High-temperature electrostatic precipitators for removing dust from fuel or flue gases were proposed to improve energy efficiency or to avoid damaging downstream equipment. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of negative DC corona discharges and find ways to increase corona stability at high temperatures. The characteristics of corona discharges were studied in a wire-plate discharge configuration under different discharge gaps and electrode geometries at temperatures ranging from 293 K to 1173 K. The V-I characteristics were analyzed, including corona onset/spark voltages, operating voltage ranges, and corona current compositions. The discharge current density increases as the temperature increases, and the electron-carried current becomes significant at high temperatures. For example, the electron-carried current makes up similar to 40% of the total discharge current at 1073 K under an applied voltage of 10 kV. The applied voltage range decreases as the temperature increases. The corona discharges become unstable, and localized breakdowns occur frequently when the temperature exceeds 1073 K and the discharge gap is less than 50 mm, because the ionization coefficient and the number of electrons greatly increase. The operating voltage range increases from 8.2 kV to 13.6 kV at 1073 K when the discharge gap increases from 30 mm to 70 mm. Compared with the wire and spiral electrodes, the ribbon electrodes produce sparks more easily. The wire diameter has little influence on the spark voltage and corona stability at high temperatures. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.