Abstract :
The electrothermal efficiency of a recently developed 50-Hz continuous operation plasma torch has been established. A new electronic system for measuring arc power input was developed. Using it as a reference standard, the relative errors were evaluated which arise if thermal or dynamometer wattmeters are used for this power input measurement. The thermal output was measured by a specially developed parallel-flow self-jacketed calorimeter. The salient observation is that this torch has an electrothermal efficiency greater than 60 percent. This is higher than previously reported figures for ac plasma torches intended for continuous operation.
