of times the electrostatic attraction between fiber tow 26 and foil 28 prevent the fibers of tow 26 from separating the corona discharge device 32 is conventional in nature and includes at least one row of bars or electrodes 38 the row of electrodes 38 is arranged so as to extend perpendicular to the direction of movement of fiber tow 26 by arranging the row of electrodes 38 perpendicular to tow 26 it is assured that the fibers in tow 26 cannot escape the corona discharge by drifting laterally the high potential of the row of electrodes 38 prevents the fibers from tow 26 from lifting off sheet 28 if the fibers were allowed to lift off sheet 28 arcing could occur and could result in fiber breakage the dominant factors affecting the amount of net charge transferred to the fiber tow 26 are the electrical potential the size of the gap between tow 26 and the row of electrodes 38 relative humidity and gas composition in experiments to date typical voltages are between 5 and 15 kw with 4 to 6 kw being the most common experiments have been performed using gaps of 3 16 34 to 3 4 34 the best results were obtained.