Numerical simulation of plasma-particle interaction in flight under rarefaction and non-equilibrium conditions

Summary form only given. The injection of solid powders into thermal plasmas for physical transformation or chemical reaction (spray combustion) has been recognized to offer certain unique advantages. Besides a thorough understanding of transport processes and reaction kinetics under thermal plasma conditions, it is also important to develop the capability of predicting the velocity, temperature, heat flux and the size of a particle during its flight through the plasma to help in the design of a suitable plasma reactor for such applications. A computer code has been developed to simulate the problem, provide such predictions, and to assess the influence of some of the effects encountered in thermal plasma processing operations such as non-equilibrium (two-temperature model), rarefaction (Knudsen effect), and particle charging (individual species heat fluxes).