Consequences of nonlinear heat transport laws on expected plasma profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lackner, K.

1987-03-01

The expected variation of plasma pressure profiles against changes in power deposition is investigated by using a simple linear heat transport law as well as a quadratic one. Applying the quadratic transport law it can be shown that the stiffening of the resulting profiles is sufficient to understand the experimentally measured phenomenon of 'profile consistence' without further assumptions of nonlocal effects. (orig.) [de

Effects of the finite pressure of plasma on internal kink mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, G.M.G. de.

1980-01-01

The objective of this work is to study the stability of the Internal Kink and Central Kink modes in ideal MHD cylindrical plasma due to the pressure variations and the different current profiles. It was used the σ Euler equation derived by Goedbloed and Sakanaka. Its analysis is based on the boundary layer method, where the effects due to the plasma inertia are only considered in a boundary layer in the neighborhood of the surface where the perturbation is parallel to the field lines. For the internal Kink mode a numerical analysis is also done by integrating the Euler equation. It was calculated the growth rate of the two modes for the different pressure ans current profiles. It was verified that for both, the Internal Kink and Central Kink modes, the growth rate becomes larger as the derivative of these profiles increases. However, for the Internal Kink mode, one obtains a reduction of up to 50% in the growth rate calculated by Rosenbluth et al. For the Central Kink mode, one notices that the growth rate is proportional to β of the plasma and to the derivatives of the pressure and current. (author) [pt

Experimental validation of a Lyapunov-based controller for the plasma safety factor and plasma pressure in the TCV tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Mavkov, B.; Witrant, E.; Prieur, C.; Maljaars, E.; Felici, F.; Sauter, O.; the TCV-Team

2018-05-01

In this paper, model-based closed-loop algorithms are derived for distributed control of the inverse of the safety factor profile and the plasma pressure parameter β of the TCV tokamak. The simultaneous control of the two plasma quantities is performed by combining two different control methods. The control design of the plasma safety factor is based on an infinite-dimensional setting using Lyapunov analysis for partial differential equations, while the control of the plasma pressure parameter is designed using control techniques for single-input and single-output systems. The performance and robustness of the proposed controller is analyzed in simulations using the fast plasma transport simulator RAPTOR. The control is then implemented and tested in experiments in TCV L-mode discharges using the RAPTOR model predicted estimates for the q-profile. The distributed control in TCV is performed using one co-current and one counter-current electron cyclotron heating actuation.

Simultaneous real-time control of the current and pressure profiles in JET: experiments and modelling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mazon, D.; Laborde, L.; Litaudon, X.; Moreau, D.; Zabeo, L.; Joffrin, E. [Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache (DSM/DRFC), 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France). Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee; Murari, A. [Consorzio RFX Association Euratom-ENEA, Padova (Italy); Ariola, M.; Albanese, R.; Tommasi, G. de; Pironti, A. [Association Euratom-ENEA, CREATE, Napoly (Italy); Moreau, D. [EFDA-JET CSU, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX (United Kingdom); Tala, T. [Euratom-Tekes Association, VTT Processes (Finland); Crisanti, F.; Pericoli-Ridolfini, V.; Tuccillo, A. [Association Euratom-ENEA, C.R. Frascati (Italy); Baar, M. de; Vries, P. de [Euratom-FOM Association, TEC Cluster, Nieuwegein (Netherlands); De la Luna, E. [Euratom-Ciemat Association (Spain); Felton, R.; Corrigan, G. [Euratom-UKAEA Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon (United Kingdom)

2004-07-01

Real-time control of the plasma profiles (current density, pressure and flow) is one of the major issues for sustaining internal transport barriers (ITB) in a high performance plasma, with a large bootstrap current fraction. We have recently investigated the experimental and numerical aspects of the simultaneous control of the current and pressure profiles in JET ITB discharges. The current density and the electron temperature were successfully controlled via the safety factor profile (or via its inverse the tau-profile) and the {rho}{sup *}{sub Te} profile respectively. The results of these new studies are presented. With only a limited number of actuators, the technique aims at minimizing an integral square error signal which combines the 2 profiles, rather than attempting to control plasma parameters at some given radii with great precision. The resulting fuzziness of the control scheme allows the plasma to relax towards a physically accessible non-linear state which may not be accurately known in advance, but is close enough to the requested one to provide the required plasma performance. Closed loop experiments have allow to reach different target q and {rho}{sup *}{sub Te} profiles, and to some degree, to displace the region of maximum electron temperature gradient. The control has also shown some robustness in front of rapid transients.

Tokamak plasma equilibrium problems with anisotropic pressure and rotation and their numerical solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, A. A.; Martynov, A. A.; Medvedev, S. Yu.; Poshekhonov, Yu. Yu.

2015-01-01

In the MHD tokamak plasma theory, the plasma pressure is usually assumed to be isotropic. However, plasma heating by neutral beam injection and RF heating can lead to a strong anisotropy of plasma parameters and rotation of the plasma. The development of MHD equilibrium theory taking into account the plasma inertia and anisotropic pressure began a long time ago, but until now it has not been consistently applied in computational codes for engineering calculations of the plasma equilibrium and evolution in tokamak. This paper contains a detailed derivation of the axisymmetric plasma equilibrium equation in the most general form (with arbitrary rotation and anisotropic pressure) and description of the specialized version of the SPIDER code. The original method of calculation of the equilibrium with an anisotropic pressure and a prescribed rotational transform profile is proposed. Examples of calculations and discussion of the results are also presented

Seed disinfection effect of atmospheric pressure plasma and low pressure plasma on Rhizoctonia solani.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishioka, Terumi; Takai, Yuichiro; Kawaradani, Mitsuo; Okada, Kiyotsugu; Tanimoto, Hideo; Misawa, Tatsuya; Kusakari, Shinichi

2014-01-01

Gas plasma generated and applied under two different systems, atmospheric pressure plasma and low pressure plasma, was used to investigate the inactivation efficacy on the seedborne pathogenic fungus, Rhizoctonia solani, which had been artificially introduced to brassicaceous seeds. Treatment with atmospheric plasma for 10 min markedly reduced the R. solani survival rate from 100% to 3% but delayed seed germination. The low pressure plasma treatment reduced the fungal survival rate from 83% to 1.7% after 10 min and the inactivation effect was dependent on the treatment time. The seed germination rate after treatment with the low pressure plasma was not significantly different from that of untreated seeds. The air temperature around the seeds in the low pressure system was lower than that of the atmospheric system. These results suggested that gas plasma treatment under low pressure could be effective in disinfecting the seeds without damaging them.

Influence of surrounding gas, composition and pressure on plasma plume dynamics of nanosecond pulsed laser-induced aluminum plasmas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmoud S. Dawood

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In this article, we present a comprehensive study of the plume dynamics of plasmas generated by laser ablation of an aluminum target. The effect of both ambient gas composition (helium, nitrogen or argon and pressure (from ∼5 × 10−7 Torr up to atmosphere is studied. The time- and space- resolved observation of the plasma plume are performed from spectrally integrated images using an intensified Charge Coupled Device (iCCD camera. The iCCD images show that the ambient gas does not significantly influence the plume as long as the gas pressure is lower than 20 Torr and the time delay below 300 ns. However, for pressures higher than 20 Torr, the effect of the ambient gas becomes important, the shortest plasma plume length being observed when the gas mass species is highest. On the other hand, space- and time- resolved emission spectroscopy of aluminum ions at λ = 281.6 nm are used to determine the Time-Of-Flight (TOF profiles. The effect of the ambient gas on the TOF profiles and therefore on the propagation velocity of Al ions is discussed. A correlation between the plasma plume expansion velocity deduced from the iCCD images and that estimated from the TOF profiles is presented. The observed differences are attributed mainly to the different physical mechanisms governing the two diagnostic techniques.

Thomson scattering on argon surfatron plasmas at intermediate pressures: Axial profiles of the electron temperature and electron density

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palomares, J.M., E-mail: f02palij@gmail.co [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain); Iordanova, E.; Veldhuizen, E.M. van; Baede, L. [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Gamero, A.; Sola, A. [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain); Mullen, J.J.A.M. van der, E-mail: j.j.a.m.v.d.Mullen@tue.n [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain)

2010-03-15

The axial profiles of the electron density n{sub e} and electron temperature T{sub e} of argon surfatron plasmas in the pressure range of 6-20 mbar and microwave power between 32 and 82 W have been determined using Thomson Scattering of laser irradiation at 532 nm. For the electron density and temperature we found values in the ranges 5 x 10{sup 18} < n{sub e} < 8 x 10{sup 19} m{sup -3} and 1.1 < T{sub e} < 2.0 eV. Due to several improvements of the setup we could reduce the errors of n{sub e} and T{sub e} down to 8% and 3%, respectively. It is found that n{sub e} decreases in the direction of the wave propagation with a slope that is nearly constant. The slope depends on the pressure but not on the power. Just as predicted by theories we see that increasing the power leads to longer plasma columns. However, the plasmas are shorter than what is predicted by theories based on the assumption that for the plasma-wave interaction electron-atom collisions are of minor importance (the so-called collisionless regime). The plasma vanishes long before the critical value of the electron density is reached. In contrast to what is predicted by the positive column model it is found that T{sub e} does not stay constant along the column, but monotonically increases with the distance from the microwave launcher. Increases of more than 50% over 30 cm were found.

The effect of plasma density profile on the backscatter of microwaves from a plasma-covered plane conductor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Destler, W.W.; Singh, A.; Rodgers, J.

1993-01-01

In order to gain further insight into the mechanism of anomalous absorption of microwaves in a pulsed plasma column, the latter was studied using single and double Langmuir probes. Graphs of plasma potential recorded by floating Langmuir probes as a function of time were obtained for a range of pressure of the background gas and at different distances from the plasma-covered plane-conducting plate. From this data, two main components of the plasma have been identified. The first appears earlier, exhibits greater fluctuations and is shorter in duration than the second component. The presence of these two plasma components is consistent with earlier observations obtained from transverse transmission measurements of microwaves through the plasma. Variations in the envelopes of these two components as experimental conditions are changed will be presented. Microwave backscatter measurements under varying conditions of plasma-density profile and ambient gas pressure will also be presented

Analysis of plasma equilibrium based on orbit-driven current density profile in steady-state plasma on QUEST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, K., E-mail: nakamura@triam.kyushu-u.ac.jp [RIAM, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816-8580 (Japan); Alam, M.M. [IGSES, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816-8580 (Japan); Jiang, Y.Z. [Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Mitarai, O. [Tokai University, Kumamoto 862-8652 (Japan); Kurihara, K.; Kawamata, Y.; Sueoka, M.; Takechi, M. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Naka 311-0193 (Japan); Hasegawa, M.; Tokunaga, K.; Araki, K.; Zushi, H.; Hanada, K.; Fujisawa, A.; Idei, H.; Nagashima, Y.; Kawasaki, S.; Nakashima, H.; Higashijima, A.; Nagata, T. [RIAM, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816-8580 (Japan); and others

2016-11-01

Highlights: • High energy particle guiding center orbit is calculated as a contour plot of conserved variable. • Current density profile is analyzed based on the orbit-driven current. • Plasma equilibrium is reconstructed by considering the hollow current profile. - Abstract: In the present RF-driven (ECCD) steady-state plasma on QUEST (B{sub t} = 0.25 T, R = 0.68 m, a = 0.40 m), plasma current seems to flow in the open magnetic surface outside of the closed magnetic surface in the low-field region according to plasma current fitting (PCF) method. We consider that the current in the open magnetic surface is due to orbit-driven current by high-energy particles in RF-driven plasma. So based on the analysis of current density profile based on the orbit-driven current, plasma equilibrium is to be calculated. We calculated high energy particles guiding center orbits as a contour plot of conserved variable in Hamiltonian formulation and considered particles initial position with different levels of energy and pitch angles that satisfy resonance condition. Then the profile of orbit-driven current is estimated by multiplying the particle density on the resonance surface and the velocity on the orbits. This analysis shows negative current near the magnetic axis and hollow current profile is expected even if pressure driven current is considered. Considering the hollow current profile shifted toward the low-field region, the equilibrium is fitted by J-EFIT coded by MATLAB.

Modeling of low pressure plasma sources for microelectronics fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Ankur; Bera, Kallol; Kenney, Jason; Rauf, Shahid; Likhanskii, Alexandre

2017-01-01

Chemically reactive plasmas operating in the 1 mTorr–10 Torr pressure range are widely used for thin film processing in the semiconductor industry. Plasma modeling has come to play an important role in the design of these plasma processing systems. A number of 3-dimensional (3D) fluid and hybrid plasma modeling examples are used to illustrate the role of computational investigations in design of plasma processing hardware for applications such as ion implantation, deposition, and etching. A model for a rectangular inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source is described, which is employed as an ion source for ion implantation. It is shown that gas pressure strongly influences ion flux uniformity, which is determined by the balance between the location of plasma production and diffusion. The effect of chamber dimensions on plasma uniformity in a rectangular capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) is examined using an electromagnetic plasma model. Due to high pressure and small gap in this system, plasma uniformity is found to be primarily determined by the electric field profile in the sheath/pre-sheath region. A 3D model is utilized to investigate the confinement properties of a mesh in a cylindrical CCP. Results highlight the role of hole topology and size on the formation of localized hot-spots. A 3D electromagnetic plasma model for a cylindrical ICP is used to study inductive versus capacitive power coupling and how placement of ground return wires influences it. Finally, a 3D hybrid plasma model for an electron beam generated magnetized plasma is used to understand the role of reactor geometry on plasma uniformity in the presence of E  ×  B drift. (paper)

Modeling of low pressure plasma sources for microelectronics fabrication

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Ankur; Bera, Kallol; Kenney, Jason; Likhanskii, Alexandre; Rauf, Shahid

2017-10-01

Chemically reactive plasmas operating in the 1 mTorr-10 Torr pressure range are widely used for thin film processing in the semiconductor industry. Plasma modeling has come to play an important role in the design of these plasma processing systems. A number of 3-dimensional (3D) fluid and hybrid plasma modeling examples are used to illustrate the role of computational investigations in design of plasma processing hardware for applications such as ion implantation, deposition, and etching. A model for a rectangular inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source is described, which is employed as an ion source for ion implantation. It is shown that gas pressure strongly influences ion flux uniformity, which is determined by the balance between the location of plasma production and diffusion. The effect of chamber dimensions on plasma uniformity in a rectangular capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) is examined using an electromagnetic plasma model. Due to high pressure and small gap in this system, plasma uniformity is found to be primarily determined by the electric field profile in the sheath/pre-sheath region. A 3D model is utilized to investigate the confinement properties of a mesh in a cylindrical CCP. Results highlight the role of hole topology and size on the formation of localized hot-spots. A 3D electromagnetic plasma model for a cylindrical ICP is used to study inductive versus capacitive power coupling and how placement of ground return wires influences it. Finally, a 3D hybrid plasma model for an electron beam generated magnetized plasma is used to understand the role of reactor geometry on plasma uniformity in the presence of E  ×  B drift.

Atmospheric-pressure plasma jet

Science.gov (United States)

Selwyn, Gary S.

1999-01-01

Atmospheric-pressure plasma jet. A .gamma.-mode, resonant-cavity plasma discharge that can be operated at atmospheric pressure and near room temperature using 13.56 MHz rf power is described. Unlike plasma torches, the discharge produces a gas-phase effluent no hotter than 250.degree. C. at an applied power of about 300 W, and shows distinct non-thermal characteristics. In the simplest design, two concentric cylindrical electrodes are employed to generate a plasma in the annular region therebetween. A "jet" of long-lived metastable and reactive species that are capable of rapidly cleaning or etching metals and other materials is generated which extends up to 8 in. beyond the open end of the electrodes. Films and coatings may also be removed by these species. Arcing is prevented in the apparatus by using gas mixtures containing He, which limits ionization, by using high flow velocities, and by properly shaping the rf-powered electrode. Because of the atmospheric pressure operation, no ions survive for a sufficiently long distance beyond the active plasma discharge to bombard a workpiece, unlike low-pressure plasma sources and conventional plasma processing methods.

Effect of plasma colloid osmotic pressure on intraocular pressure during haemodialysis

OpenAIRE

Tokuyama, T.; Ikeda, T.; Sato, K.

1998-01-01

BACKGROUND—In a previous case report, it was shown that an increase in plasma colloid osmotic pressure induced by the removal of fluid during haemodialysis was instrumental in decreasing intraocular pressure. The relation between changes in intraocular pressure, plasma osmolarity, plasma colloid osmotic pressure, and body weight before and after haemodialysis is evaluated.
METHODS—Intraocular pressure, plasma osmolarity, plasma colloid osmotic pressure, and body weight were evaluated before a...

Measurement of high-beta tokamak pressure profiles with multipoint Thomson scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levinton, F.M.

1983-01-01

A multipoint Thomson-scattering system has been developed to obtain pressure profiles along the major radius of Torus II, a high-beta tokamak. The profiles obtained during the 20 to 25 μs lifetime of the discharge indicates that the plasma has a peak temperature of 80 eV and density of 1.0 x 10 15 cm - 3 . The profiles remain fairly constant during this time until the equilibrium is lost, after which the temperature and density decays to 10 eV and 10 14 cm - 3 very quickly (approx. 1 μs). Experimental results show Torus II has a high-beta ( approx. 10%) equilibrium, with a strong shift of the peak of the pressure profile towards the outside. Numerical results from a 2-D free boundary MHD equilibrium code have obtained equilibria which closely approximate the experimentally measured profiles

Atmospheric-pressure plasma technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kogelschatz, U

2004-01-01

Major industrial plasma processes operating close to atmospheric pressure are discussed. Applications of thermal plasmas include electric arc furnaces and plasma torches for generation of powders, for spraying refractory materials, for cutting and welding and for destruction of hazardous waste. Other applications include miniature circuit breakers and electrical discharge machining. Non-equilibrium cold plasmas at atmospheric pressure are obtained in corona discharges used in electrostatic precipitators and in dielectric-barrier discharges used for generation of ozone, for pollution control and for surface treatment. More recent applications include UV excimer lamps, mercury-free fluorescent lamps and flat plasma displays

Confirmation of radiation pressure effects in laser--plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Attwood, D.T.; Sweeney, D.W.; Auerbach, J.M.; Lee, P.H.Y.

1977-10-01

Interferometric data resolved in 1μm and 15 psec confirms the dominant role of radiation pressure during high intensity laser-plasma interactions. Specifically observed manifestations include electron density profiles steepened to 1 μm scale length, clearly defined upper and lower density shelves, and small and large scale deformation of transverse isodensity surfaces

Superposed epoch analysis of pressure and magnetic field configuration changes in the plasma sheet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kistler, L.M.; Moebius, E.; Baumjohann, W.; Nagai, T.

1993-01-01

The authors report on an analysis of pressure and magnetic configuration within the plasma sheet following the initiation of substorm events. They have constructed this time dependent picture by using an epoch analysis of data from the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft. This analysis procedure can be used to construct a unified picture of events, provided they are reproducible, from a statistical analysis of a series of point measurements. The authors first determine the time dependent pressure changes in the plasma sheet. With some simplifying assumptions they then determine the z dependence of the pressure profiles, and from this distribution determine how field lines in the plasma sheet map to the neutral sheet

Influence of plasma pedestal profiles on access to ELM-free regimes in ITER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Medvedev, S. Yu., E-mail: medvedev@a5.kiam.ru; Ivanov, A. A., E-mail: aai@a5.kiam.ru; Martynov, A. A., E-mail: martynov@a5.kiam.ru; Poshekhonov, Yu. Yu., E-mail: naida@a5.kiam.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (Russian Federation); Konovalov, S. V., E-mail: konoval-sv@nrcki.ru [National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI,” (Russian Federation); Polevoi, A. R., E-mail: alexei.polevoi@iter.org [ITER Organization (France)

2016-05-15

The influence of current density and pressure gradient profiles in the pedestal on the access to the regimes free from edge localized modes (ELMs) like quiescent H-mode in ITER is investigated. Using the simulator of MHD modes localized near plasma boundary based on the KINX code, calculations of the ELM stability were performed for the ITER plasma in scenarios 2 and 4 under variations of density and temperature profiles with the self-consistent bootstrap current in the pedestal. Low pressure gradient values at the separatrix, the same position of the density and temperature pedestals and high poloidal beta values facilitate reaching high current density in the pedestal and a potential transition into the regime with saturated large scale kink modes. New version of the localized MHD mode simulator allows one to compute the growth rates of ideal peeling-ballooning modes with different toroidal mode numbers and to determine the stability region taking into account diamagnetic stabilization. The edge stability diagrams computations and sensitivity studies of the stability limits to the value of diamagnetic frequency show that diamagnetic stabilization of the modes with high toroidal mode numbers can help to access the quiescent H-mode even with high plasma density but only with low pressure gradient values at the separatrix. The limiting pressure at the top of the pedestal increases for higher plasma density. With flat density profile the access to the quiescent H-mode is closed even with diamagnetic stabilization taken into account, while toroidal mode numbers of the most unstable peeling-ballooning mode decrease from n = 10−40 to n = 3−20.

Density profile effects on confinement and MHD stability of currentless NBI plasmas in Heliotron E

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudo, Shigeru; Zushi, Hideki; Kondo, Katsumi

1993-01-01

Density profile effects on confinement and MHD stability of currentless NBI plasmas in Heliotron E are studied. The peaked density profile produced by pellet injection increases the stored energy by 20-30% compared to the gas puffed plasmas which obey the empirical stellarator/heliotron scaling in a moderate density range. In contrast to confinement, the peaked pressure profile tends to destabilize the plasma. By limiter insertion, MHD instability occurs (seems to locate near ι/2π=1) even in case of low β (β 0 ≤1%, where β 0 is the central β value) plasmas. On the other hand, the mode of m/n=3/2 at ι/2π=2/3, seems to be a key parameter to the major MHD instability in case of high β (β 0 ≥2%) plasmas. (author)

Theoretical and experimental investigation of plasma and wave characteristics of coaxial discharges at low pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neichev, Z; Benova, E; Gamero, A; Sola, A

2006-01-01

The paper discusses a new configuration of the surface-wave sustained plasma - 'the coaxial structure'. The coaxial structure is investigated on the base of one-dimensional axial fluid model. That model is adequate enough for low pressure plasma, when the main process for charged particles production is the direct ionization from the ground state and the loss of electrons is due to diffusion to the wall. The role of the geometric factors is evaluated and discussed, varying the discharge conditions in the theoretical model. The main equations of the model - the local dispersion relation and the wave energy balance equation are obtained from Maxwell's equations with appropriate boundary conditions. The phase diagrams, the radial profiles of the electric field and the axial profiles of dimensionless electron number density, wave number, wave power are obtained at various plasma radii and dielectric tube thickness. The results are compared with those for the typical cylindrical plasma column at similar conditions. For the purpose of modelling at low pressure of a coaxial discharge sustained by a travelling electromagnetic wave, some important characteristics of the propagation of surface waves have been investigated experimentally. The axial profiles of the propagation coefficient and radial profiles of the electric field at different experimental conditions have been obtained and discussed

Exploration of one-dimensional plasma current density profile for K-DEMO steady-state operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, J.S. [Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Jung, L. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Byun, C.-S.; Na, D.H.; Na, Y.-S. [Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Y.S., E-mail: yhwang@snu.ac.kr [Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • One-dimensional current density and its optimization for the K-DEMO are explored. • Plasma current density profile is calculated with an integrated simulation code. • The impact of self and external heating profiles is considered self-consistently. • Current density is identified as a reference profile by minimizing heating power. - Abstract: Concept study for Korean demonstration fusion reactor (K-DEMO) is in progress, and basic design parameters are proposed by targeting high magnetic field operation with ITER-sized machine. High magnetic field operation is a favorable approach to enlarge relative plasma performance without increasing normalized beta or plasma current. Exploration of one-dimensional current density profile and its optimization process for the K-DEMO steady-state operation are reported in this paper. Numerical analysis is conducted with an integrated plasma simulation code package incorporating a transport code with equilibrium and current drive modules. Operation regimes are addressed with zero-dimensional system analysis. One-dimensional plasma current density profile is calculated based on equilibrium, bootstrap current analysis, and thermal transport analysis. The impact of self and external heating profiles on those parameters is considered self-consistently, where thermal power balance and 100% non-inductive current drive are the main constraints during the whole exploration procedure. Current and pressure profiles are identified as a reference steady-state profile by minimizing the external heating power with desired fusion power.

