Theoretical investigation of thermophysical properties in two-temperature argon-helium thermal plasma
- Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (India)
- Department of Physics, DAV College, Bathinda (India)
The thermophysical properties of argon-helium thermal plasma have been studied in the temperature range from 5000 to 40 000 K at atmospheric pressure in local thermodynamic equilibrium and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. Two cases of thermal plasma considered are (i) ground state plasma in which all the atoms and ions are assumed to be in the ground state and (ii) excited state plasma in which atoms and ions are distributed over various possible excited states. The influence of electronic excitation and non-equilibrium parameter {theta} = T{sub e}/T{sub h} on thermodynamic properties (composition, degree of ionization, Debye length, enthalpy, and total specific heat) and transport properties (electrical conductivity, electron thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusion ratio) have been studied. Within the framework of Chapman-Enskog method, the higher-order contributions to transport coefficient and their convergence are studied. The influence of different molar compositions of argon-helium plasma mixture on convergence of higher-orders is investigated. Furthermore, the effect of different definitions of Debye length has also been examined for electrical conductivity and it is observed that electrical conductivity with the definition of Debye length (in which only electrons participate in screening) is less than that of the another definition (in which both the electrons and ions participate in screening) and this deviation increases with electron temperature. Finally, the effect of lowering of ionization energy is examined on electron number density, Debye length, and higher-order contribution to electrical conductivity. It is observed that the lowering of the ionization energy affects the electron transport-properties and consequently their higher-order contributions depending upon the value of the non-equilibrium parameter {theta}.
- OSTI ID:
- 22043442
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ARGON
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
DEBYE LENGTH
DENSITY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ENTHALPY
EXCITATION
EXCITED STATES
GROUND STATES
HELIUM
ION TEMPERATURE
IONIZATION
LTE
MIXTURES
PLASMA
SPECIFIC HEAT
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMAL DIFFUSION
THERMODYNAMICS