Modelling Study On The Plasma Flow and Heat Transfer In A Laminar Arc Plasma Torch Operating At Atmospheric and Reduced Pressure

A modelling study is performed to investigate the characteristics of both plasma flow and heat transfer of a laminar non-transferred arc argon plasma torch operated at atmospheric and reduced pressure. It is found that the calculated flow fields and temperature distributions are quite similar for both cases at a chamber pressure of 1.0 atm and 0.1 atm. A fully developed flow regime could be achieved in the arc constrictor-tube between the cathode and the anode of the plasma torch at 1.0 atm for all the flow rates covered in this study. However the flow field could not reach the fully developed regime at 0.1 atm with a higher flow rate. The arc-root is always attached to the torch anode surface near the upstream end of the anode, i.e. the abruptly expanded part of the torch channel, which is in consistence with experimental observation. The surrounding gas would be entrained from the torch exit into the torch interior due to a comparatively large inner diameter of the anode channel compared to that of the arc constrictor-tube.

Plasma-Arc Technology For The Thermal Treatment Of Chemical Wastes

Plasma-arc technology was developed to dispose of chemical wastes from a chemical plant by the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-IMECH). A pilot plant system with this technology was constructed to destroy two types of chemical wastes. The system included shredding, mixing, and feeding subsystems, a plasma-arc reactor of 150 kW, an off-gas burning subsystem, and a scrubbing subsystem. The additives (CaO, SiO2, and Fe) were added into the reactor to form vitrified slag and capture the hazardous elements. The molten slag was quickly quenched to form an amorphous glassy structure. A direct current (DC) experimental facility of 30kW with plasma-arc technology was also set up to study the pyrolysis process in the laboratory, and the experimental results showed the cooling speed is the most important factor for good vitrified structure of the slag. According to previous tests, the destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) for these chemical wastes was more than 99.999%, and the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentration in the solid residues was in the range of 1.28 to 12.9mg/kg, which is far below the Chinese national emission limit for the hazardous wastes. A simplified electromagneto model for numerical simulation was developed to predict the temperature and velocity fields. This model can make satisfactory maximum temperature and velocity distributions in the arc region, as well as the results by the magneto hydrodynamic approach.

Fluctuation characteristics of arc voltage and jet flow in a non-transferred dc plasma generated at reduced pressure

A torch with a set of inter-electrode inserts between the cathode and the anode/nozzle with a wide nozzle exit was designed to generate plasma jets at chamber pressures of 500–10 000 Pa. The variation of the arc voltage was examined with the change in working parameters such as gas flow rate and chamber pressure. The fluctuation in the arc voltage was recorded with an oscilloscope, and the plasma jet fluctuation near the torch exit was observed with a high-speed video camera and detected with a double-electrostatic probe. Results show that the 300 Hz wave originated from the tri-phase rectified power supply was always detected under all generating conditions. Helmholtz oscillations over 3000 Hz was detected superposed on the 300 Hz wave at gas flow rates higher than 8.8 slm with a peak to valley amplitude lower than 5% of the average voltage value. No appreciable voltage fluctuation caused by the irregular arc root movement is detected, and mechanisms for the arc voltage and jet flow fluctuations are discussed.

The formation mechanism of low leaching glassy slag during plasma arc vitrification treatment of fly ash

In this paper, the glass formation theory is applied to study the formation mechanism of the low leaching glassy slag during the process of plasma waste treatment. The research shows that SiO2 acts as network former to form a 3-dimensional Si-O tetrahedral network in which heavy metals are bonded or encapsulated, so the Si-O tetrahedron protect heavy metals against leaching from the vitrified slag or acid corrosion. For given chemical compositions of waste, the formation ability of the vitrified slag can be represented by the ratio of the whole oxygen ions to the whole network former ions in glass (O/Si) which is appropriate in the range of 2~3. A plasma arc reactor is used to conduct the vitrification experiments of two kinds of fly ashes with additives in which effects of various parameters including arc power, cooling speed, treatment temperature are studied. The chemical compositions of fly ashes are analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. The experimental results show that both cooling speed and O/Si have important influence on the formation of the vitrified slag, which is qualitatively in accordance with the predictions of the glass formation theory.

THE FORMATION MECHANISM OF THE VITRIFIED SLAG IN A PLASMA ARC REACTOR FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT

Various hazardous wastes with additives have been vitrified to investigate the formation mechanism of the glassy slag by a 30 kW DC plasma-arc reactor developed by the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The average temperature in the reaction area is controlled at 1500°C. The chemical compositions of three sorts of fly ashes are analyzed by XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence). Fly ashes with vitrifying additives can be vitrified to form glassy slag, which show that the ratio of the whole oxygen ions to the whole network former ions in glass (R) is appropriate in the range of 2~3 to form durable vitrified slag. In this experiment, the arc power is controlled below 5 kW to inhibit waste evaporation. To enhance the effects of heat transfer to wastes, ferrous powder has been added into the graphite crucible, which aggregates as ingot below the molten silicate after vitrification. The slag fails to form glass if the quenching rate is less than 1 K/min. Therefore, the slag will break into small chips due to the sharp quenching rate, which is more than 100 K/sec.