Scaling laws for TEXT plasma profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCool, S.C.; Bravenec, R.V.; Chen, J.Y.; Foster, M.S.; Li, W.L.; Ouroura, A.; Phillips, P.E.; Richards, B.; Wenzel, K.W.; Zhang, Z.M.

1994-01-01

Regression analysis has been performed on a number of measured profiles including temperature and density vs. nominal macroscopic operating parameters for TEXT tokamak (pre-upgrade) ohmic plasmas. The resulting simple empirical model has enabled the authors to quickly approximate profiles of electron temperature and density, ion temperature, and soft x-ray brightness, as well as the scalar quantities: total radiated power, q=1 radius, sawtooth period and amplitude, and energy confinement time as a power law of toroidal field, plasma current, chord average density, and fueling gas atomic weight. The model profiles are only applicable to the plasma interior, i.e. within the limiter radius. In most cases the predicted model profiles are within the experimental error bars of measured profiles and are more accurate at predicting profile variation for small operating parameter changes than the measured profiles

High Temperature- and High Pressure-Processed Garlic Improves Lipid Profiles in Rats Fed High Cholesterol Diets

Science.gov (United States)

Sohn, Chan Wok; Kim, Hyunae; You, Bo Ram; Kim, Min Jee; Kim, Hyo Jin; Lee, Ji Yeon; Sok, Dai-Eun; Kim, Jin Hee; Lee, Kun Jong

2012-01-01

Abstract Garlic protects against degenerative diseases such as hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases. However, raw garlic has a strong pungency, which is unpleasant. In this study, we examined the effect of high temperature/high pressure-processed garlic on plasma lipid profiles in rats. Sprague–Dawley rats were fed a normal control diet, a high cholesterol (0.5% cholesterol) diet (HCD) only, or a high cholesterol diet supplemented with 0.5% high temperature/high pressure-processed garlic (HCP) or raw garlic (HCR) for 10 weeks. The body weights of the rats fed the garlic-supplemented diets decreased, mostly because of reduced fat pad weights. Plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) in the HCP and HCR groups decreased significantly compared with those in the HCD group. Additionally, fecal TC and TG increased significantly in the HCP and HCR groups. It is notable that no significant differences in plasma or fecal lipid profiles were observed between the HCP and HCR groups. High temperature/high pressure-processed garlic contained a higher amount of S-allyl cysteine than raw garlic (Pgarlic may be useful as a functional food to improve lipid profiles. PMID:22404600

Profile formation and sustainment of autonomous tokamak plasma with current hole configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, N.; Takizuka, T.; Ozeki, T.

2005-01-01

We have investigated the profile formation and sustainment of tokamak plasmas with the current hole (CH) configuration by using 1.5D time-dependent transport simulations. A model of the current limit inside the CH on the basis of the Axisymmetric Tri-Magnetic-Islands equilibrium is introduced into the transport simulation. We found that a transport model with the sharp reduction of anomalous transport in the reversed-shear (RS) region can reproduce the time evolution of profiles observed in JT-60U experiments. The transport becomes neoclassical-level in the RS region, which results in the formation of profiles with internal transport barrier (ITB) and CH. The CH plasma has an autonomous property because of the strong interaction between a pressure profile and a current profile through the large bootstrap current fraction. The ITB width determined by the neoclassical-level transport agrees well with that measured in JT-60U. The energy confinement inside the ITB agrees with the scaling based on the JT-60U data. The scaling means the autonomous limitation of energy confinement in the CH plasma. The plasma with the large CH is sustained with the full current drive by the bootstrap current. The plasma with the small CH and the small bootstrap current fraction shrinks due to the penetration of inductive current. This shrink is prevented and the CH size can be controlled by the appropriate external current drive (CD). The CH plasma is found to respond autonomically to the external CD. (author)

Two approaches to the reactor-relevant high-beta plasmas with profile control in the Large Helical Device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohdachi, S.; Watanabe, K.Y.; Sakakibara, S.

2008-10-01

From detailed optimization of configuration, volume averaged beta ∼ 5% has been achieved in the Large Helical Device(LHD). While the heating efficiency was the main point to be optimized in this approach, to form a more peaked pressure profile is another promising approach towards the high beta regime. A higher electron density profile with a steeper pressure gradient has been formed by pellet injection. From the MHD stability analysis, this peaked pressure profile is stable against the ideal MHD modes. By both approaches, the central plasma β 0 reaches about 10%. (author)

Influence of an axial magnetic field on the density profile of capillary plasma channels

CERN Document Server

Ivanov, V V; Toma, E S; Bijkerk, F

2003-01-01

A narrow capillary plasma channel, with a sizeable depletion of the electron density on the channel axis, has been proposed to guide a laser pulse over a length of several to several tens of centimetres. We discuss the possibility to significantly improve the wave-guiding properties of such a channel by applying an axial magnetic field. Our analytical and numerical studies show that a pulsed axial magnetic field of 10 T in a hydrogen capillary plasma at a pressure of 50 Torr will reduce the on-axis plasma density by a factor of three, and the full width at half maximum of the density profile by a factor of two. The resulting parabolic plasma density profile is expected to be more efficient in guiding laser pulses.

JET steady state ITB operation with active control of the pressure profile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crisanti, F.; Litaudon, X.; Mailloux, J. [and others

2002-07-01

Stationary operations have been achieved at JET in ITBs scenarios, with the discharge time limited only by plant constraints. Full current drive was obtained, all over the high performance phase, with the current density profile frozen by using Lower Hybrid current drive. For the first time a feed-back control on the total pressure and on the electron temperature profile was implemented by using respectively the Neutral Beams and the Ion Cyclotron waves. Although impurity accumulation could be a problem in steady state ITBs, these experiments bring some elements to answer to it. Tokamak operation in enhanced confinement regimes, characterized by edge and/or Internal Transport Barriers (respectively known as H-mode and ITB), is attractive as it represents an important step towards the approach of ignition conditions. Moreover, the necessity of steady state operation in a Tokamak reactor, has led to the concept of the Advanced Tokamak, in which the current density profile is no longer tied to the plasma conductivity and is non inductively driven. Since the bootstrap current is a consequence of the pressure gradient, one of the primary goal of the Advanced Tokamak studies is to maximize the bootstrap fraction, with a proper alignment, both in H mode and in ITB regimes. However, for several reasons, it is difficult to envisage an operational situation in which the bootstrap fraction is close to 100%: for instance, there are few chances of pressure or/and current profile control to optimize the MHD stability. So far, various experiments have been performed with improved confinement regimes lasting up to tens of the confinement time and up to some current relaxation times. In some experiments a large non inductive plasma current (< 75%) was obtained with about 50% from bootstrap and 25% from Neutral Beam Injection (NBI); however, no full current drive operation was achieved and, moreover, with the available heating systems, no active feedback control of the current

Langmuir probe diagnostics of an atmospheric pressure, vortex-stabilized nitrogen plasma jet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prevosto, L.; Mancinelli, B. R. [Grupo de Descargas Electricas, Departamento Ingenieria Electromecanica, Facultad Regional Venado Tuerto (UTN), Laprida 651, (2600) Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe (Argentina); Kelly, H. [Grupo de Descargas Electricas, Departamento Ingenieria Electromecanica, Facultad Regional Venado Tuerto (UTN), Laprida 651, (2600) Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe (Argentina) and Instituto de Fisica del Plasma (CONICET), Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales UBA Ciudad Universitaria Pab. I, (1428) Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2012-09-15

Langmuir probe measurements in an atmospheric pressure direct current (dc) plasma jet are reported. Sweeping probes were used. The experiment was carried out using a dc non-transferred arc torch with a rod-type cathode and an anode of 5 mm diameter. The torch was operated at a nominal power level of 15 kW with a nitrogen flow rate of 25 Nl min{sup -1}. A flat ion saturation region was found in the current-voltage curve of the probe. The ion saturation current to a cylindrical probe in a high-pressure non local thermal equilibrium (LTE) plasma was modeled. Thermal effects and ionization/recombination processes inside the probe perturbed region were taken into account. Averaged radial profiles of the electron and heavy particle temperatures as well as the electron density were obtained. An electron temperature around 11 000 K, a heavy particle temperature around 9500 K and an electron density of about 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 22} m{sup -3}, were found at the jet centre at 3.5 mm downstream from the torch exit. Large deviations from kinetic equilibrium were found throughout the plasma jet. The electron and heavy particle temperature profiles showed good agreement with those reported in the literature by using spectroscopic techniques. It was also found that the temperature radial profile based on LTE was very close to that of the electrons. The calculations have shown that this method is particularly useful for studying spraying-type plasma jets characterized by electron temperatures in the range 9000-14 000 K.

Large area atmospheric-pressure plasma jet

Science.gov (United States)

Selwyn, Gary S.; Henins, Ivars; Babayan, Steve E.; Hicks, Robert F.

2001-01-01

Large area atmospheric-pressure plasma jet. A plasma discharge that can be operated at atmospheric pressure and near room temperature using 13.56 MHz rf power is described. Unlike plasma torches, the discharge produces a gas-phase effluent no hotter than 250.degree. C. at an applied power of about 300 W, and shows distinct non-thermal characteristics. In the simplest design, two planar, parallel electrodes are employed to generate a plasma in the volume therebetween. A "jet" of long-lived metastable and reactive species that are capable of rapidly cleaning or etching metals and other materials is generated which extends up to 8 in. beyond the open end of the electrodes. Films and coatings may also be removed by these species. Arcing is prevented in the apparatus by using gas mixtures containing He, which limits ionization, by using high flow velocities, and by properly spacing the rf-powered electrode. Because of the atmospheric pressure operation, there is a negligible density of ions surviving for a sufficiently long distance beyond the active plasma discharge to bombard a workpiece, unlike the situation for low-pressure plasma sources and conventional plasma processing methods.

Atmospheric pressure microwave plasma system with ring waveguide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Liang; Zhang Guixin; Zhu Zhijie; Luo Chengmu

2007-01-01

Some scientists used waveguide as the cavity to produce a plasma jet, while large volume microwave plasma was relatively hard to get in atmospheric pressure. However, a few research institutes have already developed devices to generate large volume of atmospheric pressure microwave plasma, such as CYRANNUS and SLAN series, which can be widely applied. In this paper, present a microwave plasma system with ring waveguide to excite large volume of atmospheric pressure microwave plasma, plot curves on theoretical disruption electric field of some working gases, emulate the cavity through software, measure the power density to validate and show the appearance of microwave plasma. At present, large volume of argon and helium plasma have already been generated steadily by atmospheric pressure microwave plasma system. This research can build a theoretical basis of microwave plasma excitation under atmospheric pressure and will be useful in study of the device. (authors)

Diagnostics of atmospheric pressure air plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laux, C.O.; Kruger, C.H.; Zare, R.N.

2001-01-01

Atmospheric pressure air plasmas are often thought to be in Local Thermodynamics Equilibrium (LTE) owing to fast interspecies collisional exchanges at high pressure. As will be seen here, this assumption cannot be relied upon, particularly with respect to optical diagnostics. Large velocity gradients in flowing plasmas and/or elevated electron temperatures created by electrical discharges can result in large departures from chemical and thermal equilibrium. Diagnostic techniques based on optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) have been developed and applied at Stanford University to the investigation of atmospheric pressure plasmas under conditions ranging from thermal and chemical equilibrium to thermochemical nonequilibrium. This article presents a review of selected temperature and species concentration measurement techniques useful for the study of air and nitrogen plasmas

Foundations of atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Bruggeman, Peter J.; Iza, Felipe; Brandenburg, Ronny

2017-12-01

Non-equilibrium plasmas have been intensively studied over the past century in the context of material processing, environmental remediation, ozone generation, excimer lamps and plasma display panels. Research on atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium plasmas intensified over the last two decades leading to a large variety of plasma sources that have been developed for an extended application range including chemical conversion, medicine, chemical analysis and disinfection. The fundamental understanding of these discharges is emerging but there remain a lot of unexplained phenomena in these intrinsically complex plasmas. The properties of non-equilibrium plasmas at atmospheric pressure span over a huge range of electron densities as well as heavy particle and electron temperatures. This paper provides an overview of the key underlying processes that are important for the generation and stabilization of atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium plasmas. The unique physical and chemical properties of theses discharges are also summarized.

Silicon etching of difluoromethane atmospheric pressure plasma jet combined with its spectroscopic analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Yu-Ching; Wei, Ta-Chin; Liu, You-Chia; Huang, Chun

2018-06-01

A capacitivly coupled radio-frequency double-pipe atmospheric-pressure plasma jet is used for etching. An argon carrier gas is supplied to the plasma discharge jet; and CH2F2 etch gas is inserted into the plasma discharge jet, near the silicon substrate. Silicon etchings rate can be efficiently-controlled by adjusting the feeding etching gas composition and plasma jet operating parameters. The features of silicon etched by the plasma discharge jet are discussed in order to spatially spreading plasma species. Electronic excitation temperature and electron density are detected by increasing plasma power. The etched silicon profile exhibited an anisotropic shape and the etching rate was maximum at the total gas flow rate of 4500 sccm and CH2F2 concentration of 11.1%. An etching rate of 17 µm/min was obtained at a plasma power of 100 W.

A statistical approach to plasma profile analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kardaun, O.J.W.F.; McCarthy, P.J.; Lackner, K.; Riedel, K.S.

1990-05-01

A general statistical approach to the parameterisation and analysis of tokamak profiles is presented. The modelling of the profile dependence on both the radius and the plasma parameters is discussed, and pertinent, classical as well as robust, methods of estimation are reviewed. Special attention is given to statistical tests for discriminating between the various models, and to the construction of confidence intervals for the parameterised profiles and the associated global quantities. The statistical approach is shown to provide a rigorous approach to the empirical testing of plasma profile invariance. (orig.)

On atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium plasma jets and plasma bullets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, X; Laroussi, M; Puech, V

2012-01-01

Atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium plasma jets (APNP-Js), which generate plasma in open space rather than in a confined discharge gap, have recently been a topic of great interest. In this paper, the development of APNP-Js will be reviewed. Firstly, the APNP-Js are grouped based on the type of gas used to ignite them and their characteristics are discussed in detail. Secondly, one of the most interesting phenomena of APNP-Js, the ‘plasma bullet’, is discussed and its behavior described. Thirdly, the very recent developments on the behavior of plasma jets when launched in a controlled environment and pressure are also introduced. This is followed by a discussion on the interaction between plasma jets. Finally, perspectives on APNP-J research are presented. (paper)

Pressure balance between lobe and plasma sheet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumjohann, W.; Paschmann, G.; Luehr, H.

1990-01-01

Using eight months of AMPTE/IRM plasma and magnetic field data, the authors have done a statistical survey on the balance of total (thermal and magnetic) pressure in the Earth's plasma sheet and tail lobe. About 300,000 measurements obtained in the plasma sheet and the lobe were compared for different levels of magnetic activity as well as different distances from the Earth. The data show that lobe and plasma sheet pressure balance very well. Even in the worst case they do not deviate by more than half of the variance in the data itself. Approximately constant total pressure was also seen during a quiet time pass when IRM traversed nearly the whole magnetotail in the vertical direction, from the southern hemisphere lobe through the neutral sheet and into the northern plasma sheet boundary layer

Interaction of the modulated electron beam with inhomogeneous plasma: plasma density profile deformation and langmuir waves excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anisimov, I.O.; Kelnyk, O.I.; Soroka, S.V.; Siversky, T.V.

2005-01-01

Nonlinear deformation of the initially linear plasma density profile due to the modulated electron beam is studied via computer simulation. In the initial time period the field slaves to the instantaneous profile of the plasma density. Langmuir waves excitation is suppressed by the density profile deformation. The character of the plasma density profile deformation for the late time period depends significantly on the plasma properties. Particularly, for plasma with hot electrons quasi-periodic generation of ion-acoustic pulses takes place in the vicinity of the initial point of plasma resonance

Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Interaction with Soft Materials as Fundamental Processes in Plasma Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Takenaka, Kosuke; Miyazaki, Atsushi; Uchida, Giichiro; Setsuhara, Yuichi

2015-03-01

Molecular-structure variation of organic materials irradiated with atmospheric pressure He plasma jet have been investigated. Optical emission spectrum in the atmospheric-pressure He plasma jet has been measured. The spectrum shows considerable emissions of He lines, and the emission of O and N radicals attributed to air. Variation in molecular structure of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film surface irradiated with the atmospheric-pressure He plasma jet has been observed via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). These results via XPS and FT-IR indicate that the PET surface irradiated with the atmospheric-pressure He plasma jet was oxidized by chemical and/or physical effect due to irradiation of active species.

Recent measurements of electron density profiles of plasmas in PLADIS I, a plasma disruption simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, J. III; Sharp, G.; Gahl, J.M. Kuznetsov, V.; Rockett, P.; Hunter, J.

1995-01-01

Tokamak disruption simulation experiments are being conducted at the University of New Mexico (UNM) using the PLADIS I plasma gun system. PLADIS I is a high power, high energy coaxial plasma gun configured to produce an intense plasma beam. First wall candidate materials are placed in the beam path to determine their response under disruption relevant energy densities. An optically thick vapor shield plasma has been observed to form above the target surface in PLADIS I. Various diagnostics have been used to determine the characteristics of the incident plasma and the vapor shielding plasma. The cross sectional area of the incident plasma beam is a critical characteristic, as it is used in the calculation of the incident plasma energy density. Recently, a HeNe interferometer in the Mach-Zehnder configuration has been constructed and used to probe the electron density of the incident plasma beam and vapor shield plasma. The object beam of the interferometer is scanned across the plasma beam on successive shots, yielding line integrals of beam density on different chords through the plasma. Data from the interferometer is used to determine the electron density profile of the incident plasma beam as a function of beam radius. This data is then used to calculate the effective beam area. Estimates. of beam area, obtained from other diagnostics such as damage targets, calorimeter arrays and off-axis measurements of surface pressure, will be compared with data from the interferometer to obtain a better estimate of the beam cross sectional area

Optical diagnostics of atmospheric pressure air plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laux, C O; Spence, T G; Kruger, C H; Zare, R N

2003-01-01

Atmospheric pressure air plasmas are often thought to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium owing to fast interspecies collisional exchange at high pressure. This assumption cannot be relied upon, particularly with respect to optical diagnostics. Velocity gradients in flowing plasmas and/or elevated electron temperatures created by electrical discharges can result in large departures from chemical and thermal equilibrium. This paper reviews diagnostic techniques based on optical emission spectroscopy and cavity ring-down spectroscopy that we have found useful for making temperature and concentration measurements in atmospheric pressure plasmas under conditions ranging from thermal and chemical equilibrium to thermochemical nonequilibrium

Rapid formation of electric field profiles in repetitively pulsed high-voltage high-pressure nanosecond discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Tsuyohito; Kobayashi, Kazunobu; Hamaguchi, Satoshi; Czarnetzki, Uwe

2010-01-01

Rapid formation of electric field profiles has been observed directly for the first time in nanosecond narrow-gap parallel-plate discharges at near-atmospheric pressure. The plasmas examined here are of hydrogen, and the field measurement is based on coherent Raman scattering (CRS) by hydrogen molecules. Combined with the observation of spatio-temporal light emission profiles by a high speed camera, it has been found that the rapid formation of a high-voltage thin cathode sheath is accompanied by fast propagation of an ionization front from a region near the anode. Unlike well-known parallel-plate discharges at low pressure, the discharge formation process at high pressure is almost entirely driven by electron dynamics as ions and neutral species are nearly immobile during the rapid process. (fast track communication)

Internal helical modes with m > 1 in a tokamak with a small shear and high plasma pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikha lovskij, A.B.; Aburdzhaniya, G.D.; Krymskij, A.M.

1979-01-01

Internal helical modes with m>1 in a circular cross-section tokamak with a small shear and large value of the parameter β (β is the ratio between the mean plasma pressure and the mean pressure of the poloidal magnetic field) are investigated. The equations obtained are used to study the destabilizing effects leading to helical instabilities. The role of destabilizing effects is regarded both in local and in a nonlocal approximations on the assumption that the radial plasma pressure is distributed parabolically and that the radial current distribution is also parabolic though slightly varying. It has been established that the profiling of current may lead to the tokamak plasma stability with respect to the modes under investigation. A tokamak with a small shear has been shown to be more stable relative to these modes than that with a large shear

Tearing modes with pressure gradient effect in pair plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Huishan; Li Ding; Zheng Jian

2009-01-01

The general dispersion relation of tearing mode with pressure gradient effect in pair plasmas is derived analytically. If the pressure gradients of positron and electron are not identical in pair plasmas, the pressure gradient has significant influence at tearing mode in both collisionless and collisional regimes. In collisionless regime, the effects of pressure gradient depend on its magnitude. For small pressure gradient, the growth rate of tearing mode is enhanced by pressure gradient. For large pressure gradient, the growth rate is reduced by pressure gradient. The tearing mode can even be stabilized if pressure gradient is large enough. In collisional regime, the growth rate of tearing mode is reduced by the pressure gradient. While the positron and electron have equal pressure gradient, tearing mode is not affected by pressure gradient in pair plasmas.

Electromagnetic Wave Attenuation in Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Shu; Hu Xiwei; Liu Minghai; Luo Fang; Feng Zelong

2007-01-01

When an electromagnetic (EM) wave propagates in an atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) layer, its attenuation depends on the APP parameters such as the layer width, the electron density and its profile and collision frequency between electrons and neutrals. This paper proposes that a combined parameter-the product of the line average electron density n-bar and width d of the APP layer (i.e., the total number of electrons in a unit volume along the wave propagation path) can play a more explicit and decisive role in the wave attenuation than any of the above individual parameters does. The attenuation of the EM wave via the product of n-bar and d with various collision frequencies between electrons and neutrals is presented

Edge density profiles in high-performance JET plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Summers, D.D.R.; Viaccoz, B.; Vince, J.

