the purpose of a spark gap is to arc over at some voltage
if you insert it into mineral oil, or (almost) any other fluid, it will (likely) require more voltage to arc over.
or you get to move the two metal plates closer together.
once you arc in mineral oil, there will be some chemical changes. as there are more arcs in the oil, the degradation and contamination will continue.
after a while, the spark gap will not operate as it did at the beginning of its useful life.
since you want it for a tesla coil, it will be exercised a lot.
I think you're better off with a spark gap in air, with a cooling fan as needed. its cleaner, easier to use, build and replace.
Did you mean by chemical changes there are metallic ions emitted from the electrodes into the oil?
You could consider the spark gap as a tiny "FIB milling
experiment". Every electron or ion impact stands a
chance of kicking off material. In a non-vacuum there is
also the possibility of chemical action.
How about a spark plug, with its electrode already chosen
for durability in high temperature explosive operation?
Just be sure the polarity favors the tungsten / platinum /
iridium / whateverium tip taking the abuse for the most
part.
Bonus, cheap and replaceable.
I was considering thoriated tungsten rods since they are tiny in comparison to those spark plugs which cannot have their gaps adjusted.
This is the issue, there arent publications dealing with immersed spark gaps. Im sure immersion would accelerate spark frequency since liquid would quickly fill the void and wouldn't ionize as rapidly as air would.
why would immersion lead to "accelerated spark frequency" ? that seems contrary to " ... wouldn't ionize as rapidly..."
If you want negative (differential) resistance then you need
an ionizable medium.
Here's a big tank of SF6, used to corral and abruptly release
a megavolt or so to produce a flash X-ray burst. I have one
of the burnt-out "capacitor pucks" from inside its little brother
(only a 750 keV) in the office as "wall art".
...It won't be lower for an immersed sparc gap.
You could consider the spark gap as a tiny "FIB milling experiment"
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