Measured temperature of a laminar plasma jet by using thermocouple at reduced pressure

Attempts were made to measure the gas temperature of a DC arc laminar plasma jet generated at reduced pressure by using a pair of WRe-5/26 thermocouple. Results show that the measured temperature is much lower than the value measured by using the spectral method. Theoretical work considering rarefied-gas heat transfer effects has been carried out to analyze the measured error of the thermocouple.

Direct measurement of entrainment in plasma jets

The entrainment rate of ambient gas into a turbulent argon plasma jet generated by plasma torch is directly measured using a “porous-wall chamber” technique. It is shown that with the increase of the mass flow rates of argon at the jet inlet, the mass flow rate of entrained gas increases. The normalized mass flow rate decreases with the increasing inlet mass flow rates of plasma torch. The entrained gas mass flow rate increases with increasing chamber length, but less depends on the arc current of the plasma torch at higher flow rates. The effects of different ways of inflowing gas into plasma torch on entrainment characteristics of plasma jet are also examined in this paper.

Fluctuations in a direct current argon plasma jet at reduced pressure

Dynamic measurements of the ion saturation current in the plasma plume by a double-electrostatic probe system were carried out. Regular signals obtained by the electros- tatic probe show good agreement with the stable plasma flow state. Dependence of the flow steadiness on the plasma generation parameters was discussed. As a fast response method, the double-electrostatic probe system is feasible to characterize the fluctuations in the plasma jet.

A small arc-heated plasma testing facility for thermal protection materials

Experimental research on a 150 kW arc-heated plasma testing facility was conducted. Stable plasma jets with different gas compositions, temperatures and velocities were obtained at chamber pressure between 400 Pa – 100 kPa. Stagnation ablation experiments were conducted on samples of typical super alloys used for thermal protection systems. The microstructure and hardness of alloys before and after ablation were compared.

Plasma channeling by multiple short-pulse lasers

Channeling by a train of laser pulses into homogeneous and inhomogeneous plasmas is studied using particle-in-cell simulation. When the pulse duration and the interval between the successive pulses are appropriate, the laser pulse train can channel into the plasma deeper than a single long-pulse laser of similar peak intensity and total energy. The increased penetration distance can be attributed to the repeated actions of the ponderomotive force, the continuous between-pulse channel lengthening by the inertially evacuating ions, and the suppression of laser-driven plasma instabilities by the intermittent laser-energy cut-offs.

Time and space-resolved measurement of a gas-puff laser-plasma x-ray source

The dynamic interaction processes between a nano-second laser pulse and a gas-puff target, such as those of plasma formation, laser heating, and x-ray emission, have been investigated quantitatively. Time and space-resolved x-ray and optical measurement techniques were used in order to investigate time-resolved laser absorption and subsequent x-ray generation. Efficient absorption of the incident laser energy into the gas-puff target of 17%, 12%, 38%, and 91% for neon, argon, krypton, and xenon, respectively, was shown experimentally. It was found that the laser absorption starts and, simultaneously, soft x-ray emission occurs. The soft x-ray lasts much longer than the laser pulse due to the recombination. Temporal evolution of the soft x-ray emission region was analyzed by comparing the experimental results to the results of the model calculation, in which the laser light propagation through a gas-puff plasma was taken into account. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Electron acceleration by an intense short-pulse laser in underdense plasma

Electron acceleration from the interaction of an intense short-pulse laser with low density plasma is considered. The relation between direct electron acceleration within the laser pulse and that in the wake is investigated analytically. The magnitude and location of the ponderomotive-force-caused charge separation field with respect to that of the pulse determine the relative effectiveness of the two acceleration mechanisms. It is shown that there is an optimum condition for acceleration in the wake. Electron acceleration within the pulse dominates as the pulse becomes sufficiently short, and the latter directly drives and even traps the electrons. The latter can reach ultrahigh energies and can be extracted by impinging the pulse on a solid target. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Photon-photon scattering in a plasma channel

The Heisenberg-Euler correction due to photon-photon scattering, a still unverified quantum electrodynamics effect, on electromagnetic wave interaction inside a plasma channel is investigated theoretically. From a signal laser beam in the relativistic overdense plasma channel, photon-photon scattering can produce a detectable output beam of different frequency and polarization. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.