1997-01-01

Detailed electron density profiles of the scrape-off layer in high-performance JET plasmas (plasma current, I p nbi ∝17 MW) have been measured by means of a lithium beam diagnostic system featuring high spatial resolution [Kadota (1978)[. Measurements were taken over a period of several seconds, allowing examination of the evolution of the edge profile at a location upstream from the divertor target. The data clearly show the effects of the H-mode transition - an increase in density near the plasma separatrix and a reduction in density scrape-off length. The profiles obtained under various plasma conditions are compared firstly with data from other diagnostics, located elsewhere in the vessel, and also with the predictions of an 'onion-skin' model (DIVIMP), which used, as initial parameters, data from an array of probes located in the divertor target. (orig.)

Ultrasound enhanced plasma surface modification at atmospheric pressure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro; Singh, Shailendra Vikram; Norrman, Kion

and the material surface, and thus many reactive species generated in the plasma can reach the surface before inactivated, and be efficiently utilized for surface modification. In the present work polyester plates are treated using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) and a gliding arc at atmospheric pressure......Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment can be highly enhanced by simultaneous high-power ultrasonic irradiation onto the treating surface. It is because ultrasonic waves with a sound pressure level (SPL) above approximately 140 dB can reduce the thickness of a boundary gas layer between the plasma...... irradiation, the water contact angle dropped markedly, and tended to decrease furthermore at higher power. The ultrasonic irradiation during the plasma treatment consistently improved the wettability. Oxygen containing polar functional groups were introduced at the surface by the plasma treatment...

Radial profile of pressure in a storm ring current as a function of D st

Science.gov (United States)

Kovtyukh, A. S.

2010-06-01

Using satellite data obtained near the equatorial plane during 12 magnetic storms with amplitudes from -61 down to -422 nT, the dependences of maximum in L-profile of pressure ( L m) of the ring current (RC) on the current value of D st are constructed, and their analytical approximations are derived. It is established that function L m( D st ) is steeper on the phase of recovery than during the storm’s main phase. The form of the outer edge of experimental radial profiles of RC pressure is studied, and it is demonstrated to correspond to exponential growth of the total energy of RC particles on a given L shell with decreasing L. It is shown that during the storms’ main phase the ratio of plasma and magnetic field pressures at the RC maximum does not practically depend on the storm strength and L m value. This fact reflects resistance of the Earth’s magnetic field to RC expansion, and testifies that during storms the possibilities of injection to small L are limited for RC particles. During the storms’ recovery phase this ratio quickly increases with increasing L m, which reflects an increased fraction of plasma in the total pressure balance. It is demonstrated that function L m( D st ) is derived for the main phase of storms from the equations of drift motion of RC ions in electrical and magnetic fields, reflecting the dipole character of magnetic field and scale invariance of the pattern of particle convection near the RC maximum. For the recovery phase it is obtained from the Dessler-Parker-Sckopke relationship. The obtained regularities allow one to judge about the radial profile of RC pressure from ground-based magnetic measurements (data on the D st variation).

Ultrasound enhanced plasma surface modification at atmospheric pressure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro; Singh, Shailendra Vikram; Norrman, Kion

2012-01-01

Efficiency of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment can be highly enhanced by simultaneous high power ultrasonic irradiation onto the treating surface. It is because ultrasonic waves with a sound pressure level (SPL) above ∼140 dB can reduce the thickness of a boundary gas layer between the plasma...... arc at atmospheric pressure to study adhesion improvement. The effect of ultrasonic irradiation with the frequency diapason between 20 and 40 kHz at the SPL of ∼150 dB was investigated. After the plasma treatment without ultrasonic irradiation, the wettability was significantly improved...

Temperature diagnostics of a non-thermal plasma jet at atmospheric pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Jan

2013-09-01

The study reflects the concept of the temperature as a physical quantity resulting from the second thermodynamic law. The reliability of different approaches of the temperature diagnostics of open non-equilibrium systems is discussed using examples of low temperature atmospheric pressure discharges. The focus of this work is a miniaturized non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet for local surface treatment at ambient atmosphere. The micro-discharge is driven with a capacitively coupled radio frequency electric field at 27.12 MHz and fed with argon at rates of about 1 slm through the capillary with an inner diameter of 4 mm. The discharge consists of several contracted filaments with diameter around 300 μm which are rotating azimuthally in the capillary in a self-organized manner. While the measured temperatures of the filament core exceed 700 K, the heat impact on a target below the plasma jet remains limited leading to target temperatures below 400 K. Different kinds of temperatures and energy transport processes are proposed and experimentally investigated. Nevertheless, a reliable and detailed temperature diagnostics is a challenge. We report on a novel diagnostics approach for the spatially and temporally resolved measurement of the gas temperature based on the optical properties of the plasma. Laser Schlieren Deflectometry is adapted to explore temperature profiles of filaments and their behaviour. In parallel, the method demonstrates a fundamental Fermat's principle of minimal energy. Information acquired with this method plays an important role for the optimization of local thin film deposition and surface functionalization by means of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The work was supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within SFB-TR 24.

Effects of plasma shape and profiles on edge stability in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lao, L.L.; Chan, V.S.; Chen, L.

1998-12-01

The results of recent experimental and theoretical studies concerning the effects of plasma shape and current and pressure profiles on edge instabilities in DIII-D are presented. Magnetic oscillations with toroidal mode number n ∼ 2--9 and a fast growth time γ -1 = 20--150 micros are often observed prior to the first giant type 1 ELM in discharges with moderate squareness. High n ideal ballooning second stability access encourages edge instabilities by facilitating the buildup of the edge pressure gradient and bootstrap current density which destabilize the intermediate to low n modes. Analysis suggests that discharges with large edge pressure gradient and bootstrap current density are more unstable to n > 1 modes. Calculations and experimental results show that ELM amplitude and frequency can be varied by controlling access to the second ballooning stability regime at the edge through variation of the squareness of the discharge shape. A new method is proposed to control edge instabilities by reducing access to the second ballooning stability regime at the edge using high order local perturbation of the plasma shape in the outboard bad curvature region

Effects of plasma shape and profiles on edge stability in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lao, L.L.; Ferron, J.R.; Miller, R.L.

2001-01-01

The results of recent experimental and theoretical studies concerning the effects of plasma shape and current and pressure profiles on edge instabilities in DIII-D are presented. Magnetic oscillations with toroidal mode number n∼2-9 and a fast growth time γ -1 =20-150μs are often observed prior to the first giant type I ELM in discharges with moderate squareness. High n ideal ballooning second stability access encourages edge instabilities by facilitating the buildup of the edge pressure gradient and bootstrap current density which destabilize the intermediate to low n modes. Analysis suggests that discharges with large edge pressure gradient and bootstrap current density are more unstable to n>1 modes. Calculations and experimental results show that ELM amplitude and frequency can be varied by controlling access to the second ballooning stability regime at the edge through variation of the squareness of the discharge shape. A new method is proposed to control edge instabilities by reducing access to the second ballooning stability regime at the edge using high order local perturbation of the plasma shape in the outboard bad curvature region. (author)

Cigarette smoking substantially alters plasma microRNA profiles in healthy subjects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, Kei; Yokota, Shin-ichi; Tatsumi, Naoyuki; Fukami, Tatsuki; Yokoi, Tsuyoshi; Nakajima, Miki, E-mail: nmiki@p.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

2013-10-01

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are receiving attention as potential biomarkers of various diseases, including cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease. However, it is unknown whether the levels of circulating miRNAs in a healthy subject might vary with external factors in daily life. In this study, we investigated whether cigarette smoking, a habit that has spread throughout the world and is a risk factor for various diseases, affects plasma miRNA profiles. We determined the profiles of 11 smokers and 7 non-smokers by TaqMan MicroRNA array analysis. A larger number of miRNAs were detected in smokers than in non-smokers, and the plasma levels of two-thirds of the detected miRNAs (43 miRNAs) were significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers. A principal component analysis of the plasma miRNA profiles clearly separated smokers and non-smokers. Twenty-four of the miRNAs were previously reported to be potential biomarkers of disease, suggesting the possibility that smoking status might interfere with the diagnosis of disease. Interestingly, we found that quitting smoking altered the plasma miRNA profiles to resemble those of non-smokers. These results suggested that the differences in the plasma miRNA profiles between smokers and non-smokers could be attributed to cigarette smoking. In addition, we found that an acute exposure of ex-smokers to cigarette smoke (smoking one cigarette) did not cause a dramatic change in the plasma miRNA profile. In conclusion, we found that repeated cigarette smoking substantially alters the plasma miRNA profile, interfering with the diagnosis of disease or signaling potential smoking-related diseases. - Highlights: • Plasma miRNA profiles were unambiguously different between smokers and non-smokers. • Smoking status might interfere with the diagnosis of disease using plasma miRNAs. • Changes of plasma miRNA profiles may be a signal of smoking-related diseases.

Cigarette smoking substantially alters plasma microRNA profiles in healthy subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Kei; Yokota, Shin-ichi; Tatsumi, Naoyuki; Fukami, Tatsuki; Yokoi, Tsuyoshi; Nakajima, Miki

2013-01-01

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are receiving attention as potential biomarkers of various diseases, including cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease. However, it is unknown whether the levels of circulating miRNAs in a healthy subject might vary with external factors in daily life. In this study, we investigated whether cigarette smoking, a habit that has spread throughout the world and is a risk factor for various diseases, affects plasma miRNA profiles. We determined the profiles of 11 smokers and 7 non-smokers by TaqMan MicroRNA array analysis. A larger number of miRNAs were detected in smokers than in non-smokers, and the plasma levels of two-thirds of the detected miRNAs (43 miRNAs) were significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers. A principal component analysis of the plasma miRNA profiles clearly separated smokers and non-smokers. Twenty-four of the miRNAs were previously reported to be potential biomarkers of disease, suggesting the possibility that smoking status might interfere with the diagnosis of disease. Interestingly, we found that quitting smoking altered the plasma miRNA profiles to resemble those of non-smokers. These results suggested that the differences in the plasma miRNA profiles between smokers and non-smokers could be attributed to cigarette smoking. In addition, we found that an acute exposure of ex-smokers to cigarette smoke (smoking one cigarette) did not cause a dramatic change in the plasma miRNA profile. In conclusion, we found that repeated cigarette smoking substantially alters the plasma miRNA profile, interfering with the diagnosis of disease or signaling potential smoking-related diseases. - Highlights: • Plasma miRNA profiles were unambiguously different between smokers and non-smokers. • Smoking status might interfere with the diagnosis of disease using plasma miRNAs. • Changes of plasma miRNA profiles may be a signal of smoking-related diseases

Atmospheric-pressure plasma activation and surface characterization on polyethylene membrane separator

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Yu-Chien; Li, Hsiao-Ling; Huang, Chun

2017-01-01

The surface hydrophilic activation of a polyethylene membrane separator was achieved using an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet. The surface of the atmospheric-pressure-plasma-treated membrane separator was found to be highly hydrophilic realized by adjusting the plasma power input. The variations in membrane separator chemical structure were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Chemical analysis showed newly formed carbonyl-containing groups and high surface concentrations of oxygen-containing species on the atmospheric-pressure-plasma-treated polymeric separator surface. It also showed that surface hydrophilicity primarily increased from the polar component after atmospheric-pressure plasma treatment. The surface and pore structures of the polyethylene membrane separator were examined by scanning electron microscopy, revealing a slight alteration in the pore structure. As a result of the incorporation of polar functionalities by atmospheric-pressure plasma activation, the electrolyte uptake and electrochemical impedance of the atmospheric-pressure-plasma-treated membrane separator improved. The investigational results show that the separator surface can be controlled by atmospheric-pressure plasma surface treatment to tailor the hydrophilicity and enhance the electrochemical performance of lithium ion batteries.

Surface cleaning of metal wire by atmospheric pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, T.; Buttapeng, C.; Furuya, S.; Harada, N.

2009-01-01

In this study, the possible application of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma for the annealing of metallic wire is examined and presented. The main purpose of the current study is to examine the surface cleaning effect for a cylindrical object by atmospheric pressure plasma. The experimental setup consists of a gas tank, plasma reactor, and power supply with control panel. The gas assists in the generation of plasma. Copper wire was used as an experimental cylindrical object. This copper wire was irradiated with the plasma, and the cleaning effect was confirmed. The result showed that it is possible to remove the tarnish which exists on the copper wire surface. The experiment reveals that atmospheric pressure plasma is usable for the surface cleaning of metal wire. However, it is necessary to examine the method for preventing oxidization of the copper wire.

Magnetic pressure effects in a plasma-liner interface

Science.gov (United States)

García-Rubio, F.; Sanz, J.

2018-04-01

A theoretical analysis of magnetic pressure effects in a magnetized liner inertial fusion-like plasma is presented. In previous publications [F. García-Rubio and J. Sanz, Phys. Plasmas 24, 072710 (2017)], the evolution of a hot magnetized plasma in contact with a cold unmagnetized plasma, aiming to represent the hot spot and liner, respectively, was investigated in planar geometry. The analysis was made in a double limit low Mach and high thermal to magnetic pressure ratio β. In this paper, the analysis is extended to an arbitrary pressure ratio. Nernst, Ettingshausen, and Joule effects come into play in the energy balance. The region close to the liner is governed by thermal conduction, while the Joule dissipation becomes predominant far from it when the pressure ratio is low. Mass ablation, thermal energy, and magnetic flux losses are reduced with plasma magnetization, characterized by the electron Hall parameter ω e τ e , until β values of order unity are reached. From this point forward, increasing the electron Hall parameter no longer improves the magnetic flux conservation, and mass ablation is enhanced due to the magnetic pressure gradients. A thoughtful simplification of the problem that allows to reduce the order of the system of governing equations while still retaining the finite β effects is presented and compared to the exact case.

Origin of fluctuations in atmospheric pressure arc plasma devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghorui, S.; Das, A.K.

2004-01-01

Fluctuations in arc plasma devices are extremely important for any technological application in thermal plasma. The origin of such fluctuations remains unexplained. This paper presents a theory for observed fluctuations in atmospheric pressure arc plasma devices. A qualitative explanation for observed behavior on atmospheric pressure arc plasma fluctuations, reported in the literature, can be obtained from the theory. The potential of the theory is demonstrated through comparison of theoretical predictions with reported experimental observations

Plasma Profile and Shape Optimization for the Advanced Tokamak Power Plant, ARIES-AT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kessel, C.E.; Mau, T.K.; Jardin, S.C.; Najmabadi, F.

2001-01-01

An advanced tokamak plasma configuration is developed based on equilibrium, ideal-MHD stability, bootstrap current analysis, vertical stability and control, and poloidal-field coil analysis. The plasma boundaries used in the analysis are forced to coincide with the 99% flux surface from the free-boundary equilibrium. Using an accurate bootstrap current model and external current-drive profiles from ray-tracing calculations in combination with optimized pressure profiles, beta(subscript N) values above 7.0 have been obtained. The minimum current drive requirement is found to lie at a lower beta(subscript N) of 5.4. The external kink mode is stabilized by a tungsten shell located at 0.33 times the minor radius and a feedback system. Plasma shape optimization has led to an elongation of 2.2 and triangularity of 0.9 at the separatrix. Vertical stability could be achieved by a combination of tungsten shells located at 0.33 times the minor radius and feedback control coils located behind the shield. The poloidal-field coils were optimized in location and current, providing a maximum coil current of 8.6 MA. These developments have led to a simultaneous reduction in the power plant major radius and toroidal field

Research on atmospheric pressure plasma processing sewage

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Gui-cai; Na, Yan-xiang; Dong, Xiao-long; Sun, Xiao-liang

2013-08-01

The water pollution has become more and more serious with the industrial progress and social development, so it become a worldwide leading environmental management problem to human survival and personal health, therefore, countries are looking for the best solution. Generally speaking, in this paper the work has the following main achievements and innovation: (1) Developed a new plasma device--Plasma Water Bed. (2) At atmospheric pressure condition, use oxygen, nitrogen, argon and helium as work gas respectively, use fiber spectrometer to atmospheric pressure plasma discharge the emission spectrum of measurement, due to the different work gas producing active particle is different, so can understand discharge, different particle activity, in the treatment of wastewater, has the different degradation effects. (3) Methyl violet solution treatment by plasma water bed. Using plasma drafting make active particles and waste leachate role, observe the decolorization, measurement of ammonia nitrogen removal.

Time evolution of the bootstrap current profile in LHD plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Yuji; Kawaoto, K.; Watanabe, K.Y.

2008-10-01

The direction of the bootstrap current is inverted in the outward shifted plasmas of the Large Helical Device (LHD). In order to verify the reliability of the theoretical models of the bootstrap current in helical plasmas, the rotational transform profiles are observed by the Motional Stark Effect measurement in the bootstrap current carrying plasmas of the LHD, and they are compared with the numerical simulations of the toroidal current profile including the bootstrap current. Since the toroidal current profile is not in the steady state in these plasmas, taking care of the inversely induced component of the toroidal current and finite duration of the resistive diffusion of the toroidal current are important in the numerical simulations. Reasonable agreement can be obtained between the rotational transform profiles measured in the experiments and those calculated in the numerical simulations. (author)

Plasma profile recovery by function parameterisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCarthy, P.J.; Sexton, M.C.

1986-11-01

The use of Function Parameterisation for the recovery of plasma profiles as a function of flux surface area from spatial point data directly combined with external magnetic measurements is demonstrated in the case of ASDEX electron temperature and density profiles. The extrapolated temperature on the magnetic axis is shown to be more reliable than that obtained from a conventional fitting procedure. (orig.)

Pressure anisotropy stabilization of axisymmetric mirror machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weitzner, H.

1978-01-01

The stability of a two species, anisotropic pressure, axisymmetric plasma is studied using the guiding center plasma model. Successively, asymptotic expansions are applied appropriate to a long, thin plasma, and to a plasma with flux surfaces close to cylinders. The resultant stability problem may be cast as an ordinary differential equation eigenvalue problem or as a problem in the calculus of variations. It is shown that low beta plasmas cannot be confined and be stable although plasmas may be stable in which the pressure gradients are nonzero where the pressure tends to zero. Stable profiles are given; these profiles include the possibility of field reversed regions. These stable profiles require the anisotropic species to be cold near the axis. Rather than absolute stability, a weaker condition is also considered which for fixed azimuthal mode number vertical-barmvertical-bar puts the point of accumulation of the spectrum of modes on the stable side. It is hoped that such a condition may yield systems stable to vertical-barmvertical-bar small modes although not all values of vertical-barmvertical-bar. This condition is more readily satisfied and allows more reasonable profiles near the axis

Characterization of pulsed atmospheric-pressure plasma streams (PAPS) generated by a plasma gun

Science.gov (United States)

Robert, E.; Sarron, V.; Riès, D.; Dozias, S.; Vandamme, M.; Pouvesle, J.-M.

2012-06-01

An experimental study of atmospheric-pressure rare gas plasma propagation in a high-aspect-ratio capillary is reported. The plasma is generated with a plasma gun device based on a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor powered by either nanosecond or microsecond rise-time high-voltage pulses at single-shot to multi-kHz frequencies. The influence of the voltage waveform, pulse polarity, pulse repetition rate and capillary material have been studied using nanosecond intensified charge-coupled device imaging and plasma-front velocity measurements. The evolution of the plasma appearance during its propagation and the study of the role of the different experimental parameters lead us to suggest a new denomination of pulsed atmospheric-pressure plasma streams to describe all the plasma features, including the previously so-called plasma bullet. The unique properties of such non-thermal plasma launching in capillaries, far from the primary DBD plasma, are associated with a fast ionization wave travelling with velocity in the 107-108 cm s-1 range. Voltage pulse tailoring is shown to allow for a significant improvement of such plasma delivery. Thus, the plasma gun device affords unique opportunities in biomedical endoscopic applications.

Characterization of pulsed atmospheric-pressure plasma streams (PAPS) generated by a plasma gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robert, E; Sarron, V; Riès, D; Dozias, S; Vandamme, M; Pouvesle, J-M

2012-01-01

An experimental study of atmospheric-pressure rare gas plasma propagation in a high-aspect-ratio capillary is reported. The plasma is generated with a plasma gun device based on a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor powered by either nanosecond or microsecond rise-time high-voltage pulses at single-shot to multi-kHz frequencies. The influence of the voltage waveform, pulse polarity, pulse repetition rate and capillary material have been studied using nanosecond intensified charge-coupled device imaging and plasma-front velocity measurements. The evolution of the plasma appearance during its propagation and the study of the role of the different experimental parameters lead us to suggest a new denomination of pulsed atmospheric-pressure plasma streams to describe all the plasma features, including the previously so-called plasma bullet. The unique properties of such non-thermal plasma launching in capillaries, far from the primary DBD plasma, are associated with a fast ionization wave travelling with velocity in the 10 7 –10 8 cm s −1 range. Voltage pulse tailoring is shown to allow for a significant improvement of such plasma delivery. Thus, the plasma gun device affords unique opportunities in biomedical endoscopic applications. (paper)

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Processing for Polymer Adhesion: A Review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro

2014-01-01

Atmospheric pressure plasma processing has attracted significant interests over decades due to its usefulness and a variety of applications. Adhesion improvement of polymer surfaces is among the most important applications of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment. Reflecting recent significant de...

Comparative study of the electron density profiles in the compact torus plasma merging experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashiya, Hitoshi; Asaka, Takeo; Katsurai, Makoto

2003-01-01

Following two previous papers on the comparative studies of the electron density distributions for a single compact torus (CT) and a spherical tokamak (ST), and for the a single ST and a merged ST, a comparative study on the dynamics of the electron density profile and after the CT and ST plasma merging process was performed. The sharpness of the peak in the electron density profile around the mid-plane just after the merging of CT with a low safety factor (q value) such as RFP or spheromak is found to be related to the speed of the magnetic axis during the plasma merging process. It is also found that the electron density gradient near the plasma edge in a high q ST is larger than that of a low q CT. High q ST is found to be provided with the magnetic structure which is able to sustain a large thermal pressure by a strong j x B force. Despite these differences in the electron density profile between CT and ST during merging, the confinement characteristics evaluated from the number of electrons confined within the magnetic separatrix after the completion of the merging is almost similar between in the merging CT and in the merging ST. For all configurations, the electron density profiles after the completion of the merging are analogous to those of the corresponding single configuration produced without the merging process. (author)

On OH production in water containing atmospheric pressure plasmas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruggeman, P.J.; Schram, D.C.

2010-01-01

In this paper radical production in atmospheric pressure water containing plasmas is discussed. As OH is often an important radical in these discharges the paper focuses on OH production. Besides nanosecond pulsed coronas and diffusive glow discharges, several other atmospheric pressure plasmas

MHD analysis of LHD high beta plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichiguchi, K.; Nakajima, N.; Carreras, B.A.

