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High Temperature Material Processes (An International Quarterly of High-Technology Plasma Processes)

An International Journal

ISSN for PRINT: 1093-3611

Institutional price:	$604.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2004, Volume8

169 pages

DOI: 10.1615/HighTempMatProc.v8.i4

Issue price - $144.00

PROPERTIES OF PLASMA JET GENERATED IN HYBRID GAS/WATER TORCH UNDER REDUCED PRESSURES

Milan Hrabovsky
Thermal Plasma Department, Institute of Plasma Physics, Za Slovankou 3, 18200, Praha 8, Czech Republic

Vladimir Kopecky
Thermal Plasma Department, Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, Za Slovankou 3, 18200, Praha 8, Czech Republic

O. Chumak
Thermal Plasma Department, Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, Za Slovankou 3, 18200, Praha 8, Czech Republic

T. Kavka
Thermal Plasma Department, Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, Za Slovankou 3, 18200, Praha 8, Czech Republic

M. Konrad
Institute of Plasma Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Za Slovankou - P. O. Box 17 182 21 Prague 8 - Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

Thermal plasma jet was generated in dc torch with hybrid argon/water arc stabilization at different ambient pressures ranging from atmospheric pressure to 4 kPa. Characteristics of the arc discharge and power balances were measured and the jet was imaged by a fast shutter CCD camera. Velocity of plasma flow and Mach number were determined from the analysis of fluctuations of emitted light recorded by a photo-diode array. Changes of the structure and the velocity of plasma flow in the jet downstream of the torch nozzle with decreasing pressure were studied. The flow pattern typical for supersonic regime with shock wave close to the nozzle exit followed by an expansion appeared for pressures below 40 kPa. The size of expansion zone substantially increased with reducing pressure below 10 kPa.