled fraction of energy remains constant for gap lengths > 1 mm . • Electrode geometry strongly influences the breakdown voltage and energy delivered.