2003-01-01

The nonlinear behavior of the interchange mode in the LHD plasma depends on the overlap of the vortices with different helicity. If the vortices are separated in the radial direction, each mode saturates mildly with generating the local flat regions in the pressure profile. In the case of the significant overlap of the vortices, the convection is enhanced and the sudden global reduction of the pressure occurs. Succession of the saturated pressure profile in the increase of beta can suppress the overlap. Self-organization of the pressure profile to suppress the overlap of the vortices can be the stabilizing mechanism in the LHD plasma. (orig.)

Non-equilbrium behavior of low-pressure plasma jets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.H.; Pfender, E.

1989-01-01

After establishing the basic equations, some sample calculations are presented to examine the thermodynamic state of the plasma from atmospheric to low pressures (80 mbar). These results indicate the validity of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) at atmospheric pressure as well as strong deviations from LTE at lower pressures especially in terms of chemical equilibrium. Departures from kinetic equilibrium are not as severe as those from chemical equilibrium along the centerline of the jet. However, there are some departures from transitional equilibrium in the fringes of the jet. It is demonstrated that conventional methods based on the LTE assumption are not appropriate for describing low-pressure plasma jets

To the probe theory in a highly-ionized high-pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baksht, F.G.; Rybakov, A.B.

1997-01-01

The probe theory in highly-ionized high-pressure plasma is presented. The situation typical for high-pressure plasma, when the plasma in the main part of the near-probe layer is in the state of local ionization equilibrium with general temperature for electrons and heavy particles. Possibility is discussed for determining the parameters of non-perturbed plasma through analysis of the probe characteristic at place of ion saturation, transition area and by the probe floating potential. The experiments were carried out by example of highly-ionized xenon plasma under atmospheric pressure

Charge dependence of the plasma travel length in atmospheric-pressure plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yambe, Kiyoyuki; Konda, Kohmei; Masuda, Seiya [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181 (Japan)

2016-06-15

Plasma plume is generated using a quartz tube, helium gas, and foil electrode by applying AC high voltage under the atmosphere. The plasma plume is released into the atmosphere from inside of the quartz tube and is seen as the continuous movement of the plasma bullet. The travel length of plasma bullet is defined from plasma energy and force due to electric field. The drift velocity of plasma bullet has the upper limit under atmospheric-pressure because the drift velocity is determined from the balance between electric field and resistive force due to collisions between plasma and air. The plasma plume charge depends on the drift velocity. Consequently, in the laminar flow of helium gas flow state, the travel length of the plasma plume logarithmically depends on the plasma plume charge which changes with both the electric field and the resistive force.

Charge dependence of the plasma travel length in atmospheric-pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yambe, Kiyoyuki; Konda, Kohmei; Masuda, Seiya

2016-01-01

Plasma plume is generated using a quartz tube, helium gas, and foil electrode by applying AC high voltage under the atmosphere. The plasma plume is released into the atmosphere from inside of the quartz tube and is seen as the continuous movement of the plasma bullet. The travel length of plasma bullet is defined from plasma energy and force due to electric field. The drift velocity of plasma bullet has the upper limit under atmospheric-pressure because the drift velocity is determined from the balance between electric field and resistive force due to collisions between plasma and air. The plasma plume charge depends on the drift velocity. Consequently, in the laminar flow of helium gas flow state, the travel length of the plasma plume logarithmically depends on the plasma plume charge which changes with both the electric field and the resistive force.

Pressure balance inconsistency exhibited in a statistical model of magnetospheric plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Garner, T. W.; Wolf, R. A.; Spiro, R. W.; Thomsen, M. F.; Korth, H.

2003-08-01

While quantitative theories of plasma flow from the magnetotail to the inner magnetosphere typically assume adiabatic convection, it has long been understood that these convection models tend to overestimate the plasma pressure in the inner magnetosphere. This phenomenon is called the pressure crisis or the pressure balance inconsistency. In order to analyze it in a new and more detailed manner we utilize an empirical model of the proton and electron distribution functions in the near-Earth plasma sheet (-50 RE attributed to gradient/curvature drift for large isotropic energy invariants but not for small invariants. The tailward gradient of the distribution function indicates a violation of the adiabatic drift condition in the plasma sheet. It also confirms the existence of a "number crisis" in addition to the pressure crisis. In addition, plasma sheet pressure gradients, when crossed with the gradient of flux tube volume computed from the [1989] magnetic field model, indicate Region 1 currents on the dawn and dusk sides of the outer plasma sheet.

Characterization of thermal plasmas by laser light scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, S.C.; Lassahn, G.D.; Reynolds, L.D.; Fincke, J.R.

1993-01-01

Characterization of an atmospheric pressure free-burning arc discharge and a plasma jet by lineshape analysis of scattered laser light is described. Unlike emission spectroscopy, this technique provides direct measurement of plasma gas temperature, electron temperature and electron density without the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). Plasma gas velocity can also be determined from the Doppler shift of the scattered laser light. Radial gas temperature, electron temperature and electron density profiles are presented for an atmospheric pressure argon free-burning arc discharge. These results show a significant departure from LTE in the arc column, contradicting results obtained from emission spectroscopy. Radial gas temperature and gas velocity profiles in the exit plane of a subsonic atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet are also presented. In this case, the results show the plasma jet is close to LTE in the center, but not in the fringes. The velocity profile is parabolic

The nonlocal electron kinetics for a low-pressure glow discharge dusty plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Yonggan; Wang, Ying; Li, Hui; Tian, Ruihuan; Yuan, Chengxun; Kudryavtsev, A. A.; Rabadanov, K. M.; Wu, Jian; Zhou, Zhongxiang; Tian, Hao

2018-05-01

The nonlocal electron kinetic model based on the Boltzmann equation is developed in low-pressure argon glow discharge dusty plasmas. The additional electron-dust elastic and inelastic collision processes are considered when solving the kinetic equation numerically. The orbital motion limited theory and collision enhanced collection approximation are employed to calculate the dust surface potential. The electron energy distribution function (EEDF), effective electron temperature Teff, and dust surface potential are investigated under different plasma and dust conditions by solving the Boltzmann and the dust charging current balance equations self-consistently. A comparison of the calculation results obtained from nonlocal and local kinetic models is made. It is shown that the appearance of dust particles leads to a deviation of the EEDF from its original profile for both nonlocal and local kinetic models. With the increase in dust density and size, the effective electron temperature and dust surface potential decrease due to the high-energy electron loss on the dust surface. Meanwhile, the nonlocal and local results differ much from each other under the same calculation condition. It is concluded that, for low-pressure (PR ≤ 1 cm*Torr) glow discharge dusty plasmas, the existence of dust particles will amplify the difference of local and nonlocal EEDFs, which makes the local kinetic model more improper to determine the main parameters of the positive column. The nonlocal kinetic model should be used for the calculation of the EEDFs and dusty plasma parameters.

Relation between plasma plume density and gas flow velocity in atmospheric pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yambe, Kiyoyuki; Taka, Shogo; Ogura, Kazuo

2014-01-01

We have studied atmospheric pressure plasma generated using a quartz tube, helium gas, and copper foil electrode by applying RF high voltage. The atmospheric pressure plasma in the form of a bullet is released as a plume into the atmosphere. To study the properties of the plasma plume, the plasma plume current is estimated from the difference in currents on the circuit, and the drift velocity is measured using a photodetector. The relation of the plasma plume density n plu , which is estimated from the current and the drift velocity, and the gas flow velocity v gas is examined. It is found that the dependence of the density on the gas flow velocity has relations of n plu ∝ log(v gas ). However, the plasma plume density in the laminar flow is higher than that in the turbulent flow. Consequently, in the laminar flow, the density increases with increasing the gas flow velocity

Atmospheric-pressure plasma decontamination/sterilization chamber

Science.gov (United States)

Herrmann, Hans W.; Selwyn, Gary S.

2001-01-01

An atmospheric-pressure plasma decontamination/sterilization chamber is described. The apparatus is useful for decontaminating sensitive equipment and materials, such as electronics, optics and national treasures, which have been contaminated with chemical and/or biological warfare agents, such as anthrax, mustard blistering agent, VX nerve gas, and the like. There is currently no acceptable procedure for decontaminating such equipment. The apparatus may also be used for sterilization in the medical and food industries. Items to be decontaminated or sterilized are supported inside the chamber. Reactive gases containing atomic and metastable oxygen species are generated by an atmospheric-pressure plasma discharge in a He/O.sub.2 mixture and directed into the region of these items resulting in chemical reaction between the reactive species and organic substances. This reaction typically kills and/or neutralizes the contamination without damaging most equipment and materials. The plasma gases are recirculated through a closed-loop system to minimize the loss of helium and the possibility of escape of aerosolized harmful substances.

Experimental and numerical investigations of microwave return loss of aircraft inlets with low-pressure plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yachun; He, Xiang; Chen, Jianping; Chen, Hongqing; Chen, Li; Zhang, Hongchao; Ni, Xiaowu; Lu, Jian; Shen, Zhonghua

2018-03-01

The relationships between return losses of the cylindrical inlet and plasma discharge parameters are investigated experimentally and numerically. The return losses are measured using a high dynamic range measurement system and simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics when the frequency band of the microwaves is in the range 1-4 GHz. The profiles of the plasma density are estimated using Epstein and Bessel functions. Results show that the incident microwaves can be absorbed by plasma efficaciously. The maximal return loss can reach -13.84 dB when the microwave frequency is 2.3 GHz. The increase of applied power implies augmentation of the return loss, which behaves conversely for gas pressure. The experimental and numerical results display reasonable agreement on return loss, suggesting that the use of plasma is effective in the radar cross section reduction of aircraft inlets.

Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma possible application in wound healing.

Science.gov (United States)

Haertel, Beate; von Woedtke, Thomas; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter; Lindequist, Ulrike

2014-11-01

Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma, also named cold plasma, is defined as a partly ionized gas. Therefore, it cannot be equated with plasma from blood; it is not biological in nature. Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma is a new innovative approach in medicine not only for the treatment of wounds, but with a wide-range of other applications, as e.g. topical treatment of other skin diseases with microbial involvement or treatment of cancer diseases. This review emphasizes plasma effects on wound healing. Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma can support wound healing by its antiseptic effects, by stimulation of proliferation and migration of wound relating skin cells, by activation or inhibition of integrin receptors on the cell surface or by its pro-angiogenic effect. We summarize the effects of plasma on eukaryotic cells, especially on keratinocytes in terms of viability, proliferation, DNA, adhesion molecules and angiogenesis together with the role of reactive oxygen species and other components of plasma. The outcome of first clinical trials regarding wound healing is pointed out.

TPSS plasma engineering studies: profile effects and plasma power balance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borowski, S.K.; Strickler, D.J.

1985-01-01

A computationally fast profile-averaged, steady-state plasma model has been developed to allow studies of radial effects in ignited and driven tokamak systems. This code was used to search for the smallest size tokamak consistent with power balance calculations

Energetically resolved multiple-fluid equilibria of tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hole, M J; Dennis, G

2009-01-01

In many magnetically confined fusion experiments, a significant fraction of the stored energy of the plasma resides in energetic, or non-thermal, particle populations. Despite this, most equilibrium treatments are based on MHD: a single fluid treatment which assumes a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function. Detailed magnetic reconstruction based on this treatment ignore the energetic complexity of the plasma and can result in model-data inconsistencies, such as thermal pressure profiles which are inconsistent with the total stored kinetic energy of the plasma. Alternatively, ad hoc corrections to the pressure profile, such as summing the energetic and thermal pressures, have poor theoretical justification. Motivated by this omission, we generalize ideal MHD one step further: we consider multiple quasi-neutral fluids, each in thermal equilibrium and each thermally insulated from each other-no population mixing occurs. Kinetically, such a model may be able to describe the ion or electron distribution function in regions of velocity phase space with a large number of particles, at the expense of more weakly populated phase space, which may have uncharacteristically high temperature and hence pressure. As magnetic equilibrium effects increase with the increase in pressure, our work constitutes an upper limit to the effect of energetic particles. When implemented into an existing solver, FLOW (Guazzotto et al 2004 Phys. Plasmas 11, 604-14), it becomes possible to qualitatively explore the impact of resolving the energetic populations on plasma equilibrium configurations in realistic geometry. Deploying the modified code, FLOW-M, on a high performance spherical torus configuration, we find that the effect of variations of the pressure, poloidal flow and toroidal flow of the energetic populations is qualitatively similar to variations in the background plasma. We also study the robustness of the equilibrium to uncertainties in the current profile and the energetic

Plasma pressure and anisotropy inferred from the Tsyganenkomagnetic field model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Cao

Full Text Available A numerical procedure has been developed to deduce the plasma pressure and anisotropy from the Tsyganenko magnetic field model. The Tsyganenko empirical field model, which is based on vast satellite field data, provides a realistic description of magnetic field configuration in the magnetosphere. When the force balance under the static condition is assumed, the electromagnetic J×B force from the Tsyganenko field model can be used to infer the plasma pressure and anisotropy distributions consistent with the field model. It is found that the J×B force obtained from the Tsyganenko field model is not curl-free. The curl-free part of the J×B force in an empirical field model can be balanced by the gradient of the isotropic pressure, while the nonzero curl of the J×B force can only be associated with the pressure anisotropy. The plasma pressure and anisotropy in the near-Earth plasma sheet are numerically calculated to obtain a static equilibrium consistent with the Tsyganenko field model both in the noon-midnight meridian and in the equatorial plane. The plasma pressure distribution deduced from the Tsyganenko 1989 field model is highly anisotropic and shows this feature early in the substorm growth phase. The pressure anisotropy parameter α_P, defined as α_P=1-P_VertP_⊥, is typically ~0.3 at x ≈ -4.5R_E and gradually decreases to a small negative value with an increasing tailward distance. The pressure anisotropy from the Tsyganenko 1989 model accounts for 50% of the cross-tail current at maximum and only in a highly localized region near xsim-10R_E. In comparison, the plasma pressure anisotropy inferred from the Tsyganenko 1987 model is much smaller. We also find that the boundary

Observation of radio frequency ring-shaped hollow cathode discharge plasma with MgO and Al electrodes for plasma processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohtsu, Yasunori; Matsumoto, Naoki

2014-01-01

Various high-density plasma sources have been proposed for plasma processing. Especially, the hollow cathode discharge is one of the powerful ones. In this work, radio-frequency (RF) driven ring-shaped hollow cathode discharges with high secondary-electron emission have been investigated, using an aluminum (Al) cathode, coated or not with magnesium oxide (MgO). The thickness of MgO thin film is approximately 200 nm. The RF discharge voltage for the coated cathode is almost the same as that for the uncoated one, in a wide range of Ar gas pressure, from 5.3 to 53.2 Pa. The results reveal that the plasma density has a peak at an Ar gas pressure of 10.6 Pa for both cathodes. The plasma density for the coated cathode is about 1.5–3 times higher than that for the uncoated one, at various gas pressures. To the contrary, the electron temperature for the coated cathode is lower than temperature obtained with the uncoated cathode, at various gas pressures. Radial profiles of electron saturation current, which is proportional to plasma flux, are also examined for a wide range of gas pressure. Radial profiles of electron temperature at various axial positions are almost uniform for both cathodes so that the diffusion process due to density gradient is dominant for plasma transport. The secondary electrons emitted from the coated cathode contribute to the improvement of the plasma flux radial profile obtained using the uncoated cathode

Measurement of plasma edge profile on Wendelstein 7-X

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drews, Philipp; Liang, Yunfeng; Neubauer, Olaf; Denner, Peter; Rack, Michael; Liu, Shaocheng; Wang, Nunchao; Nicolai, Dirk; Hollfeld, Klaus; Satheeswaran, Guruparan [Forschungszentrum Juelich, IEK4, Juelich (Germany); Grulke, Olaf [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Greifswald (Germany); Collaboration: W7-X Team

2016-07-01

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), currently under commissioning at the IPP Greifswald, will be the world's largest stellarator with modular superconducting coils, which will enable steady-state-like plasma operation of up to thirty minutes in order to explore the reactor relevance of this concept. The first operation phase of W7-X will employ a limiter configuration. It will be used primarily for setting up the diagnostics and testing the magnetic configuration. In conjunction with the multipurpose manipulator, a fast reciprocating probe is installed. The combined probe head will be used to measure the radial distribution of the magnetic field using magnetic pick-up coils; the plasma temperature and density profiles and the radial electric field using Langmuir pins; and the plasma flows using a Mach setup. As a quasi-isodynamic stellarator, it has been predicted that not only neoclassical but also turbulent transport will be comparable to or possibly even lower than that of tokamaks. Edge plasma profile measurements, especially those of the electron temperature and density, will play a key role in validating this performance in comparison to the tokamak and hence the viability of a stellarator fusion reactor. The edge plasma profile measurements using the combined probe head are presented.

Laser schlieren deflectometry for temperature analysis of filamentary non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, J; Foest, R; Reuter, S; Kewitz, T; Šperka, J; Weltmann, K-D

2012-10-01

The heat convection generated by micro filaments of a self-organized non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet in Ar is characterized by employing laser schlieren deflectometry (LSD). It is demonstrated as a proof of principle, that the spatial and temporal changes of the refractive index n in the optical beam path related to the neutral gas temperature of the plasma jet can be monitored and evaluated simultaneously. The refraction of a laser beam in a high gradient field of n(r) with cylindrical symmetry is given for a general real refraction index profile. However, the usually applied Abel approach represents an ill-posed problem and in particular for this plasma configuration. A simple analytical model is proposed in order to minimize the statistical error. Based on that, the temperature profile, specifically the absolute temperature in the filament core, the FWHM, and the frequencies of the collective filament dynamics are obtained for non-stationary conditions. For a gas temperature of 700 K inside the filament, the presented model predicts maximum deflection angles of the laser beam of 0.3 mrad which is in accordance to the experimental results obtained with LSD. Furthermore, the experimentally obtained FWHM of the temperature profile produced by the filament at the end of capillary is (1.5 ± 0.2) mm, which is about 10 times wider than the visual radius of the filament. The obtained maximum temperature in the effluent is (450 ± 30) K and is in consistence with results of other techniques. The study demonstrates that LSD represents a useful low-cost method for monitoring the spatiotemporal behaviour of microdischarges and allows to uncover their dynamic characteristics, e.g., the temperature profile even for challenging diagnostic conditions such as moving thin discharge filaments. The method is not restricted to the miniaturized and self-organized plasma studied here. Instead, it can be readily applied to other configurations that produce measurable

Laser schlieren deflectometry for temperature analysis of filamentary non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaefer, J.; Foest, R.; Reuter, S.; Weltmann, K.-D. [INP Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 2, 17489 Greifswald (Germany); Kewitz, T. [Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University Kiel, 24098 Kiel (Germany); Sperka, J. [Department of Physical Electronics, Masaryk University, 61137 Brno (Czech Republic)

2012-10-15

The heat convection generated by micro filaments of a self-organized non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet in Ar is characterized by employing laser schlieren deflectometry (LSD). It is demonstrated as a proof of principle, that the spatial and temporal changes of the refractive index n in the optical beam path related to the neutral gas temperature of the plasma jet can be monitored and evaluated simultaneously. The refraction of a laser beam in a high gradient field of n(r) with cylindrical symmetry is given for a general real refraction index profile. However, the usually applied Abel approach represents an ill-posed problem and in particular for this plasma configuration. A simple analytical model is proposed in order to minimize the statistical error. Based on that, the temperature profile, specifically the absolute temperature in the filament core, the FWHM, and the frequencies of the collective filament dynamics are obtained for non-stationary conditions. For a gas temperature of 700 K inside the filament, the presented model predicts maximum deflection angles of the laser beam of 0.3 mrad which is in accordance to the experimental results obtained with LSD. Furthermore, the experimentally obtained FWHM of the temperature profile produced by the filament at the end of capillary is (1.5 {+-} 0.2) mm, which is about 10 times wider than the visual radius of the filament. The obtained maximum temperature in the effluent is (450 {+-} 30) K and is in consistence with results of other techniques. The study demonstrates that LSD represents a useful low-cost method for monitoring the spatiotemporal behaviour of microdischarges and allows to uncover their dynamic characteristics, e.g., the temperature profile even for challenging diagnostic conditions such as moving thin discharge filaments. The method is not restricted to the miniaturized and self-organized plasma studied here. Instead, it can be readily applied to other configurations that produce measurable

Hydrophilic surface modification of coronary stent using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet for endothelialization.

Science.gov (United States)

Shim, Jae Won; Bae, In-Ho; Park, Dae Sung; Lee, So-Youn; Jang, Eun-Jae; Lim, Kyung-Seob; Park, Jun-Kyu; Kim, Ju Han; Jeong, Myung Ho

2018-03-01

The first two authors contributed equally to this study. Bioactivity and cell adhesion properties are major factors for fabricating medical devices such as coronary stents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the advantages of atmospheric-pressure plasma jet in enhancing the biocompatibility and endothelial cell-favorites. The experimental objects were divided into before and after atmospheric-pressure plasma jet treatment with the ratio of nitrogen:argon = 3:1, which is similar to air. The treated surfaces were basically characterized by means of a contact angle analyzer for the activation property on their surfaces. The effect of atmospheric-pressure plasma jet on cellular response was examined by endothelial cell adhesion and XTT analysis. It was difficult to detect any changeable morphology after atmospheric-pressure plasma jet treatment on the surface. The roughness was increased after atmospheric-pressure plasma jet treatment compared to nonatmospheric-pressure plasma jet treatment (86.781 and 7.964 nm, respectively). The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that the surface concentration of the C-O groups increased slightly from 6% to 8% after plasma activation. The contact angle dramatically decreased in the atmospheric-pressure plasma jet treated group (22.6 ± 15.26°) compared to the nonatmospheric-pressure plasma jet treated group (72.4 ± 15.26°) ( n = 10, p atmospheric-pressure plasma jet on endothelial cell migration and proliferation was 85.2% ± 12.01% and 34.2% ± 2.68%, respectively, at 7 days, compared to the nonatmospheric-pressure plasma jet treated group (58.2% ± 11.44% in migration, n = 10, p atmospheric-pressure plasma jet method. Moreover, the atmospheric-pressure plasma jet might affect re-endothelialization after stenting.

Stability in high gain plasmas in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazarus, E.A.; Houlberg, W.A.; Murakami, M.; Wade, M.R.

1996-10-01

Fusion power gain has been increased by a factor of 3 in DIII-D plasmas through the use of strong discharge shaping and tailoring of the pressure and current density profiles. H-mode plasmas with weak or negative central magnetic shear are found to have neoclassical ion confinement throughout most of the plasma volume. Improved MHD stability is achieved by controlling the plasma pressure profile width. The highest fusion power gain Q (ratio of fusion power to input power) in deuterium plasmas was 0.0015, which extrapolates to an equivalent Q of 0.32 in a deuterium-tritium plasma and is similar to values achieved in tokamaks of larger size and magnetic fields

Calculation of high-pressure argon plasma parameters produced by excimer laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuda, Norio; Yamada, Jun

2000-01-01

When a XeCl excimer laser light was focused in a high-pressure argon gas up to 150 atm, a dense plasma developed not only backward but also forward. It is important to study on the electron density and temperature of the laser-induced plasma in the high-pressure gas. The electron density and temperature in high-pressure argon plasma produced by XeCl excimer laser has been calculated and compared with the experimental data. (author)

Basic principles and applications of atmospheric-pressure discharge plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, K.H.

