Energy-mass coupling in high-pressure liquid-injected arcs

Author

Burton, Rodney L. ; Hilko, Brian K. ; Witherspoon, F.Douglas ; Jaafari, Gasem

Author_Institution

Dept. of Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Eng., Illinois Univ., Urbana, IL, USA

Volume

19

Issue

2

fYear

1991

fDate

4/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

340

Lastpage

349

Abstract

Highly collisional, low-temperature plasmas are created by discharging a 25-μs, 40-160-J current pulse through a quartz capillary tube of a few millimeters diameter, into which liquid water is injected. Discharge electrical resistance is measured as a function of current, capillary diameter, axial position, and radial distribution of the liquid. Time-resolved spectra show strong line emission at early times and continuum emission later in the pulse, indicating a transition from a 3-4-eV optically thin plasma to a 1-2-eV plasma that is optically thick. The spectra are used to measure mean electron density and plasma temperature at early times. A one-dimensional, unsteady numerical model of plasma properties and total electrical resistance is presented which gives good agreement with experimental resistance measurements

Keywords

arcs (electric); 1 to 2 eV; 25 mus; 3 to 4 eV; 40 to 160 J; H₂O; collisional low-temperature plasma; electron density; energy-mass coupling; high-pressure liquid-injected arcs; line emission; liquid water; one-dimensional unsteady numerical model; optically thick plasma; optically thin plasma; plasma temperature; quartz capillary tube; Current measurement; Electric resistance; Electric variables measurement; Electrical resistance measurement; Electron optics; Plasma density; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Plasma temperature; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.106832

Filename

106832