Microwave plasma source operating with atmospheric pressure air-water mixtures
- Institute of Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal)
- Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation)
The overall performance of a surface wave driven air-water plasma source operating at atmospheric pressure and 2.45 GHz has been analyzed. A 1D model previously developed has been improved in order to describe in detail the creation and loss processes of active species of interest. This model provides a complete characterization of the axial structure of the source, including the discharge and the afterglow zones. The main electron creation channel was found to be the associative ionization process N + O {yields} NO{sup +}+ e. The NO(X) relative density in the afterglow plasma jet ranges from 1.2% to 1.6% depending on power and water percentage, according to the model predictions and the measurements. Other types of species such as NO{sub 2} and nitrous acid HNO{sub 2} have also been detected by mass and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The relative population density of O({sup 3}P) ground state atoms increases from 8% to 10% in the discharge zone when the input microwave power increases from 200 to 400 W and the water percentage from 1% to 10%. Furthermore, high densities of O{sub 2}(a{sup 1}{Delta}{sub g}) singlet delta oxygen molecules and OH radicals (1% and 5%, respectively) can be achieved in the discharge zone. In the late afterglow the O{sub 2}(a{sup 1}{Delta}{sub g}) density is about 0.1% of the total density. This plasma source has a flexible operation and potential for channeling the energy in ways that maximize the density of active species of interest.
- OSTI ID:
- 22089556
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 112, Issue 9; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AFTERGLOW
AIR
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
FOURIER TRANSFORM SPECTROMETERS
GROUND STATES
HIGH-FREQUENCY DISCHARGES
HYDROXYL RADICALS
IONIZATION
MICROWAVE RADIATION
MIXTURES
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
NITROUS ACID
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA JETS
SIMULATION
WATER