2002-01-01

The principles that govern the generation and maintenance of atmospheric - pressure discharge plasmas are summarized. The properties and operating parameters of various types such as dielectric barrier discharge plasmas (DBDs), corona discharge plasmas (CDs), microhollow cathode discharge plasmas (MHCDs) , and dielectric capillary electrode discharge plasmas (CDEDs) are introduced. All of them are self sustained, non equilibrium gas discharges that can be operated at atmospheric pressure. CDs and DBDDs represent very similar types of discharges, while DBDs are characterized by insulating layers on one or both electrodes, CDs depend on inhomogeneous electric fields at least in some parts of the electrode configuration to restrict the primary ionization processes to a small fraction of the inter - electrode region. Their application to novel light sources in the ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectral region is described. (nevyjel)

Influence of Plasma Pressure Fluctuation on RF Wave Propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zhiwei; Bao Weimin; Li Xiaoping; Liu Donglin; Zhou Hui

2016-01-01

Pressure fluctuations in the plasma sheath from spacecraft reentry affect radio-frequency (RF) wave propagation. The influence of these fluctuations on wave propagation and wave properties is studied using methods derived by synthesizing the compressible turbulent flow theory, plasma theory, and electromagnetic wave theory. We study these influences on wave propagation at GPS and Ka frequencies during typical reentry by adopting stratified modeling. We analyzed the variations in reflection and transmission properties induced by pressure fluctuations. Our results show that, at the GPS frequency, if the waves are not totally reflected then the pressure fluctuations can remarkably affect reflection, transmission, and absorption properties. In extreme situations, the fluctuations can even cause blackout. At the Ka frequency, the influences are obvious when the waves are not totally transmitted. The influences are more pronounced at the GPS frequency than at the Ka frequency. This suggests that the latter can mitigate blackout by reducing both the reflection and the absorption of waves, as well as the influences of plasma fluctuations on wave propagation. Given that communication links with the reentry vehicles are susceptible to plasma pressure fluctuations, the influences on link budgets should be taken into consideration. (paper)

Influence of excited state spatial distributions on plasma diagnostics: Atmospheric pressure laser-induced He-H2 plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Monfared, Shabnam K.; Hüwel, Lutz

2012-10-01

Atmospheric pressure plasmas in helium-hydrogen mixtures with H2 molar concentrations ranging from 0.13% to 19.7% were investigated at times from 1 to 25 μs after formation by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Spatially integrated electron density values are obtained using time resolved optical emission spectroscopic techniques. Depending on mixture concentration and delay time, electron densities vary from almost 1017 cm-3 to about 1014 cm-3. Helium based results agree reasonably well with each other, as do values extracted from the Hα and Hβ emission lines. However, in particular for delays up to about 7 μs and in mixtures with less than 1% hydrogen, large discrepancies are observed between results obtained from the two species. Differences decrease with increasing hydrogen partial pressure and/or increasing delay time. In mixtures with molecular hydrogen fraction of 7% or more, all methods yield electron densities that are in good agreement. These findings seemingly contradict the well-established idea that addition of small amounts of hydrogen for diagnostic purposes does not perturb the plasma. Using Abel inversion analysis of the experimental data and a semi-empirical numerical model, we demonstrate that the major part of the detected discrepancies can be traced to differences in the spatial distributions of excited helium and hydrogen neutrals. The model yields spatially resolved emission intensities and electron density profiles that are in qualitative agreement with experiment. For the test case of a 1% H2 mixture at 5 μs delay, our model suggests that high electron temperatures cause an elevated degree of ionization and thus a reduction of excited hydrogen concentration relative to that of helium near the plasma center. As a result, spatially integrated analysis of hydrogen emission lines leads to oversampling of the plasma perimeter and thus to lower electron density values compared to those obtained from helium lines.

A Study on Decontamination Process Using Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yong Soo; Jeon, Sang Hwan; Jin, Dong Sik; Park, Dong Min

2010-05-01

Radioactive decontamination process using atmospheric pressure plasma which can be operated parallel with low vacuum cold plasma processing is studied. Two types of cold plasma torches were designed and manufactured. One of them is the cylindrical type applicable to the treatment of three-dimensional surfaces. The other is the rectangular type for the treatment of flat and large surface areas. Ar palsam was unstable but using He as a carrier gas, discharge condition was improved. Besides filtering module using pre, medium, charcoal, and HEPA filter was designed and manufactured. More intensive study for developing filtering system will be followed. Atmospheric pressure plasma decontamination process can be used to the equipment and facility wall decontamination

Theory and discretization of ideal magnetohydrodynamic equilibria with fractal pressure profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Kraus, B. F.; Hudson, S. R.

2017-09-01

In three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamics, closed flux surfaces cannot maintain both rational rotational-transform and pressure gradients, as these features together produce unphysical, infinite currents. A proposed set of equilibria nullifies these currents by flattening the pressure on sufficiently wide intervals around each rational surface. Such rational surfaces exist at every scale, which characterizes the pressure profile as self-similar and thus fractal. The pressure profile is approximated numerically by considering a finite number of rational regions and analyzed mathematically by classifying the irrational numbers that support gradients into subsets. Applying these results to a given rotational-transform profile in cylindrical geometry, we find magnetic field and current density profiles compatible with the fractal pressure.

Full Tokamak discharge simulation and kinetic plasma profile control for ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hee Kim, S.

2009-10-01

Understanding non-linearly coupled physics between plasma transport and free-boundary equilibrium evolution is essential to operating future tokamak devices, such as ITER and DEMO, in the advanced tokamak operation regimes. To study the non-linearly coupled physics, we need a simulation tool which can self-consistently calculate all the main plasma physics, taking the operational constraints into account. As the main part of this thesis work, we have developed a full tokamak discharge simulator by combining a non-linear free-boundary plasma equilibrium evolution code, DINA-CH, and an advanced transport modelling code, CRONOS. This tokamak discharge simulator has been used to study the feasibility of ITER operation scenarios and several specific issues related to ITER operation. In parallel, DINA-CH has been used to study free-boundary physics questions, such as the magnetic triggering of edge localized modes (ELMs) and plasma dynamic response to disturbances. One of the very challenging tasks in ITER, the active control of kinetic plasma profiles, has also been studied. In the part devoted to free-boundary tokamak discharge simulations, we have studied dynamic responses of the free-boundary plasma equilibrium to either external voltage perturbations or internal plasma disturbances using DINA-CH. Firstly, the opposite plasma behaviour observed in the magnetic triggering of ELMs between TCV and ASDEX Upgrade has been investigated. Both plasmas experience similar local flux surface expansions near the upper G-coil set and passive stabilization loop (PSL) when the ELMs are triggered, due to the presence of the PSLs located inside the vacuum vessel of ASDEX Upgrade. Secondly, plasma dynamic responses to strong disturbances anticipated in ITER are examined to study the capability of the feedback control system in rejecting the disturbances. Specified uncontrolled ELMs were controllable with the feedback control systems. However, the specifications for fast H-L mode

The stabilizing effect of core pressure on the edge pedestal in MAST plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, I.T.; Simpson, J.; Saarelma, S.; Kirk, A.; O'Gorman, T.; Scannell, R.

2015-01-01

The pedestal pressure measured in Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak plasmas has been shown to increase as the global plasma pressure increases. By deliberately suppressing the transition into the high-confinement regime, the core plasma pressure was systematically altered at the time of the first edge localized mode. Stability analysis shows that the enhanced Shafranov shift at higher core pressure stabilizes the ballooning modes driven by the pedestal pressure gradient, consequently allowing the pedestal to reach higher pressures. (paper)

Control of plasma profile in microwave discharges via inverse-problem approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasuyoshi Yasaka

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In the manufacturing process of semiconductors, plasma processing is an essential technology, and the plasma used in the process is required to be of high density, low temperature, large diameter, and high uniformity. This research focuses on the microwave-excited plasma that meets these needs, and the research target is a spatial profile control. Two novel techniques are introduced to control the uniformity; one is a segmented slot antenna that can change radial distribution of the radiated field during operation, and the other is a hyper simulator that can predict microwave power distribution necessary for a desired radial density profile. The control system including these techniques provides a method of controlling radial profiles of the microwave plasma via inverse-problem approach, and is investigated numerically and experimentally.

Diagnostics of plasma-biological surface interactions in low pressure and atmospheric pressure plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Kenji; Hori, Masaru

2014-01-01

Mechanisms of plasma-surface interaction are required to understand in order to control the reactions precisely. Recent progress in atmospheric pressure plasma provides to apply as a tool of sterilization of contaminated foodstuffs. To use the plasma with safety and optimization, the real time in situ detection of free radicals - in particular dangling bonds by using the electron-spin-resonance (ESR) technique has been developed because the free radical plays important roles for dominantly biological reactions. First, the kinetic analysis of free radicals on biological specimens such as fungal spores of Penicillium digitatum interacted with atomic oxygen generated plasma electric discharge. We have obtained information that the in situ real time ESR signal from the spores was observed and assignable to semiquinone radical with a g-value of around 2.004 and a line width of approximately 5G. The decay of the signal was correlated with a link to the inactivation of the fungal spore. Second, we have studied to detect chemical modification of edible meat after the irradiation. Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF-MS) and ESR, signals give qualification results for chemical changes on edible liver meat. The in situ real-time measurements have proven to be a useful method to elucidate plasma-induced surface reactions on biological specimens. (author)

The influence of Stark shift and plasma inhomogeneity on half width of self-absorbed line profiles in the plasma emission spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catsalap, K.Yu.; Ershov-Pavlov, E.A.

2005-01-01

Emission spectral line profiles are commonly used for the evaluation of local plasma parameters. The plasma parameters and local line profiles are related in a rather simple way: e.g. at quadratic Stark broadening, the local line half widths and shifts are proportional to the electron density. For homogeneous optically thin plasmas, there is no difference in the line profiles of plasma emission and emissivity spectra. However for inhomogeneous source, the profiles are different due to spatial dependence of electron density and plasma temperature: profiles in the plasma emission are a superposition of different local ones. A transition from the recorded to local profiles is usually performed by tomography techniques. As the result, the measurement procedure is getting slower and additional errors occurs. For transparent plasmas, an approach was developed to evaluate local profiles from as recorded spectra using relations found by modeling. However, for semi-transparent plasmas the relation between the recorded and local profiles is more complicated one. With the optical thickness t increase, profile half width Δλ in the plasma emission spectrum changes much comparing to the profile half width Δλ 0 in the spectrum of optically thin plasma. The ratio t h =Δλ/Δλ 0 on τ for dispersion profile and homogeneous plasma can be written as t h =(-1-τ/ln((1+e -τ )/2)) 1/2 . When Δλ and τ are known, the function allows obtaining Δλ 0 , i. e. reducing the problem to the transparent plasma diagnostics. However, the plasma is nearly always inhomogeneous and the value t depends significantly on plasma inhomogeneity and on Stark parameters ratio d/w. Here, the dependence t(τ) for plasmas of different inhomogeneity rates has been obtained by the numerical simulation. The radiation transfer equation has been solved to calculate the spectral line profiles for LTE-plasma of known composition and distribution of temperature along the observation line. The temperature

Light pressure of time-dependent fields in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeidler, A.; Schnabl, H.; Mulser, P.

1985-01-01

An expression of the light pressure Pi is derived for the case of a nearly monochromatic electromagnetic wave with arbitrarily time-dependent amplitude. Thereby Pi is defined as the time-averaged force density exerted on a plasma by the wave. The resulting equations are valid for both transverse and longitudinal waves. The light pressure turns out to consist of two components: the well-known gradient-type term and a new nonstationary solenoidal term. This is true for warm as well as cold plasmas. The importance of the new term for the generation of static magnetic fields is shown, and a model in which shear forces may result is given. Formulas for the nonstationary light pressure developed previously are discussed

Non-equilibrium plasma chemistry at high pressure and its applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai Xiyao; Zhang Zhitao; Bai Mindong; Zhu Qiaoying

2000-01-01

A review is presented of research and development of gas discharge and non-equilibrium plasma including, new ideas of non-equilibrium plasma at high gas pressure. With special technology, strong electric fields (>400 Td) can be achieved by which electrons are accelerated suddenly, becoming high energy electrons (> 10 eV) at high pressure. On impact with the electrons, the gas molecules dissociate into ions, atomic ions, atoms and free radicals, and new substances or molecules can be synthesized through custom design. Chemical reaction difficult to achieve by conventional method can be realized or accelerated. Non-equilibrium plasma chemistry at high pressure has wide application prospects

Studies on limiter confined toroidal plasma in BETA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bera, D.; Reddy, C.; Jayakumar, R.; Kaw, P.K.

1984-01-01

Plasma equilibrium and stability in the presence of a toroidal magnetic field and a poloidal limiter is being studied experimentally in the BETA experiment. In a simple toroidal magnetic field, plasma cannot be in equilibrium because of the effect of the magnetic field curvature, which tends to expand the plasma. The electric field, which causes this expansion, is short circuited if a poloidal conducting limiter is placed and this brings about a quasi-equilibrium. In the model the charge separation current flows on the surface of the plasma and closes the path by flowing parallel to the magnetic field away from the limiter and transverse to the field at the limiter. For such an equilibrium, the vertical pressure profile is expected to be uniform, while the radial pressure profile is determined by transport. Such a profile is unstable to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, if the magnetic field gradient and the pressure gradient have the same sense

Development of dispersion interferometer for magnetic confinement plasmas and high-pressure plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Akiyama, T.; Yasuhara, R.; Kawahata, K.; Nakayama, K.; Okajima, S.; Urabe, K.; Terashima, K.; Shirai, N.

2015-09-01

A CO2 laser dispersion interferometer (DI) has been developed for both magnetically fusion plasmas and high pressure industrial plasmas. The DI measures the phase shift caused by dispersion in a medium. Therefore, it is insensitive to the mechanical vibrations and changes in the neutral gas density, which degrade the resolution of the electron density measurement. We installed the DI on the Large Helical Device (LHD) and demonstrated a high density resolution of 2× 1017 m-3 without any vibration-free bench. The measured electron density with the DI shows good agreement with results of the existing far infrared laser (a wavelength of 119 μ m) interferometer. The DI system is also applied to the electron density measurement of high-pressure small-scale plasmas. The significant suppression of the phase shift caused by the neutral gas is proven. The achieved density resolution was 1.5× 1019 m-3 with a response time of 100 μ s. A shorter version of this contribution is due to be published in PoS at: 1st EPS conference on Plasma Diagnostics

Intracellular effects of atmospheric-pressure plasmas on melanoma cancer cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishaq, M., E-mail: ishaqmusarat@gmail.com [Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, VIC 3002 (Australia); Comonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Sydney, New South Wales (Australia); Bazaka, K. [Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000 (Australia); Ostrikov, K. [Comonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Sydney, New South Wales (Australia); Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000 (Australia)

2015-12-15

Gas discharge plasmas formed at atmospheric pressure and near room temperature have recently been shown as a promising tool for cancer treatment. The mechanism of the plasma action is attributed to generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, electric fields, charges, and photons. The relative importance of different modes of action of atmospheric-pressure plasmas depends on the process parameters and specific treatment objects. Hence, an in-depth understanding of biological mechanisms that underpin plasma-induced death in cancer cells is required to optimise plasma processing conditions. Here, the intracellular factors involved in the observed anti-cancer activity in melanoma Mel007 cells are studied, focusing on the effect of the plasma treatment dose on the expression of tumour suppressor protein TP73. Over-expression of TP73 causes cell growth arrest and/or apoptosis, and hence can potentially be targeted to enhance killing efficacy and selectivity of the plasma treatment. It is shown that the plasma treatment induces dose-dependent up-regulation of TP73 gene expression, resulting in significantly elevated levels of TP73 RNA and protein in plasma-treated melanoma cells. Silencing of TP73 expression by means of RNA interference inhibited the anticancer effects of the plasma, similar to the effect of caspase inhibitor z-VAD or ROS scavenger N-acetyl cysteine. These results confirm the role of TP73 protein in dose-dependent regulation of anticancer activity of atmospheric-pressure plasmas.

Plasma acceleration by means of microwave radiation pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukumura, Takashi; Takamoto, Teruo

1977-01-01

In the electric discharge of gas with microwaves, intense reflection waves occur simultaneously with the discharge, so the plasma ionized and formed by the microwaves is accelerated due to large radiation pressure. The basic experiment made, aiming at plasma gun, is described. In the gas electric discharge, the plasma flow velocity proportional to the reflected power is obtained. For 550 W microwave input power, the plasma velocity of 1 x 10 4 m/s was obtained. The accelerated plasma is bunched; its front as mass travels, recombines and disappears. (Mori, K.)

Very low pressure plasma sprayed yttria-stabilized zirconia coating using a low-energy plasma gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Lin; Zhang, Nannan; Bolot, Rodolphe; Planche, Marie-Pierre; Liao, Hanlin; Coddet, Christian

2011-01-01

In the present study, a more economical low-energy plasma source was used to perform a very low pressure plasma-spray (VLPPS) process. The plasma-jet properties were analyzed by means of optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Moreover, yttria-stabilized zirconia coating (YSZ) was elaborated by a F100 low-power plasma gun under working pressure of 1 mbar, and the substrate specimens were partially shadowed by a baffle-plate during plasma spraying for obtaining different coating microstructures. Based on the SEM observation, a column-like grain coating was deposited by pure vapor deposition at the shadowed region, whereas, in the unshadowed region, the coating exhibited a binary microstructure which was formed by a mixed deposition of melted particles and evaporated particles. The mechanical properties of the coating were also well under investigation. (orig.)

Characterization of DC argon plasma jet at atmospheric pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Jianhua; Ma Zengyi; Pan Xinchao; Cen Kefa; Bruno, C

2006-01-01

An original DC double anode plasma torch operating with argon at atmospheric pressure which provides a long time and highly stable plasma jet is analyzed through its electrical and optical signals. Effects of gas flow rate and current intensity on the arc dynamics behaviour are studied using standard diagnostic tools such as FFT and correlation function. An increasing current-voltage characteristic is reported for different argon flow rates. It is noted that the takeover mode is characteristic for argon plasma jet and arc fluctuations in our case are mainly induced by the undulation of torch power supply. Furthermore, the excitation temperatures and electron densities of the plasma jet inside and outside the arc chamber have been determined by means of optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The criteria for the existence of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) in plasma is then discussed. The results show that argon plasma jet at atmospheric pressure under our experimental conditions is close to LTE. (authors)

Ambulatory blood pressure profiles in familial dysautonomia.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Lior; Bar-Aluma, Bat-El; Krauthammer, Alex; Efrati, Ori; Sharabi, Yehonatan

2018-02-12

Familial dysautonomia (FD) is a rare genetic disease that involves extreme blood pressure fluctuations secondary to afferent baroreflex failure. The diurnal blood pressure profile, including the average, variability, and day-night difference, may have implications for long-term end organ damage. The purpose of this study was to describe the circadian pattern of blood pressure in the FD population and relationships with renal and pulmonary function, use of medications, and overall disability. We analyzed 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring recordings in 22 patients with FD. Information about medications, disease severity, renal function (estimated glomerular filtration, eGFR), pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s, FEV1) and an index of blood pressure variability (standard deviation of systolic pressure) were analyzed. The mean (± SEM) 24-h blood pressure was 115 ± 5.6/72 ± 2.0 mmHg. The diurnal blood pressure variability was high (daytime systolic pressure standard deviation 22.4 ± 1.5 mmHg, nighttime 17.2 ± 1.6), with a high frequency of a non-dipping pattern (16 patients, 73%). eGFR, use of medications, FEV1, and disability scores were unrelated to the degree of blood pressure variability or to dipping status. This FD cohort had normal average 24-h blood pressure, fluctuating blood pressure, and a high frequency of non-dippers. Although there was evidence of renal dysfunction based on eGFR and proteinuria, the ABPM profile was unrelated to the measures of end organ dysfunction or to reported disability.

Characterization of laser-produced plasma density profiles using grid image refractometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craxton, R.S.; Turner, F.S.; Hoefen, R.; Darrow, C.; Gabl, E.F.; Busch, G.E.

1993-01-01

Grid image refractometry (GIR) is proposed as a technique for determining the two-dimensional density profiles of long scale-length laser-produced plasmas. Its distinctive feature is that an optical probe beam is broken up into ''rays'' by being passed through a grid before traversing the plasma. The refraction angles of the rays are measured by imaging the plasma at two or more object planes and are integrated to yield the phase front. For cylindrically symmetric plasmas the density profile is then determined using Abel inversion. The feasibility of GIR is illustrated by an experiment in which a thick CH target was irradiated with ∼100 J of 527 nm radiation and diagnosed with a 20 ps, 263 nm probe. The resulting density profile is substantially larger than any that have previously been reported using interferometry and compares quite closely with hydrodynamic simulations

Particle melting and particle/plasma interactions in DC and RF plasmas: a modeling study. (Volumes I and II)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, D.Y.C.

1987-01-01

Integral process models were developed to predict particle melting in both DC and RF plasmas. Specifically, a numerical model has been developed to predict the temperature history of particles injected in a low pressure DC plasma jet. The temperature and velocity fields of the plasma jet are predicted as a free jet by solving the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations using a spatial marching scheme. Correction factors were introduced to take into account non continuum effects encountered in the low pressure environment. The plasma jet profiles as well as the particle/plasma interactions under different jet pressure ratios (from underexpanded to overexpanded) were investigated. The flow and temperature fields in the RF plasma torch are calculated using the axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations based on the primitive variables, along with pseudo two-dimensional electromagnetic field equations. Particle trajectories and heat transfer characteristics in both DC and RF plasmas are calculated using predicted plasma jet profiles. Particle melting efficiencies in both DC and RF plasmas are evaluated and compared using model alloy systems. Based on the theoretical considerations, an alternative route of plasma spraying process (hybrid plasma spraying process) is proposed. An evaluation of particle melting in hybrid plasma jets had indicated that further improvement in deposit properties could be made

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Induced Sterilization and Chemical Neutralization

Science.gov (United States)

Garate, Eusebio; Evans, Kirk; Gornostaeva, Olga; Alexeff, Igor; Lock Kang, Weng; Wood, Thomas K.

1998-11-01

We are studying chemical neutralization and surface decontamination using atmospheric pressure plasma discharges. The plasma is produced by corona discharge from an array of pins and a ground plane. The array is constructed so that various gases, like argon or helium, can be flowed past the pins where the discharge is initiated. The pin array can be biased using either DC, AC or pulsed discharges. Results indicate that the atmospheric plasma is effective in sterilizing surfaces with biological contaminants like E-coli and bacillus subtilus cells. Exposure times of less than four minutes in an air plasma result in a decrease in live colony counts by six orders of magnitude. Greater exposure times result in a decrease of live colony counts of up to ten orders of magnitude. The atmospheric pressure discharge is also effective in decomposing organic phosphate compounds that are simulants for chemical warfare agents. Details of the decomposition chemistry, by-product formation, and electrical energy consumption of the system will be discussed.

