Damien Vacher

Transport coefficients including diffusion in a two-temperature argon plasma

This paper presents the first application to an argon atmospheric plasma of a very recent derivation of a two-temperature (2T) transport properties theory, based on the Chapman-Enskog method expanded up to the fourth approximation, where only elastic processes are considered. The kinetic electron temperature Te is assumed to be different from that of heavy species Th, chemical equilibrium being achieved. This new theory, where electrons and heavy species are coupled, allows one to determine 2T diffusion coefficients which was not the case of the previous ones. First, basic definitions of transport fluxes are recalled and a binary diffusion coefficient approximation is defined which involves an asymmetric relationship between these coefficients. Second, a particular care is taken in choosing the most recent data of potential interactions or elastic differential cross sections in order to determine the collision integrals. Third, a convergence study of transport coefficients is led to evaluate the influence of the non-equilibrium parameter θ = Te/Th on this convergence. It is shown that changing θ does not modify the convergence of transport coefficients. Moreover, ordinary and thermal diffusion coefficients, electrical and electron translational thermal conductivities as well as viscosity are displayed as functions of the electron temperature for different values of θ = Te/Th. It is pointed out that the non-equilibrium parameter θ has a non-negligible influence on transport coefficients. Besides, recently, it has been shown that the 2T simplified theory of transport properties, very often used in modelling, does not allow one to achieve mass conservation. Consequently, a comparison is presented between the 2T simplified theory and this new approach. Significant differences are found in the electrical conductivity and the electron translational thermal conductivity.

Comparative study of an argon plasma and an argon copper plasma produced by an ICP torch at atmospheric pressure based on spectroscopic methods

The aim of the paper is to test the accuracy of classical spectroscopic methods in the visible domain dedicated to measurements of temperature and electron density in order to conclude about the validity of thermal disequilibrium. The influence of various factors is studied: accuracy of the intensity calibration, Abel inversion of the experimental spectra, excitation temperature deduced from the relative method, absolute excitation temperature, influence of the transition probability accuracy, influence of the Biberman factor value, electron temperature from the line-to-continuum intensity ratio, electron density deduced from Stark broadening, and electron density deduced from the continuum intensity. This spectroscopic investigation is carried out for argon plasma and argon copper plasma both produced by means of an ICP torch operating at atmospheric pressure. Results are given with uncertainties for each evaluated parameter. We show that, first, the electron temperature deduced from the line-to-continuum intensity ratio has to be considered with great care; second, for argon plasma no evidence of thermal disequilibrium can be discerned, whereas for argon copper plasma a small disequilibrium of 1.2 to 1.4 at most is experimentally observed.

Solid Carbon Produced in an Inductively Coupled Plasma Torch with a Titan Like Atmosphere

Solid carbon is deposited on the surfaces of an inductively coupled plasma torch operating with a Titan like atmosphere plasma gas. The frame of the initial research is the study of the radiative properties of plasma encountered around a spacecraft during its hypersonic entry in upper layers of planetary atmosphere. Deposition of carbon is observed not only on the quartz tube outside the inductor but also on the ceramic protection of the torch injector. Carbon exhibits two types of morphology more or less dense and it is analyzed by various analytic devices as MEB, SEM, TEM, EDS and Raman spectroscopy. The gathered carbon powder shows the presence of nanostructured particles.

Modelling of an inductively coupled plasma torch with argon at atmospheric pressure

A fluid dynamic model is used to simulate the electromagnetic field, fluid flow and heat transfer in an inductively coupled plasma torch working at atmospheric pressure for argon plasma. The numerical simulation is carried out by using the finite element method based on COMSOL software. The two-dimensional profiles of the electric field, temperature, velocity and charged particle densities are demonstrated inside the discharge region. These numerical results are obtained for a fixed flow rate, frequency and electric power.

A plasma jet produced in a segmented plasmatron: modelling and experiment

Nitrogen and argon plasmas with a small admixture of air produced in a segmented plasmatron are studied both experimentally and theoretically. A two-temperature hydrodynamic model is used to simulate the plasma flow inside the plasmatron. The calculated plasma temperature and electron density are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values obtained from emission spectroscopy. The electron temperatures are several thousand kelvins higher than the atom temperatures, showing that the plasmas produced in the segmented plasmatron are in non-equilibrium.