Abstract:Translational, rotational, vibrational and electron temperatures of a gliding arc discharge in atmospheric pressure air were experimentally investigated using in situ, nonintrusive optical diagnostic techniques. The gliding arc discharge was driven by a 35 kHz alternating current (AC) power source and operated in a glow-type regime. The twodimensional distribution of the translational temperature (T t ) of the gliding arc discharge was determined using planar laser-induced Rayleigh scattering. The rotational and vibrational temperatures were obtained by simulating the experimental spectra. The OH A-X (0, 0) band was used to simulate the rotational temperature (T r ) of the gliding arc discharge whereas the NO A-X (1, 0) and (0, 1) bands were used to determine its vibrational temperature (T v ). The instantaneous reduced electric field strength E/N was obtained by simultaneously measuring the instantaneous length of the plasma column, the discharge voltage and the translational temperature, from which the electron temperature (T e ) of the gliding arc discharge was estimated. The uncertainties of the translational, rotational, vibrational and electron temperatures were analyzed. The relations of these four different temperatures (T e >T v >T r >T t ) suggest a high-degree non-equilibrium state of the gliding arc discharge. Phys. 79(5), 2245-2250 (1996). 3. A. Czernichowski, "Gliding arc -applications to engineering and environment control," Pure Appl. Chem.

A high-power gliding arc (GA) discharge was generated in a turbulent air flow driven by a 35 kHz alternating current electric power supply. The effects of the flow rate on the characteristics of the GA discharge were investigated using combined optical and electrical diagnostics. Phenomenologically, the GA discharge exhibits two types of discharge, i.e., glow type and spark type, depending on the flow rates and input powers. The glow-type discharge, which has peak currents of hundreds of milliamperes, is sustained at low flow rates. The spark-type discharge, which is characterized by a sharp current spike of several amperes with duration of less than 1 μs, occurs more frequently as the flow rate increases. Higher input power can suppress spark-type discharges in moderate turbulence, but this effect becomes weak under high turbulent conditions. Physically, the transition between glow- and spark-type is initiated by the short cutting events and the local re-ignition events. Short cutting events occur owing to the twisting, wrinkling, and stretching of the plasma columns that are governed by the relatively large vortexes in the flow. Local re-ignition events, which are defined as re-ignition along plasma columns, are detected in strong turbulence due to increment of the impedance of the plasma column and consequently the internal electric field strength. It is suggested that the vortexes with length scales smaller than the size of the plasma can penetrate into the plasma column and promote mixing with surroundings to accelerate the energy dissipation. Therefore, the turbulent flow influences the GA discharges by ruling the short cutting events with relatively large vortexes and the local re-ignition events with small vortexes.

Quantitative characterization of a high-power glow-mode gliding arc (GM-GA) discharge operated in open air is performed using a current-voltage lumped model that is built from the perspective of energy balance and electron conservation. The GM-GA discharge is powered by a 35 kHz alternating current power supply. Instantaneous images of the discharge volume are recorded using a high-speed camera at a frame rate of 50 kHz, synchronized with the simultaneously recorded current and voltage waveforms. Detailed analyzation indicates that the electrical input power is dissipated mainly through the transport of vibrationally excited nitrogen and other active radicals (such as O). The plasma is quite non-thermal with the ratio of vibrational and translational temperatures (Tv/Tg) larger than 2 due to the intense energy dissipation. The electron number density reaches 3 × 1019 m−3 and is always above the steady value owing to the short cutting events, which can recover the electron density to a relatively large value and limits the maximum length of the gliding arc. The slow decaying rate of electrons is probably attributed to the decomposed state of a hot gaseous mixture and the related associative ionization.

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