Simulation of nonequilibrium plasma experiments

Summary form only given. We present numerical simulations of a series of experiments at Stanford University. These experiments made detailed measurements of the temperature and the nonequilibrium recombination of high-temperature nitrogen and air plasmas. The experiments, in conjunction with simple one-dimensional simulations, showed that the recombination of the plasma is limited by the speed of the three-body recombination of N/sub 2/ and NO in the nitrogen and air plasmas, respectively. The simulations allow us to determine these rates quantitatively. Also the effect of swirl on the radial distribution of energy and chemical composition is assessed.