Magnetohydrodynamic equilibria and local stability of axisymmetric tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Y.K.M.; Dory, R.A.; Nelson, D.B.; Sayer, R.O.

1976-07-01

Axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic equilibria are evaluated in terms of the Mercier Stability Criterion. The parameters of interest include poloidal beta (β/sub p/), current and pressure profile widths, D-shaped and doublet plasmas with elongation (sigma) and triangularity (delta), and the aspect ratio (A). For marginal local stability, the critical values of β, plasma current, and the safety factor q with fixed toroidal field at the geometric center of the plasma are obtained. It is shown that for a wide range of profiles in a D-shaped plasma with A = 3, the highest critical β occurs at β/sub p/ = 2.4, sigma = 1.65, and delta = 0.5. If the toroidal field at the coil surface is fixed, the highest critical pressure occurs near A approximately 3 to 4, given reasonable distance between the coils and the plasma edge. Calculations for a Doublet II-A plasma with sigma = 3 show that with similar pressure profile the highest critical β occurs at β/sub p/ = 1 and is 84 percent of the highest critical β for the D-shaped plasmas. Critical values of ohmic heating power density are also found to be comparable for the two plasma shapes. A D-shaped plasma with the above parameters is suggested for use in future high-β tokamak devices

Simple microwave plasma source at atmospheric pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jeong H.; Hong, Yong C.; Kim, Hyoung S.; Uhm, Han S.

2003-01-01

We have developed a thermal plasma source operating without electrodes. One electrodeless torch is the microwave plasma-torch, which can produce plasmas in large quantities. We can generate plasma at an atmospheric pressure by marking use of the same magnetrons used as commercial microwave ovens. Most of the magnetrons are operated at the frequency of 2.45 GHz; the magnetron power microwave is about 1kW. Electromagnetic waves from the magnetrons propagate through a shorted waveguide. Plasma was generated under a resonant condition, by an auxiliary ignition system. The plasma is stabilized by vortex stabilization. Also, a high-power and high-efficiency microwave plasma-torch has been operated in air by combining two microwave plasma sources with 1kW, 2.45 GHz. They are arranged in series to generate a high-power plasma flame. The second torch adds all its power to the plasma flame of the first torch. Basically, electromagnetic waves in the waveguide were studied by a High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) code and preliminary experiments were conducted

MicroScale - Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sankaran, Mohan [Case Western Reserve University

2012-01-25

Low-temperature plasmas play an essential role in the manufacturing of integrated circuits which are ubiquitous in modern society. In recent years, these top-down approaches to materials processing have reached a physical limit. As a result, alternative approaches to materials processing are being developed that will allow the fabrication of nanoscale materials from the bottom up. The aim of our research is to develop a new class of plasmas, termed “microplasmas” for nanomaterials synthesis. Microplasmas are a special class of plasmas formed in geometries where at least one dimension is less than 1 mm. Plasma confinement leads to several unique properties including high-pressure stability and non-equilibrium that make microplasams suitable for nanomaterials synthesis. Vapor-phase precursors can be dissociated to homogeneously nucleate nanometer-sized metal and alloyed nanoparticles. Alternatively, metal salts dispersed in liquids or polymer films can be electrochemically reduced to form metal nanoparticles. In this talk, I will discuss these topics in detail, highlighting the advantages of microplasma-based systems for the synthesis of well-defined nanomaterials.

Profile control studies for JET optimised shear regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Litaudon, X.; Becoulet, A.; Eriksson, L.G.; Fuchs, V.; Huysmans, G.; How, J.; Moreau, D.; Rochard, F.; Tresset, G.; Zwingmann, W. [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/Cadarache, Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee, DRFC, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Bayetti, P.; Joffrin, E.; Maget, P.; Mayorat, M.L.; Mazon, D.; Sarazin, Y. [JET Abingdon, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Voitsekhovitch, I. [Universite de Provence, LPIIM, Aix-Marseille 1, 13 (France)

2000-03-01

This report summarises the profile control studies, i.e. preparation and analysis of JET Optimised Shear plasmas, carried out during the year 1999 within the framework of the Task-Agreement (RF/CEA/02) between JET and the Association Euratom-CEA/Cadarache. We report on our participation in the preparation of the JET Optimised Shear experiments together with their comprehensive analyses and the modelling. Emphasis is put on the various aspects of pressure profile control (core and edge pressure) together with detailed studies of current profile control by non-inductive means, in the prospects of achieving steady, high performance, Optimised Shear plasmas. (authors)

Equivalent effect of neutral gas pressure and transverse magnetic field in low-pressure glow discharge plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toma, M.; Rusu, Ioana; Pohoata, V.; Mihaila, I.

2001-01-01

In the paper it is emphasized the equivalent effect of the neutral gas pressure and the action of a transverse magnetic field (TMF), respectively, on a striated positive plasma column. Experimental and theoretical results prove that the distance between striations has the same variation under the influence of both neutral gas pressure and the action of TMF. The pressure modification as well as the action of a TMF can induce ionization instability in the plasma column which explains the standing striation appearance. (authors)

Simulation of the Plasma Density Evolution during Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating at the T-10 Tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Dnestrovskij, Yu. N.; Vershkov, V. A.; Danilov, A. V.; Dnestrovskij, A. Yu.; Zenin, V. N.; Lysenko, S. E.; Melnikov, A. V.; Shelukhin, D. A.; Subbotin, G. F.; Cherkasov, S. V.

2018-01-01

In ohmically heated (OH) plasma with low recycling, an improved particle confinement (IPC) mode is established during gas puffing. However, after gas puffing is switched off, this mode is retained only for about 100 ms, after which an abrupt phase transition into the low particle confinement (LPC) mode occurs in the entire plasma cross section. During such a transition, energy transport due to heat conduction does not change. The phase transition in OH plasma is similar to the effect of density pump-out from the plasma core, which occurs after electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is switched on. Analysis of the measured plasma pressure profiles in the T-10 tokamak shows that, after gas puffing in the OH mode is switched off, the plasma pressure profile in the IPC stage becomes more peaked and, after the peakedness exceeds a certain critical value, the IPC-LPC transition occurs. Similar processes are also observed during ECH. If the pressure profile is insufficiently peaked during ECH, then the density pump-out effect comes into play only after the critical peakedness of the pressure profile is reached. In the plasma core, the density and pressure profiles are close to the corresponding canonical profiles. This allows one to derive an expression for the particle flux within the canonical profile model and formulate a criterion for the IPC-LPC transition. The time evolution of the plasma density profile during phase transitions was simulated for a number of T-10 shots with ECH and high recycling. The particle transport coefficients in the IPC and LPC phases, as well as the dependences of these coefficients on the ECH power, are determined.

Stimulation of wound healing by helium atmospheric pressure plasma treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nastuta, Andrei Vasile; Topala, Ionut; Pohoata, Valentin; Popa, Gheorghe; Grigoras, Constantin

2011-01-01

New experiments using atmospheric pressure plasma have found large application in treatment of living cells or tissues, wound healing, cancerous cell apoptosis, blood coagulation on wounds, bone tissue modification, sterilization and decontamination. In this study an atmospheric pressure plasma jet generated using a cylindrical dielectric-barrier discharge was applied for treatment of burned wounds on Wistar rats' skin. The low temperature plasma jet works in helium and is driven by high voltage pulses. Oxygen and nitrogen based impurities are identified in the jet by emission spectroscopy. This paper analyses the natural epithelization of the rats' skin wounds and two methods of assisted epithelization, a classical one using polyurethane wound dressing and a new one using daily atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of wounds. Systemic and local medical data, such as haematological, biochemical and histological parameters, were monitored during entire period of study. Increased oxidative stress was observed for plasma treated wound. This result can be related to the presence in the plasma volume of active species, such as O and OH radicals. Both methods, wound dressing and plasma-assisted epithelization, provided positive medical results related to the recovery process of burned wounds. The dynamics of the skin regeneration process was modified: the epidermis re-epitelization was accelerated, while the recovery of superficial dermis was slowed down.

Causes of plasma column contraction in surface-wave-driven discharges in argon at atmospheric pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Ridenti, Marco Antonio; de Amorim, Jayr; Dal Pino, Arnaldo; Guerra, Vasco; Petrov, George

2018-01-01

In this work we compute the main features of a surface-wave-driven plasma in argon at atmospheric pressure in view of a better understanding of the contraction phenomenon. We include the detailed chemical kinetics dynamics of Ar and solve the mass conservation equations of the relevant neutral excited and charged species. The gas temperature radial profile is calculated by means of the thermal diffusion equation. The electric field radial profile is calculated directly from the numerical solution of the Maxwell equations assuming the surface wave to be propagating in the TM00 mode. The problem is considered to be radially symmetrical, the axial variations are neglected, and the equations are solved in a self-consistent fashion. We probe the model results considering three scenarios: (i) the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) is calculated by means of the Boltzmann equation; (ii) the EEDF is considered to be Maxwellian; (iii) the dissociative recombination is excluded from the chemical kinetics dynamics, but the nonequilibrium EEDF is preserved. From this analysis, the dissociative recombination is shown to be the leading mechanism in the constriction of surface-wave plasmas. The results are compared with mass spectrometry measurements of the radial density profile of the ions Ar+ and Ar2+. An explanation is proposed for the trends seen by Thomson scattering diagnostics that shows a substantial increase of electron temperature towards the plasma borders where the electron density is small.

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with ultra-high electron density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Hiromasa; Mizuno, Masaaki; Toyokuni, Shinya; Maruyama, Shoichi; Kodera, Yasuhiro; Terasaki, Hiroko; Adachi, Tetsuo; Kato, Masashi; Kikkawa, Fumitaka; Hori, Masaru

2015-01-01

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is a big challenge in plasma medicine. Reactive species generated from plasma are key factors for treating cancer cells, and thus, non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with high electron density has been developed and applied for cancer treatment. Various cancer cell lines have been treated with plasma, and non-thermal atmospheric plasma clearly has anti-tumor effects. Recent innovative studies suggest that plasma can both directly and indirectly affect cells and tissues, and this observation has widened the range of applications. Thus, cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is promising. Animal experiments and understanding the mode of action are essential for clinical application in the future. A new academic field that combines plasma science, the biology of free radicals, and systems biology will be established

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with ultra-high electron density

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, Hiromasa [Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan); Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Mizuno, Masaaki [Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Toyokuni, Shinya [Department of Pathology and Biological Responses, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Maruyama, Shoichi [Department of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Kodera, Yasuhiro [Department of Gastroenterological Surgery (Surgery II), Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Terasaki, Hiroko [Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Adachi, Tetsuo [Laboratory of Clinical Pharmaceutics, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 501-1196 Gifu (Japan); Kato, Masashi [Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Kikkawa, Fumitaka [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Hori, Masaru [Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan)

2015-12-15

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is a big challenge in plasma medicine. Reactive species generated from plasma are key factors for treating cancer cells, and thus, non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with high electron density has been developed and applied for cancer treatment. Various cancer cell lines have been treated with plasma, and non-thermal atmospheric plasma clearly has anti-tumor effects. Recent innovative studies suggest that plasma can both directly and indirectly affect cells and tissues, and this observation has widened the range of applications. Thus, cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is promising. Animal experiments and understanding the mode of action are essential for clinical application in the future. A new academic field that combines plasma science, the biology of free radicals, and systems biology will be established.

Development of concentric equipotential surfaces in bumpy torus plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takasugi, Keiichi; Iguchi, Harukazu; Fujiwara, Masami; Ikegami, Hideo

1983-01-01

Radial profiles of the plasma space potential are measured in Nagoya Bumpy Torus (NBT-1) by the use of a heavy ion beam probe. Asymmetric potential profiles owing to toroidal drift are observed in high pressure operation (C-mode). As the pressure is decreased, toroidal plasma is effectively heated (T-mode), poloidal precessional frequency overcomes the electron collision frequency and the equipotential surfaces becomes concentric inside the hot electron ring. (author)

The electronic pressure in dense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pozwolski, A.E.

1982-01-01

A thermodynamic calculation of the electronic pressure in a dense plasma is given. Approximations involved by the use of the Debye length are avoided, so the above theory remains valid even if the Debye length is smaller than the interionic distance. (author)

On non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma jets and plasma bullet

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xinpei

2012-10-01

Because of the enhanced plasma chemistry, atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasmas (APNPs) have been widely studied for several emerging applications such as biomedical applications. For the biomedical applications, plasma jet devices, which generate plasma in open space (surrounding air) rather than in confined discharge gaps only, have lots of advantages over the traditional dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) devices. For example, it can be used for root canal disinfection, which can't be realized by the traditional plasma device. On the other hand, currently, the working gases of most of the plasma jet devices are noble gases or the mixtures of the noble gases with small amount of O2, or air. If ambient air is used as the working gas, several serious difficulties are encountered in the plasma generation process. Amongst these are high gas temperatures and disrupting instabilities. In this presentation, firstly, a brief review of the different cold plasma jets developed to date is presented. Secondly, several different plasma jet devices developed in our lab are reported. The effects of various parameters on the plasma jets are discussed. Finally, one of the most interesting phenomena of APNP-Js, the plasma bullet is discussed and its behavior is described. References: [1] X. Lu, M. Laroussi, V. Puech, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 21, 034005 (2012); [2] Y. Xian, X. Lu, S. Wu, P. Chu, and Y. Pan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 123702 (2012); [3] X. Pei, X. Lu, J. Liu, D. Liu, Y. Yang, K. Ostrikov, P. Chu, and Y. Pan, J. Phys. D 45, 165205 (2012).

Compressor Research Facility F100 High Pressure Compressor Inlet Total Pressure and Swirl Profile Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-10-01

1627 VANE ANGLE- U SCREE 4 S,,, L53 S 6 4 NSW, 153 Figure 139. Total Pressure Profile Figure 140. Total Pressure Profile (Phase III), PSV = 250 (Phase...STATION 2.5 , PT. 1-1574- 1585 VANE ANGLE- 15 PT. 0-IMB 8- 150 VANE ANGLE= 21SCREENS- 4 I 54 SDIENS-4 X L53 Figure 137. Total Pressure Profile Figure 138...A 53: if 1-4;2.A 54: for L-10 to 16;wrt 709,"ASVN5SOIVFIVSIVT3VS"for J-l to 5 *55: r!-’ 709,E[A,L,J);nex~t ,I-r~eXt f! *56: if 1-1;wrt 709," TD )"red

Use of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet for Polymer Surface Modification: An Overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuettner, Lindsey A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-03-16

Atmospheric-pressure plasma jets (APPJs) are playing an increasingly important role in materials processing procedures. Plasma treatment is a useful tool to modify surface properties of materials, especially polymers. Plasma reacts with polymer surfaces in numerous ways thus the type of process gas and plasma conditions must be explored for chosen substrates and materials to maximize desired properties. This report discusses plasma treatments and looks further into atmospheric-pressure plasma jets and the effects of gases and plasma conditions. Following the short literature review, a general overview of the future work and research at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is discussed.

Resistive internal kink modes in a tokamak with high-pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuvshinov, B.N.; Mikhajlovskij, A.B.; Tatarinov, E.G.

1988-01-01

Theory of resistive internal kink modes in a tokamak with high-pressure plasma is developed. Equation for Fourie-image of disturbed displacment in a resistive layer ie derived with regard to effects of the fourth order by plasma pressure within the framework of single-liquid approach. In its structure this equation coincides with a similar equation for resistive balloon modes and has an exact solution expressed by degenerated hypergeometric function. A general dispersion equation for resistive kink modes is derived with regard to the effects indicated. It is shown that plasma pressure finiteness leads to the reduction of reconnection and tyring-mode increments

A study of the pressure profiles near the first pumping aperture in a high pressure photoelectron spectrometer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kahk, J. Matthias; Villar-Garcia, Ignacio J. [Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Grechy, Lorenza; Bruce, Paul J.K.; Vincent, Peter E. [Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Eriksson, Susanna K. [Department of Chemistry-Ångström, Uppsala University, Box 523, 751 20 Uppsala (Sweden); Rensmo, Håkan; Hahlin, Maria [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, 751 20 Uppsala (Sweden); Åhlund, John; Edwards, Mårten O.M. [VG Scienta AB, Box 15120, 750 15 Uppsala (Sweden); Payne, David J., E-mail: d.payne@imperial.ac.uk [Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2015-11-15

Highlights: • We have examined pressure variations in a high pressure photoelectron spectrometer. • Pressure profiles have been simulated using computational fluid dynamics modelling. • The results are useful for determining the optimal sample position for measurements. - Abstract: In a high-pressure photoelectron spectrometer, the sample is positioned close to a differential pumping aperture, behind which the pressure is several orders of magnitude lower than the pressure in the analysis chamber. To find the optimal sample position, where the path length of the photoelectrons through the high pressure region is minimized as far as possible without compromising knowledge of the actual pressure at the sample surface, an understanding of the pressure variations near the sample and the aperture is required. A computational fluid dynamics study has been carried out to examine the pressure profiles, and the results are compared against experimental spectra whose intensities are analyzed using the Beer–Lambert law. The resultant pressure profiles are broadly similar to the one previously derived from a simplistic molecular flow model, but indicate that as the pressure in the analysis chamber is raised, the region over which the pressure drop occurs becomes progressively narrower.

A study of the pressure profiles near the first pumping aperture in a high pressure photoelectron spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahk, J. Matthias; Villar-Garcia, Ignacio J.; Grechy, Lorenza; Bruce, Paul J.K.; Vincent, Peter E.; Eriksson, Susanna K.; Rensmo, Håkan; Hahlin, Maria; Åhlund, John; Edwards, Mårten O.M.; Payne, David J.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We have examined pressure variations in a high pressure photoelectron spectrometer. • Pressure profiles have been simulated using computational fluid dynamics modelling. • The results are useful for determining the optimal sample position for measurements. - Abstract: In a high-pressure photoelectron spectrometer, the sample is positioned close to a differential pumping aperture, behind which the pressure is several orders of magnitude lower than the pressure in the analysis chamber. To find the optimal sample position, where the path length of the photoelectrons through the high pressure region is minimized as far as possible without compromising knowledge of the actual pressure at the sample surface, an understanding of the pressure variations near the sample and the aperture is required. A computational fluid dynamics study has been carried out to examine the pressure profiles, and the results are compared against experimental spectra whose intensities are analyzed using the Beer–Lambert law. The resultant pressure profiles are broadly similar to the one previously derived from a simplistic molecular flow model, but indicate that as the pressure in the analysis chamber is raised, the region over which the pressure drop occurs becomes progressively narrower.

Plasma profile and shape optimization for the advanced tokamak power plant, ARIES-AT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kessel, C.E.; Mau, T.K.; Jardin, S.C.; Najmabadi, F.

2006-01-01

An advanced tokamak plasma configuration is developed based on equilibrium, ideal MHD stability, bootstrap current analysis, vertical stability and control, and poloidal field coil analysis. The plasma boundaries used in the analysis are forced to coincide with the 99% flux surface from the free-boundary equilibrium. Using an accurate bootstrap current model and external current drive profiles from ray tracing calculations in combination with optimized pressure profiles, β N values above 7.0 have been obtained. The minimum current drive requirement is found to lie at a lower β N of 6.0. The external kink mode is stabilized by a tungsten shell located at 0.33 times the minor radius and a feedback system. Plasma shape optimization has led to an elongation of 2.2 and triangularity of 0.9 at the separatrix. Vertical stability could be achieved by a combination of tungsten shells located at 0.33 times the minor radius and feedback control coils located behind the shield. The poloidal field coils were optimized in location and current, providing a maximum coil current of 8.6 MA. These developments have led to a simultaneous reduction in the power plant major radius and toroidal field from those found in a previous study [S.C. Jardin, C.E. Kessel, C.G. Bathke, D.A. Ehst, T.K. Mau, F. Najmabadi, T.W. Petrie, the ARIES Team, Physics basis for a reversed shear tokamak power plant, Fusion Eng. Design 38 (1997) 27

Characterization of a steam plasma jet at atmospheric pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ni Guohua; Zhao Peng; Cheng Cheng; Song Ye; Meng Yuedong; Toyoda, Hirotaka

2012-01-01

An atmospheric steam plasma jet generated by an original dc water plasma torch is investigated using electrical and spectroscopic techniques. Because it directly uses the water used for cooling electrodes as the plasma-forming gas, the water plasma torch has high thermal efficiency and a compact structure. The operational features of the water plasma torch and the generation of the steam plasma jet are analyzed based on the temporal evolution of voltage, current and steam pressure in the arc chamber. The influence of the output characteristics of the power source, the fluctuation of the arc and current intensity on the unsteadiness of the steam plasma jet is studied. The restrike mode is identified as the fluctuation characteristic of the steam arc, which contributes significantly to the instabilities of the steam plasma jet. In addition, the emission spectroscopic technique is employed to diagnose the steam plasma. The axial distributions of plasma parameters in the steam plasma jet, such as gas temperature, excitation temperature and electron number density, are determined by the diatomic molecule OH fitting method, Boltzmann slope method and H β Stark broadening, respectively. The steam plasma jet at atmospheric pressure is found to be close to the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) state by comparing the measured electron density with the threshold value of electron density for the LTE state. Moreover, based on the assumption of LTE, the axial distributions of reactive species in the steam plasma jet are estimated, which indicates that the steam plasma has high chemical activity.

Semi-analytical model of laser resonance absorption in plasmas with a parabolic density profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pestehe, S J; Mohammadnejad, M

2010-01-01

Analytical expressions for mode conversion and resonance absorption of electromagnetic waves in inhomogeneous, unmagnetized plasmas are required for laboratory and simulation studies. Although most of the analyses of this problem have concentrated on the linear plasma density profile, there are a few research works that deal with different plasma density profiles including the parabolic profile. Almost none of them could give clear analytical formulae for the electric and magnetic components of the electromagnetic field propagating through inhomogeneous plasmas. In this paper, we have considered the resonant absorption of laser light near the critical density of plasmas with parabolic electron density profiles followed by a uniform over-dense region and have obtained expressions for the electric and magnetic vectors of laser light propagating through the plasma. An estimation of the fractional absorption of laser energy has also been carried out. It has been shown that, in contrast to the linear density profile, the energy absorption depends explicitly on the value of collision frequency as well as on a new parameter, N, called the over-dense density order.

Atmospheric pressure H20 plasma treatment of polyester cord threads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simor, M.; Krump, H.; Hudec, I.; Rahel, J.; Brablec, A.; Cernak, M.

2004-01-01

Polyester cord threads, which are used as a reinforcing materials of rubber blend, have been treated in atmospheric-pressure H 2 0 plasma in order to enhance their adhesion to rubber. The atmospheric-pressure H 2 0 plasma was generated in an underwater diaphragm discharge. The plasma treatment resulted in approximately 100% improvement in the adhesion. Scanning electron microscopy investigation indicates that not only introduced surface polar groups but also increased surface area of the fibres due to a fibre surface roughening are responsible for the improved adhesive strength (Authors)

Physical Limitations of Empirical Field Models: Force Balance and Plasma Pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorin Zaharia; Cheng, C.Z.

