Experimental Study of a Compact Nanosecond Plasma Gun

Abstract

The paper presents a new discharge plasma setup, called plasma gun, allowing the generation of nanosecond duration plasma bullets from a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge reactor. These bullets propagate at very high velocity, up to 5 × 108 cm · s−1, in flexible dielectric capillaries flushed with neon or helium flow rates as low as 100 mL · min−1, over distances of a few tens of centimetres, before inducing plasma plume formation in ambient air. Time resolved nanosecond ICCD imaging show evidence for the channelled structure of the bullets which propagate along the inner surface of the dielectric guide. A few centimetres from the DBD reactor where they are generated, the plasma bullets expand with no connection to the high voltage power source. Non‐thermal air plasma plume production is described by spectroscopic measurements. The plasma gun is likely to be developed for remote high voltage fast commutation or in plasma medicine applications or for the decontamination of small diameter catheters.

Les plasmas non thermiques

“…D'autres types de source tels que le plasma gun permettent la production de plasma dans des tubes capillaires par excitation d'un gaz rare (hélium ou néon) via un courant électrique. Le plasma chemine sur une distance plus ou moins longue jusqu'à la zone à traiter (Figure 1) [2]. L'ensemble du dispositif est présenté sur la massive ; un tel phénomène a été observé après traitement au plasma.…”

“…Des études de tolérance ont montré qu'à faibles doses (temps de traitement d'environ 1 min), le plasma ne présente aucun danger et peut être appliqué sur la peau sans induire de dommages [4]. Le pouvoir décontaminant du plasma pourrait, entre autres, être utilisé pour la décontamination des mains du personnel médical en milieu hospitalier 2 …”

Single channel atmospheric pressure transporting plasma and plasma stream demultiplexing: physical characterization and application toE. colibacteria inactivation

“…Figure 3 shows the APD signals for different locations along the TP. Robert and his group [21] presented the evolution of the speed of the transient plasma burst in neon plasma gun. They used two similar photodiodes set a few centimeters apart along the dielectric guide.…”

“…Aiming to be specifically and locally delivered, such technology drives the plasma up to the target where the plasma is transferred in ambient air at the outlet of the capillary. However, there are few reports dealing with the TP or in other words, propagation of IW through a dielectric tube [20][21][22][23], and the mechanisms about the formation of ionization waves inside a dielectric tube still remain unclear. Especially, the effect of electrode structure on the propagation of IW through long dielectric tube needs to be further investigated.…”

“…Robert et al developed a first version of low temperature plasma, -plasma gun,‖ traveling through capillary tube [21]. The plasma gun device is then used as a single primary discharge reactor likely to drive the operation of multi jet arrays [25].…”