Simulation of plasma is becoming increasingly important for replicating technically relevant configurations in electrical engineering. For instance, simulation tools are used to depict the evolution of partial discharges in internal defects such as voids and electrical trees. In these cases, the simulation encompasses both the gaseous defect and the polymeric mass in which the defect is embedded. An important role is played by the physical characteristics of the surface separating the defect from the mass, among which surface conductivity is one of the most critical aspects. The latter can assume very high values due to the cumulative interaction of dielectric materials with a high number of partial discharges.

Simulating configurations involving high surface conductivity is particularly challenging because, as we will show, this can limit the maximum increase in time step of simulation algorithms. In this work, we introduce an appropriate numerical filter that can circumvent this issue and demonstrate that, by using this technique, we can significantly enhance the performance of simulation algorithms without compromising accuracy. The effectiveness of this approach will be demonstrated through a series of numerical examples.