2002-01-01

In this paper, we study whether the magnetic field of the T96 empirical model can be in force balance with an isotropic plasma pressure distribution. Using the field of T96, we obtain values for the pressure P by solving a Poisson-type equation (gradient) 2 P = (gradient) · (J x B) in the equatorial plane, and 1-D profiles on the Sun-Earth axis by integrating (gradient)P = J x B. We work in a flux coordinate system in which the magnetic field is expressed in terms of Euler potentials. Our results lead to the conclusion that the T96 model field cannot be in equilibrium with an isotropic pressure. We also analyze in detail the computation of Birkeland currents using the Vasyliunas relation and the T96 field, which yields unphysical results, again indicating the lack of force balance in the empirical model. The underlying reason for the force imbalance is likely the fact that the derivatives of the least-square fitted model B are not accurate predictions of the actual magnetospheric field derivatives. Finally, we discuss a possible solution to the problem of lack of force balance in empirical field models

Surface modification of polylactic acid films by atmospheric pressure plasma treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Kudryavtseva, V. L.; Zhuravlev, M. V.; Tverdokhlebov, S. I.

2017-09-01

A new approach for the modification of polylactic acid (PLA) materials using atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) is described. PLA films plasma exposure time was 20, 60, 120 s. The surface morphology and wettability of the obtained PLA films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the sitting drop method. The atmospheric pressure plasma increased the roughness and surface energy of PLA film. The wettability of PLA has been improved with the application of an atmospheric plasma surface treatment. It was shown that it is possible to obtain PLA films with various surface relief and tunable wettability. Additionally, we demonstrated that the use of cold atmospheric pressure plasma for surface activation allows for the immobilization of bioactive compounds like hyaluronic acid (HA) on the surface of obtained films. It was shown that composite PLA-HA films have an increased long-term hydrophilicity of the films surface.

Pressure and compressibility of a quantum plasma in a magnetic field

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suttorp, L.G.

1993-01-01

The equilibrium pressure tensor that occurs in the momentum balance equation for a quantum plasma in a magnetic field is shown to be anisotropic. Its relation to the pressure that follows from thermodynamics is elucidated. A general proof of the compressibility rule for a magnetized quantum plasma

The segmented non-uniform dielectric module design for uniformity control of plasma profile in a capacitively coupled plasma chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia, Huanxiong; Xiang, Dong; Yang, Wang; Mou, Peng

2014-01-01

Low-temperature plasma technique is one of the critical techniques in IC manufacturing process, such as etching and thin-film deposition, and the uniformity greatly impacts the process quality, so the design for the plasma uniformity control is very important but difficult. It is hard to finely and flexibly regulate the spatial distribution of the plasma in the chamber via controlling the discharge parameters or modifying the structure in zero-dimensional space, and it just can adjust the overall level of the process factors. In the view of this problem, a segmented non-uniform dielectric module design solution is proposed for the regulation of the plasma profile in a CCP chamber. The solution achieves refined and flexible regulation of the plasma profile in the radial direction via configuring the relative permittivity and the width of each segment. In order to solve this design problem, a novel simulation-based auto-design approach is proposed, which can automatically design the positional sequence with multi independent variables to make the output target profile in the parameterized simulation model approximate the one that users preset. This approach employs an idea of quasi-closed-loop control system, and works in an iterative mode. It starts from initial values of the design variable sequences, and predicts better sequences via the feedback of the profile error between the output target profile and the expected one. It never stops until the profile error is narrowed in the preset tolerance

Study on possibility of plasma current profile determination using an analytical model of tokamak equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moriyama, Shin-ichi; Hiraki, Naoji

1996-01-01

The possibility of determining the current profile of tokamak plasma from the external magnetic measurements alone is investigated using an analytical model of tokamak equilibrium. The model, which is based on an approximate solution of the Grad-Shafranov equation, can set a plasma current profile expressed with four free parameters of the total plasma current, the poloidal beta, the plasma internal inductance and the axial safety factor. The analysis done with this model indicates that, for a D-shaped plasma, the boundary poloidal magnetic field prescribing the external magnetic field distribution is dependent on the axial safety factor in spite of keeping the boundary safety factor and the plasma internal inductance constant. This suggests that the plasma current profile is reversely determined from the external magnetic analysis. The possibility and the limitation of current profile determination are discussed through this analytical result. (author)

Magnetic evaluation of hydrogen pressures changes on MHD fluctuations in IR-T1 tokamak plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Alipour, Ramin; Ghanbari, Mohamad R.

2018-04-01

Identification of tokamak plasma parameters and investigation on the effects of each parameter on the plasma characteristics is important for the better understanding of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activities in the tokamak plasma. The effect of different hydrogen pressures of 1.9, 2.5 and 2.9 Torr on MHD fluctuations of the IR-T1 tokamak plasma was investigated by using of 12 Mirnov coils, singular value decomposition and wavelet analysis. The parameters such as plasma current, loop voltage, power spectrum density, energy percent of poloidal modes, dominant spatial structures and temporal structures of poloidal modes at different plasma pressures are plotted. The results indicate that the MHD activities at the pressure of 2.5 Torr are less than them at other pressures. It also has been shown that in the stable area of plasma and at the pressure of 2.5 Torr, the magnetic force and the force of plasma pressure are in balance with each other and the MHD activities are at their lowest level.

Design and experiment of high-current low-pressure plasma-cathode e-gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Wenkai; Li Xiaoyun; Wang Bin; Meng Lin; Yan Yang; Gao Xinyan

2006-01-01

The preliminary design of a new high-power low pressure plasma-cathode e-gun is presented. Based on the hollow cathode effect and low-pressure glow discharge empirical formulas, the hollow cathode, the accelerating gap, and the working gas pressure region are given. The general experimental device of the low-pressure plasma cathode electron-gun generating high current density e-beam source is shown. Experiments has been done in continuous filled-in gases and gases-puff condition, and the discharging current of 150-200 A, the width of 60 μs and the collector current of 30-80 A, the width of 60 μs are obtained. The results show that the new plasma cathode e-gun can take the place of material cathode e-gun, especially in plasma filled microwave tubes. (authors)

New applications of Equinox code for real-time plasma equilibrium and profile reconstruction for tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bosak, K.; Blum, J.; Joffrin, E.

2004-01-01

Recent development of real-time equilibrium code Equinox using a fixed-point algorithm allow major plasma magnetic parameters to be identified in real-time, using rigorous analytical method. The code relies on the boundary flux code providing magnetic flux values on the first wall of vacuum vessel. By means of least-square minimization of differences between magnetic field obtained from previous solution and the next measurements the code identifies the source term of the non-linear Grad-Shafranov equation. The strict use of analytical equations together with a flexible algorithm offers an opportunity to include new measurements into stable magnetic equilibrium code and compare the results directly between several tokamaks while maintaining the same physical model (i.e. no iron model is necessary inside the equilibrium code). The successful implementation of this equilibrium code for JET and Tore Supra has already been published. In this paper, we show the preliminary results of predictive runs of the Equinox code using the ITER geometry. Because the real-time control experiments of plasma profile at JET using the code has been shown unstable when using magnetic and polarimetric measurements (that could be indirectly translated into accuracy vs robustness tradeoff), we plan an outline of the algorithm that will allow us to further constrain the plasma current profile using the central value of pressure of the plasma in real-time in order to better define the poloidal beta (this constraint is not necessary with purely magnetic equilibrium). (authors)

New applications of Equinox code for real-time plasma equilibrium and profile reconstruction for tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bosak, K.; Blum, J. [Universite de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, Lab. J. A. Dieudonne, 06 - Nice (France); Joffrin, E. [Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France). Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee

2004-07-01

Recent development of real-time equilibrium code Equinox using a fixed-point algorithm allow major plasma magnetic parameters to be identified in real-time, using rigorous analytical method. The code relies on the boundary flux code providing magnetic flux values on the first wall of vacuum vessel. By means of least-square minimization of differences between magnetic field obtained from previous solution and the next measurements the code identifies the source term of the non-linear Grad-Shafranov equation. The strict use of analytical equations together with a flexible algorithm offers an opportunity to include new measurements into stable magnetic equilibrium code and compare the results directly between several tokamaks while maintaining the same physical model (i.e. no iron model is necessary inside the equilibrium code). The successful implementation of this equilibrium code for JET and Tore Supra has already been published. In this paper, we show the preliminary results of predictive runs of the Equinox code using the ITER geometry. Because the real-time control experiments of plasma profile at JET using the code has been shown unstable when using magnetic and polarimetric measurements (that could be indirectly translated into accuracy vs robustness tradeoff), we plan an outline of the algorithm that will allow us to further constrain the plasma current profile using the central value of pressure of the plasma in real-time in order to better define the poloidal beta (this constraint is not necessary with purely magnetic equilibrium). (authors)

Collisional and radiative processes in high-pressure discharge plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Kurt H.; Kurunczi, Peter F.; Schoenbach, Karl H.

2002-05-01

Discharge plasmas at high pressures (up to and exceeding atmospheric pressure), where single collision conditions no longer prevail, provide a fertile environment for the experimental study of collisions and radiative processes dominated by (i) step-wise processes, i.e., the excitation of an already excited atomic/molecular state and by (ii) three-body collisions leading, for instance, to the formation of excimers. The dominance of collisional and radiative processes beyond binary collisions involving ground-state atoms and molecules in such environments allows for many interesting applications of high-pressure plasmas such as high power lasers, opening switches, novel plasma processing applications and sputtering, absorbers and reflectors for electromagnetic waves, remediation of pollutants and waste streams, and excimer lamps and other noncoherent vacuum-ultraviolet light sources. Here recent progress is summarized in the use of hollow cathode discharge devices with hole dimensions in the range 0.1-0.5 mm for the generation of vacuum-ultraviolet light.

Surface chemical changes of atmospheric pressure plasma treated rabbit fibres important for felting process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Štěpánová, Vlasta, E-mail: vstepanova@mail.muni.cz [Department of Physical Electronics, Faculty of Science Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno (Czech Republic); Slavíček, Pavel; Stupavská, Monika; Jurmanová, Jana [Department of Physical Electronics, Faculty of Science Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno (Czech Republic); Černák, Mirko [Department of Physical Electronics, Faculty of Science Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno (Czech Republic); Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina F2, 842 48 Bratislava (Slovakia)

2015-11-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Rabbit fibres plasma treatment is an effective method for fibres modification. • Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment is able to affect fibres properties. • Surface changes on fibres after plasma treatment were analysed via SEM, ATR-FTIR, XPS. • Significant increase of fibres wettability after plasma treatment was observed. • Plasma treatment at atmospheric pressure can replace the chemical treatment of fibres. - Abstract: We introduce the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment as a suitable procedure for in-line industrial application of rabbit fibres pre-treatment. Changes of rabbit fibre properties due to the plasma treatment were studied in order to develop new technology of plasma-based treatment before felting. Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge (DCSBD) in ambient air at atmospheric pressure was used for plasma treatment. Scanning electron microscopy was used for determination of the fibres morphology before and after plasma treatment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used for evaluation of reactive groups. The concentration of carbon decreased and conversely the concentration of nitrogen and oxygen increased after plasma treatment. Aging effect of plasma treated fibres was also investigated. Using Washburn method the significant increase of fibres wettability was observed after plasma treatment. New approach of pre-treatment of fibres before felting using plasma was developed. Plasma treatment of fibres at atmospheric pressure can replace the chemical method which consists of application of strong acids on fibres.

Characterization of Electron Temperature and Density Profiles of Plasmas Produced by Nike KrF Laser for Laser Plasma Instability (LPI) Research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Phillips, L.; Obenschain, S. P.; Schmitt, A. J.; Kehne, D. M.; Chan, L.-Y.; Serlin, V.

2011-10-01

Previous experiments with Nike KrF laser (λ = 248 nm , Δν ~ 1 THz) observed LPI signatures near quarter critical density (nc / 4) in CH plasmas, however, detailed measurement of the temperature (Te) and density (ne) profiles was missing. The current Nike LPI campaign will perform experimental determination of the plasma profiles. A side-on grid imaging refractometer (GIR) is the main diagnostic to resolve Te and ne in space taking 2D snapshots of probe laser (λ = 266 nm , Δt = 8 psec) beamlets (50 μm spacing) refracted by the plasma at laser peak time. Ray tracing of the beamlets through hydrodynamically simulated (FASTRAD3D) plasma profiles estimates the refractometer may access densities up to ~ 0 . 2nc . With the measured Te and ne profiles in the plasma corona, we will discuss analysis of light data radiated from the plasmas in spectral ranges relevant to two plasmon decay and convective Raman instabilities. Validity of the (Te ,ne) data will also be discussed for the thermal transport study. Work supported by DoE/NNSA and ONR and performed at NRL.

A dc non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma microjet

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, WeiDong; Lopez, Jose L.

2012-06-01

A direct current (dc), non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure plasma microjet is generated with helium/oxygen gas mixture as working gas. The electrical property is characterized as a function of the oxygen concentration and show distinctive regions of operation. Side-on images of the jet were taken to analyze the mode of operation as well as the jet length. A self-pulsed mode is observed before the transition of the discharge to normal glow mode. Optical emission spectroscopy is employed from both end-on and side-on along the jet to analyze the reactive species generated in the plasma. Line emissions from atomic oxygen (at 777.4 nm) and helium (at 706.5 nm) were studied with respect to the oxygen volume percentage in the working gas, flow rate and discharge current. Optical emission intensities of Cu and OH are found to depend heavily on the oxygen concentration in the working gas. Ozone concentration measured in a semi-confined zone in front of the plasma jet is found to be from tens to ˜120 ppm. The results presented here demonstrate potential pathways for the adjustment and tuning of various plasma parameters such as reactive species selectivity and quantities or even ultraviolet emission intensities manipulation in an atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma source. The possibilities of fine tuning these plasma species allows for enhanced applications in health and medical related areas.

A dc non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma microjet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Weidong; Lopez, Jose L

2012-01-01

A direct current (dc), non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure plasma microjet is generated with helium/oxygen gas mixture as working gas. The electrical property is characterized as a function of the oxygen concentration and show distinctive regions of operation. Side-on images of the jet were taken to analyze the mode of operation as well as the jet length. A self-pulsed mode is observed before the transition of the discharge to normal glow mode. Optical emission spectroscopy is employed from both end-on and side-on along the jet to analyze the reactive species generated in the plasma. Line emissions from atomic oxygen (at 777.4 nm) and helium (at 706.5 nm) were studied with respect to the oxygen volume percentage in the working gas, flow rate and discharge current. Optical emission intensities of Cu and OH are found to depend heavily on the oxygen concentration in the working gas. Ozone concentration measured in a semi-confined zone in front of the plasma jet is found to be from tens to ∼120 ppm. The results presented here demonstrate potential pathways for the adjustment and tuning of various plasma parameters such as reactive species selectivity and quantities or even ultraviolet emission intensities manipulation in an atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma source. The possibilities of fine tuning these plasma species allows for enhanced applications in health and medical related areas. (paper)

Atmospheric-pressure-plasma-enhanced fabrication of nonfouling nanocoatings for 316 stainless steel biomaterial interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chun; Lin, Jin-He; Li, Chi-Heng; Yu, I.-Chun; Chen, Ting-Lun

2018-03-01

Atmospheric-pressure plasma, which was generated with electrical RF power, was fed to a tetramethyldisiloxane/argon gas mixture to prepare bioinert organosilicon coatings for 316 stainless steel. The surface characteristics of atmospheric-pressure-plasma-deposited nanocoatings were evaluated as a function of RF plasma power, precursor gas flow, and plasma working distance. After surface deposition, the chemical features, elemental compositions, and surface morphologies of the organosilicon nanocoatings were examined. It was found that RF plasma power and plasma working distance are the essential factors that affect the formation of plasma-deposited nanocoatings. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra indicate that the atmospheric-pressure-plasma-deposited nanocoatings formed showed inorganic features. Atomic force microscopy analysis showed the surface roughness variation of the plasma-deposited nanocoating at different RF plasma powers and plasma working distances during surface treatment. From these surface analyses, it was found that the plasma-deposited organosilicon nanocoatings under specific operational conditions have relatively hydrophobic and inorganic characteristics, which are essential for producing an anti-biofouling interface on 316 stainless steel. The experimental results also show that atmospheric-pressure-plasma-deposited nanocoatings have potential use as a cell-resistant layer on 316 stainless steel.

Application of atmospheric pressure plasma on polyethylene for increased prosthesis adhesion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Vrekhem, S., E-mail: stijn.vanvrekhem@ugent.be [Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41 B4, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Cools, P. [Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41 B4, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Declercq, H. [Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41 B4, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Tissue Engineering Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185 6B3, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Van Tongel, A. [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185 13K12, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Vercruysse, C.; Cornelissen, M. [Tissue Engineering Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185 6B3, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); De Geyter, N.; Morent, R. [Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41 B4, 9000 Ghent (Belgium)

2015-12-01

Biopolymers are often subjected to surface modification in order to improve their surface characteristics. The goal of this study is to show the use of plasma technology to enhance the adhesion of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) shoulder prostheses. Two different plasma techniques (low pressure plasma activation and atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization) are performed on UHMWPE to increase the adhesion between (1) the polymer and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement and (2) the polymer and osteoblast cells. Both techniques are performed using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). A previous paper showed that low pressure plasma activation of UHMWPE results in the incorporation of oxygen-containing functional groups, which leads to an increased surface wettability. Atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA) on UHMWPE results in a PMMA-like coating, which could be deposited with a high degree of control of chemical composition and layer thickness. The thin film also proved to be relatively stable upon incubation in a phosphate buffer solution (PBS). This paper discusses the next stage of the study, which includes testing the adhesion of the plasma-activated and plasma-polymerized samples to bone cement through pull-out tests and testing the cell adhesion and proliferation on the samples. In order to perform the pull-out tests, all samples were cut to standard dimensions and fixed in bone cement in a reproducible way with a sample holder specially designed for this purpose. The cell adhesion and proliferation were tested by means of an MTS assay and live/dead staining after culturing MC3T3 osteoblast cells on UHMWPE samples. The results show that both plasma activation and plasma polymerization significantly improve the adhesion to bone cement and enhance cell adhesion and proliferation. In conclusion, it can be stated that the use of plasma technology can lead to an implant with improved quality and a subsequent

Selection of suitable diagnostic techniques for an RF atmospheric pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kong, M.G.; Deng, X.T.

2001-01-01

As an early report of our study, this paper summaries the RF atmospheric pressure plasma system we intend to characterize and a number of diagnostic techniques presently under assessment for our plasma rig. By discussing the advantages and disadvantages of these diagnostic techniques at this meeting, we hope to gain feedback and comments to improve our choice of appropriate diagnostic techniques as well as our subsequent application of these techniques to nonthermal RF atmospheric pressure plasmas

Atmospheric pressure cold plasma as an antifungal therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Peng; Wu Haiyan; Sun Yi; Liu Wei; Li Ruoyu; Zhu Weidong; Lopez, Jose L.; Zhang Jue; Fang Jing

2011-01-01

A microhollow cathode based, direct-current, atmospheric pressure, He/O 2 (2%) cold plasma microjet was used to inactive antifungal resistants Candida albicans, Candida krusei, and Candida glabrata in air and in water. Effective inactivation (>90%) was achieved in 10 min in air and 1 min in water. Antifungal susceptibility tests showed drastic reduction of the minimum inhibitory concentration after plasma treatment. The inactivation was attributed to the reactive oxygen species generated in plasma or in water. Hydroxyl and singlet molecular oxygen radicals were detected in plasma-water system by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. This approach proposed a promising clinical dermatology therapy.

Stationary neoclassical profiles of plasma parameters in stellarators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danilkin, I.S.; Mineev, A.B.

1991-01-01

Peculiarities of neoclassical model of heat and particle transfer, occuring by calculations of plasma stationary profile parameters in stellarators are considered. The main peculiarity out of all consists in ineadequate compatibility with real physical conditions on the boundary, requiring application of supplementary 'anomalous' transfer or special (but technically possible) adjustment of particle and heat sources to achieve solution in form of 'correct' monotonically sloping profile. It is stated, that neoclassical theory does not provide for well-known ambiguity of solutions for ambipolar electrical field by search of monotonous stationary profiles supported by outside sources

Electron temperature and pressure at the edge of ASDEX Upgrade plasmas. Estimation via electron cyclotron radiation and investigations on the effect of magnetic perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rathgeber, Sylvia K.

2013-01-01

density information - the electron pressure allows a detailed study of plasma edge phenomena like ELMs or the transition from 'Low-confinement mode' (L-mode) to H-mode. It is shown how the application of non-axisymmetric MP fields acts on the edge profiles of electron temperature, density and pressure in H-modes with type-I and mitigated ELMs and during the L-H transition. Compared to type-I ELMs, mitigated ELMs tend to occur at higher edge densities, lower edge temperatures and reduced edge pressure gradients. This parameter regime can be achieved by strong gas fuelling. MP fields might support ELM mitigation by shifting the threshold between type-I and small ELMs towards slightly higher edge temperatures. The application of MPs in L-modes results in a degradation of the pressure gradient due to increased heat transport. At the L-H transition, the pressure gradient and the radial electric field shearing seem to exhibit the same value with and without MPs, while its required heating power is increased in the presence of MPs.

Plasma Profile Measurements for Laser Fusion Research with the Nike KrF Laser

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Serlin, V.; Obenschain, S. P.

2015-11-01

The grid image refractometer of the Nike laser facility (Nike-GIR) has demonstrated the capability of simultaneously measuring electron density (ne) and temperature (Te) profiles of coronal plasma. For laser plasma instability (LPI) research, the first Nike-GIR experiment successfully measured the plasma profiles in density regions up to ne ~ 4 ×1021 cm-3 (22% of the critical density for 248 nm light of Nike) using an ultraviolet probe laser (λp = 263 nm). The probe laser has been recently replaced with a shorter wavelength laser (λp = 213 nm, a 5th harmonic of the Nd:YAG laser) to diagnose a higher density region. The Nike-GIR system is being further extended to measure plasma profiles in the on-going experiment using 135°-separated Nike beam arrays for the cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) studies. We present an overview of the extended Nike-GIR arrangements and a new numerical algorithm to extract self-consistant plasma profiles with the measured quantities. Work supported by DoE/NNSA.

CO2 laser diagnostics for measurements of the plasma density profile and plasma density fluctuations on LHD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vyacheslavov, L.N.; Tanaka, K.; Kawahata, K.

2001-04-01

A CO 2 laser based diagnostics complimentary to the existing FIR interferometer is proposed. It combines interferometry for plasma density profile measurement under conditions of large density gradients, and both imaging and scattering techniques for observation of plasma fluctuations. Two-colour interferometer with a slablike probe beam and a single multichannel linear detector array provide observation of plasma density profile and density fluctuations at two locations along the probe beam. Basic characteristics of the diagnostics are considered as well as some effects that include dispersion and are critical for two colour imaging technique. The results of the bench-top experiments with the prototype of the interferometer are presented. (author)

Effect of plasma density profile of tokamak on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Fulin

1984-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of radial distribution of plasma density profile of tokamak on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability caused by toroidal rotation. The effect of radial distribution of plasma rotational velocity on stability is also examine for comparison. It is found that within the range of tokamak parameters the only radial distribution of plasma rotational velocity cannot induce Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. On the contrary, when there is a radial distribution of plasma density, i.e. P 01 =P 0 e -tx and V 0 1 = const, plasma becomes unstable, and instability will increase proportionally to the value of t. Meanwhile when the value of t remains constant, the instability growth rate will decrease if P 0 grows or the distance between plasma and wall of container decreases too. It shows that the Kelvin-Helmoltz instability is not only influenced by the steepness of density profile but also by the inertia of plasma in central region, which is helpful for depressing the instability. (author). 5 refs, 4 figs, 2 tabs

Impaired plasma lipid profiles in acute hepatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Yongzhong

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract The present study examined plasma lipid profiles in thirty patients suffered from acute viral hepatitis. Patients' blood samples were collected at both the debut and recovery of diseases. Thirty sex and age matched normal subjects were included as controls. Plasma total triglycerides (TG, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, apolipoprotein AI (ApoAI, apolipoprotein B (ApoB, lipoprotein (a (Lp(a, blood coagulation status including prothrombin complex activity and activated partial tromboplastin time (APTT, and hepatic functions were determined by the automatic biochemical analytical instrument. It demonstrated that plasma levels of total cholesterol, HDL-C and apoAI were significantly lower in the patients at the acute phase of hepatitis than those in normal subjects, whereas plasma levels of TG and LDL-C were obviously higher in the patients than in normal subjects (P

[Influence of the albumin fraction in the plasma oncotic pressure (author's transl)].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez Portillo, M; Trujillo Rodríguez, F; Aznar Reig, A

1979-12-15

This work analyzes the influence which albumin fraction exerts upon plasma oncotic pressure. With this objective three different groups were studied, each one of which was composed of subjects with identical total proteinemia and variable albuminemia. The first group: nine subjects with 6.2 g/100 ml proteinemia and albumin values between 3.2 and 3.8 g/100 ml; the second group: seven healthy subjects with 6.4 g/100 ml proteinemia and the level of albumina between 3 and 4 g/100 ml; the third group: subjects with proteinemia at 6.6 g/100 ml and extreme values of albumin between 3.1 and 4.3 g/100 ml. Plasma oncotic pressure was determined by means of an electronic osmometer, according to the described technique. With a proteinemia constant at 6.2 g/100 ml, a 0.6 percent fluctuation of the albumin concentration induced a variation in the plasma oncotic pressure of up to 20.4 per cent. In cases of proteinemia remaining constant at 6.4 g/100 ml, the oscillation of albumin levels between 3 and 4 g/100 ml represented a change in the plasmatic oncotic pressure of 32.58 per cent. In the third group, the influence of the albuminemia was lesser (23.1 per cent variability in the plasma oncotic pressure, with an oscillation of 1.2 g/100 ml in albuminemia). The existence of variable values of plasma oncotic pressure corresponding to cases with identical proteinemia and albuminemia, lead us to consider the powerful influence exerted upon the plasma oncotic pressure by other factors which affect the mass-structure and the electrical charges of proteins.

Studies on plasma profiles and its effect on dust charging in hydrogen plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Kakati, B.; Kausik, S. S.; Saikia, B. K.; Bandyopadhay, M.

2010-02-01

Plasma profiles and its influence on dust charging are studied in hydrogen plasma. The plasma is produced in a high vacuum device by a hot cathode discharge method and is confined by a cusped magnetic field cage. A cylindrical Espion advanced Langmuir probe having 0.15 mm diameter and 10.0 mm length is used to study the plasma parameters for various discharge conditions. Optimum operational discharge parameters in terms of charging of the dust grains are studied. The charge on the surface of the dust particle is calculated from the capacitance model and the current by the dust grains is measured by the combination of a Faraday cup and an electrometer. Unlike our previous experiments in which dust grains were produced in-situ, here a dust dropper is used to drop the dust particles into the plasma.

Studies on plasma profiles and its effect on dust charging in hydrogen plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakati, B; Kausik, S S; Saikia, B K; Bandyopadhay, M

2010-01-01

Plasma profiles and its influence on dust charging are studied in hydrogen plasma. The plasma is produced in a high vacuum device by a hot cathode discharge method and is confined by a cusped magnetic field cage. A cylindrical Espion advanced Langmuir probe having 0.15 mm diameter and 10.0 mm length is used to study the plasma parameters for various discharge conditions. Optimum operational discharge parameters in terms of charging of the dust grains are studied. The charge on the surface of the dust particle is calculated from the capacitance model and the current by the dust grains is measured by the combination of a Faraday cup and an electrometer. Unlike our previous experiments in which dust grains were produced in-situ, here a dust dropper is used to drop the dust particles into the plasma.

Evolution of the electron temperature profile of ohmically heated plasmas in TFTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, G.; Efthimion, P.C.; Arunasalam, V.

1985-08-01

Blackbody electron cyclotron emission was used to ascertain and study the evolution and behavior of the electron temperature profile in ohmically heated plasmas in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The emission was measured with absolutely calibrated millimeter wavelength radiometers. The temperature profile normalized to the central temperature and minor radius is observed to broaden substantially with decreasing limiter safety factor q/sub a/, and is insensitive to the plasma minor radius. Sawtooth activity was seen in the core of most TFTR discharges and appeared to be associated with a flattening of the electron temperature profile within the plasma core where q less than or equal to 1. Two types of sawtooth behavior were identified in large TFTR plasmas (minor radius, a less than or equal to 0.8 m) : a typically 35 to 40 msec period ''normal'' sawtooth, and a ''compound'' sawtooth with 70 to 80 msec period

Modeling, fabrication and plasma actuator coupling of flexible pressure sensors for flow separation detection and control in aeronautical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Francioso, L.; De Pascali, C.; Pescini, E.; De Giorgi, M. G.; Siciliano, P.

2016-06-01

Preventing the flow separation could enhance the performance of propulsion systems and future civil aircraft. To this end, a fast detection of boundary layer separation is mandatory for a sustainable and successful application of active flow control devices, such as plasma actuators. The present work reports on the design, fabrication and functional tests of low-cost capacitive pressure sensors coupled with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators to detect and then control flow separation. Finite element method (FEM) simulations were used to obtain information on the deflection and the stress distribution in different-shaped floating membranes. The sensor sensitivity as a function of the pressure load was also calculated by experimental tests. The results of the calibration of different capacitive pressure sensors are reported in this work, together with functional tests in a wind tunnel equipped with a curved wall plate on which a DBD plasma actuator was mounted to control the flow separation. The flow behavior was experimentally investigated by particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Statistical and spectral analysis, applied to the output signals of the pressure sensor placed downstream of the profile leading edge, demonstrated that the sensor is able to discriminate different ionic wind velocity and turbulence conditions. The sensor sensitivity in the 0-100 Pa range was experimentally measured and it ranged between 0.0030 and 0.0046 pF Pa-1 for the best devices.

Line profiles of hydrogenic ions from high-temperature and high-density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou Qing; Li Jianming

1991-01-01

Applying the Hooper's first-order theory, the authors calculate the static micro-electric field distributions in plasmas containing various multiply-charged ions. The influences of the impurity concentrations on the micro electric field distributions and on the Lyman profiles (n→1) from hydrogenic ions are analysed. Based on the optical-thin line profiles, the radiation transfer equation in sphere plasmas with various optical depths is solved. The results confirm that the opacity-broadening of the line profiles has almost no effect on the separation of Lyman β splitted peaks. Such separation is determined by electric field at which the static micro-electric field distribution has a maximum. The separation can be utilized for spatially resolved and temporally resolved density diagnostic of fusion plasmas

Lateral pressure profiles in lipid monolayers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baoukina, Svetlana; Marrink, Siewert J.; Tieleman, D. Peter

2010-01-01

We have used molecular dynamics simulations with coarse-grained and atomistic models to study the lateral pressure profiles in lipid monolayers. We first consider simple oil/air and oil/water interfaces, and then proceed to lipid monolayers at air/water and oil/water interfaces. The results are

Surface density profile and surface tension of the one-component classical plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballone, P.; Senatore, G.; Trieste Univ.; Tosi, M.P.; Oxford Univ.

1982-08-01

The density profile and the interfacial tension of two classical plasmas in equilibrium at different densities are evaluated in the square-density-gradient approximation. For equilibrium in the absence of applied external voltage, the profile is oscillatory in the higher-density plasma and the interfacial tension is positive. The amplitude and phase of these oscillations and the magnitude of the interfacial tension are related to the width of the background profile. Approximate representations of the equilibrium profile by matching of its asymptotic forms are analyzed. A comparison with computer simulation data and a critical discussion of a local-density theory are also presented. (author)

Electron cyclotron heating for current profile control of non-circular plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, V.S.; Davidson, R.; Guest, G.; Hacker, M.; Miller, L.

1981-01-01

Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) offers a promising approach to modifying the radial profiles of electron temperature and plasma current in tokamaks to increase the ideal MHD beta limits and permit experimental access to particular noncircular cross-section tokamaks that cannot be achieved with the peaked current profiles characteristic of ohmically heated tokamaks. We use a one-and-one-half-dimensional, time-dependent transport model that incorporates a self-consistent model of electron cyclotron power absorption to study the temporal evolution of electron temperature and plasma current profiles and the resulting noncircular equilibria. Startup scenarios for high-beta dees and doublets are investigated with this transport modeling

Dependence of ideal MHD kink and ballooning modes on plasma shape and profiles in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todd, A.M.M.; Manickam, J.; Okabayashi, M.; Chance, M.S.; Grimm, R.C.; Greene, J.M.; Johnson, J.L.

1978-08-01

Extensive numerical studies of ideal MHD instabilities have been carried out to gain insight into the parametric dependence of critical β's in tokamaks. The large number of interrelated equilibrium quantities involved in establishing a critical β has demanded a careful, systematic survey in order to isolate this dependence. The results of this survey establish the scaling with geometrical quantities including aspect ratio, elongation, and triangularity in the parameter regimes appropriate for both current and reactor-sized plasmas. A moderate dependence on the pressure profile and a strong variation with the current profile is found. The principal result is that for aspect ratio R/a approximately equal to 3, critical β's are of the order of 2% for circular cross sections and 5% for plasmas with elongation K approximately equal to 2; somewhat higher values could be achieved with more optimal shaping. Finally, sequences of equilibria have been analyzed to compare critical β as a function of toroidal mode number n. We conclude that the infinite-n analytic ballooning theory provides a sufficient condition for ideal MHD internal mode stability. Low-n free boundary modes appear to set a lower limit

Nonlinear MHD analysis for LHD plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichiguchi, K.; Nakajima, N.; Wakatani, M.; Carreras, B.A.

2003-01-01

The nonlinear behavior of the interchange modes with multi-helicity in the Large Helical Device is analyzed based on the reduced MHD equations. In the equilibrium at sufficiently low beta value, the saturation of a single mode and the following excitation of other single mode whose resonant surface is close to that of the saturated mode are slowly repeated. This sequence leads to the local deformation of the pressure profile. Increasing the beta value with the pressure profile fixed, a bursting phenomenon due to the overlap of multiple modes is observed in the kinetic energy, which results in the global reduction of the pressure profile. Increasing the beta value using the pressure profile saturated at the lower beta value suppresses the bursting behavior. This result indicates the possibility that the pressure profile is self-organized so that the LHD plasma should attain the high beta regime through a stable path. (author)

Infrared Absorption Spectroscopic Study on Reaction between Self-Assembled Monolayers and Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masanori Shinohara

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Plasma is becoming increasingly adopted in bioapplications such as plasma medicine and agriculture. This study investigates the interaction between plasma and molecules in living tissues, focusing on plasma-protein interactions. To this end, the reaction of air-pressure air plasma with NH2-terminated self-assembled monolayer is investigated by infrared spectroscopy in multiple internal reflection geometry. The atmospheric-pressure plasma decomposed the NH2 components, the characteristic units of proteins. The decomposition is attributed to water clusters generated in the plasma, indicating that protein decomposition by plasma requires humid air.

The pressure, internal energy, and conductivity of tantalum plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Apfelbaum, E.M. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Department of Computational Physics, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2017-11-15

The pressure, internal energy, and conductivity of a tantalum plasma were calculated at the temperatures 10-100 kK and densities less than 3 g/cm{sup 3}. The plasma composition, pressure, and internal energy were obtained by means of the corresponding system of the coupled mass action law equations. We have considered atom ionization up to +3. The conductivity was calculated within the relaxation time approximation. Comparisons of our results with available measurements and calculation data show good agreement in the area of correct applicability of the present model. (copyright 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Plasma advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and NF-κB activity are independent determinants of diastolic and pulse pressure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sourris, Karly C; Lyons, Jasmine G; Dougherty, Sonia L

2013-01-01

was to characterize the relationship between serum AGEs, CLAIS and other risk factors for CV disease in normotensive non-diabetic individuals. Methods: We measured body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), blood pressure, lipid and glucose profile in 44 non-diabetic volunteers (17 female, 27 males......). Carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) was measured by ELISA as a marker for circulating AGEs and NF-κB p65 activity as an inflammatory marker by DNA-binding in peripheral blood mononuclear cells lysates (PBMC). Results: Plasma CML concentrations were related to diastolic blood pressure (r=-0.51, p...

Study of a dual frequency atmospheric pressure corona plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Dan Bee; Moon, S. Y.; Jung, H.; Gweon, B.; Choe, Wonho

2010-01-01

Radio frequency mixing of 2 and 13.56 MHz was investigated by performing experimental measurements on the atmospheric pressure corona plasma. As a result of the dual frequency, length, current density, and electron excitation temperature of the plasma were increased, while the gas temperature was maintained at roughly the same level when compared to the respective single frequency plasmas. Moreover, observation of time-resolved images revealed that the dual frequency plasma has a discharge mode of 2 MHz positive streamer, 2 MHz negative glow, and 13.56 MHz continuous glow.

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets : properties of plasma bullets and the dynamics of the interaction with dielectric surfaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sobota, A.; Slikboer, E.; Guaitella, O.Y.N.

2015-01-01

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets, although mostly researched for applications in surface treatment, are rarely investigated in the presence of a surface. This paper presents the properties of plasma bullets formed in the capillary as well as the dynamics of the propagation of the plasma on

Influence of continuously-varing profile on the diocotron instability in a non neutral plasma column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asgary, H. R.; Maraghehechi, Behrooz; Rafii, Mahboobeh

2003-01-01

In this paper we investigate the theoretical method related to density profile effect on diocotron instability in nonrelativistic state in non neutral plasma column. At first we introduce non neutral plasma and diocotron instability then we extract instability equation and we will investigate plasma stability with special profile density

Density profile measurements from a two-gun plasma focus device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tzeng, C.C.; Yen, C.K.; Yeh, T.R.; Kuo, Y.Y.; Shang, D.J.; Yu, Y.Z.; Hou, W.S.

1990-01-01

The dynamics of the plasma evolution in a two-gun plasma focus device has been studied using the laser shadowgraphy as well as the laser interferometry. The experiments were carried out from a 700 kJ two-gun plasma focus device reported earlier, which consisted of a pair of Mather type coaxial electrodes connected muzzle to muzzle. Previous results indicated that the simultaneous formation of the two deuterium plasma foci occurred earlier and then after ∼ 100 ns a disk-shaped plasma of ∼ 1.5 cm in diameter appeared in the middle region between the anodes. It is, therefore, the authors' goal to study the density profiles in the plasma foci and the middle region in order to understand further the formation of the plasma foci and their time evolution. The laser shadowgraphy was done with a XeCl excimer pumped dye laser system which operated at 550 nm with pulse width of ∼ 10 ns. The laser interferometry, on the other hand, was carried out using a TEA-TEA oscillator-amplifier N 2 -laser system with 337.1 nm and subnano-second pulse width. Both results show that the maximum electron density is ≥2 x 10 19 cm -3 and, in addition, the growth of the hydrodynamic instabilities are observed. These results together with the detailed density profiles are presented and discussed

Development of a laser-induced plasma probe to measure gas phase plasma signals at high pressures and temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gounder, J.D.; Kutne, P.; Meier, W.

2012-01-01

The ability of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique for on line simultaneous measurement of elemental concentrations has led to its application in a wide number of processes. The simplicity of the technique allows its application to harsh environments such as present in boilers, furnaces and gasifiers. This paper presents the design of a probe using a custom optic which transforms a round beam into a ring (Donut) beam, which is used for forming a plasma in an atmosphere of nitrogen at high pressure (20 bar) and temperature (200 °C). The LIBS experiments were performed using a high pressure cell to characterize and test the effectiveness of the donut beam transmitted through the LIBS probe and collect plasma signal in back scatter mode. The first tests used the second harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser, pulse width 7 ns, to form a plasma in nitrogen gas at five different pressures (1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 bar) and three different gas temperatures (25, 100 and 200 °C). The uniqueness of this probe is the custom made optic used for reshaping the round laser beam into a ring (Donut) shaped laser beam, which is fed into the probe and focused to form a plasma at the measurement point. The plasma signal is collected and collimated using the laser focusing lens and is reflected from the laser beam axis onto an achromatic lens by a high reflection mirror mounted in the center section of the donut laser beam. The effect of gas pressure and temperature on N(I) lines in the high pressure cell experiment shows that the line intensity decreases with pressure and increases with temperature. Mean plasma temperature was calculated using the ratios of N(I) line intensities ranging from 7400 K to 8900 K at 1 bar and 2400 K to 3200 K at 20 bar for the three different gas temperatures. The results show that as a proof of principle the donut beam optics in combination with the LIBS probe can be used for performing extensive LIBS measurements in well controlled laboratory

Development of a laser-induced plasma probe to measure gas phase plasma signals at high pressures and temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gounder, J.D., E-mail: James.Gounder@dlr.de; Kutne, P.; Meier, W.

2012-08-15

The ability of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique for on line simultaneous measurement of elemental concentrations has led to its application in a wide number of processes. The simplicity of the technique allows its application to harsh environments such as present in boilers, furnaces and gasifiers. This paper presents the design of a probe using a custom optic which transforms a round beam into a ring (Donut) beam, which is used for forming a plasma in an atmosphere of nitrogen at high pressure (20 bar) and temperature (200 Degree-Sign C). The LIBS experiments were performed using a high pressure cell to characterize and test the effectiveness of the donut beam transmitted through the LIBS probe and collect plasma signal in back scatter mode. The first tests used the second harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser, pulse width 7 ns, to form a plasma in nitrogen gas at five different pressures (1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 bar) and three different gas temperatures (25, 100 and 200 Degree-Sign C). The uniqueness of this probe is the custom made optic used for reshaping the round laser beam into a ring (Donut) shaped laser beam, which is fed into the probe and focused to form a plasma at the measurement point. The plasma signal is collected and collimated using the laser focusing lens and is reflected from the laser beam axis onto an achromatic lens by a high reflection mirror mounted in the center section of the donut laser beam. The effect of gas pressure and temperature on N(I) lines in the high pressure cell experiment shows that the line intensity decreases with pressure and increases with temperature. Mean plasma temperature was calculated using the ratios of N(I) line intensities ranging from 7400 K to 8900 K at 1 bar and 2400 K to 3200 K at 20 bar for the three different gas temperatures. The results show that as a proof of principle the donut beam optics in combination with the LIBS probe can be used for performing extensive LIBS measurements in well controlled

Separated Type Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Microjets Array for Maskless Microscale Etching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yichuan Dai

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Maskless etching approaches such as microdischarges and atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs have been studied recently. Nonetheless, a simple, long lifetime, and efficient maskless etching method is still a challenge. In this work, a separated type maskless etching system based on atmospheric pressure He/O2 plasma jet and microfabricated Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS nozzle have been developed with advantages of simple-structure, flexibility, and parallel processing capacity. The plasma was generated in the glass tube, forming the micron level plasma jet between the nozzle and the surface of polymer. The plasma microjet was capable of removing photoresist without masks since it contains oxygen reactive species verified by spectra measurement. The experimental results illustrated that different features of microholes etched by plasma microjet could be achieved by controlling the distance between the nozzle and the substrate, additive oxygen ratio, and etch time, the result of which is consistent with the analysis result of plasma spectra. In addition, a parallel etching process was also realized by plasma microjets array.

CO{sub 2} laser diagnostics for measurements of the plasma density profile and plasma density fluctuations on LHD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vyacheslavov, L.N. [Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Tanaka, K.; Kawahata, K. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

2001-04-01

A CO{sub 2} laser based diagnostics complimentary to the existing FIR interferometer is proposed. It combines interferometry for plasma density profile measurement under conditions of large density gradients, and both imaging and scattering techniques for observation of plasma fluctuations. Two-colour interferometer with a slablike probe beam and a single multichannel linear detector array provide observation of plasma density profile and density fluctuations at two locations along the probe beam. Basic characteristics of the diagnostics are considered as well as some effects that include dispersion and are critical for two colour imaging technique. The results of the bench-top experiments with the prototype of the interferometer are presented. (author)

State of the art in medical applications using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Hiromasa; Ishikawa, Kenji; Mizuno, Masaaki; Toyokuni, Shinya; Kajiyama, Hiroaki; Kikkawa, Fumitaka; Metelmann, Hans-Robert; Hori, Masaru

2017-12-01

Plasma medical science is a novel interdisciplinary field that combines studies on plasma science and medical science, with the anticipation that understanding the scientific principles governing plasma medical science will lead to innovations in the field. Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has been used for medical treatments, such as for cancer, blood coagulation, and wound healing. The interactions that occur between plasma and cells/tissues have been analyzed extensively. Direct and indirect treatment of cells with plasma has broadened the applications of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma in medicine. Examples of indirect treatment include plasma-assisted immune-therapy and plasma-activated medium. Controlling intracellular redox balance may be key in plasma cancer treatment. Animal studies are required to test the effectiveness and safety of these treatments for future clinical applications.

A numerical solution for a toroidal plasma in equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hintz, E.; Sudano, J.P.

1982-01-01

The iterative techniques alternating direction implicit (ADI), sucessive ove-relaxation (SOR) and Gauss-Seidel are applied to a nonlinear elliptical second order differential equation (Grand-Shafranov). This equation was solve with the free boundary conditions plasma-vacuum interface over a rectangular section in cylindrical coordinates R and Z. The current density profile, plasma pressure profile, magnetic and isobaric surfaces are numerically determined for a toroidal plasma in equilibrium. (L.C.) [pt

Fructooligosaccharides integrity after atmospheric cold plasma and high-pressure processing of a functional orange juice.

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Francisca Diva Lima; Gomes, Wesley Faria; Cavalcante, Rosane Souza; Tiwari, Brijesh K; Cullen, Patrick J; Frias, Jesus Maria; Bourke, Paula; Fernandes, Fabiano A N; Rodrigues, Sueli

2017-12-01

In this study, the effect of atmospheric pressure cold plasma and high-pressure processing on the prebiotic orange juice was evaluated. Orange juice containing 7g/100g of commercial fructooligosaccharides (FOS) was directly and indirectly exposed to a plasma discharge at 70kV with processing times of 15, 30, 45 and 60s. For high-pressure processing, the juice containing the same concentration of FOS was treated at 450MPa for 5min at 11.5°C in an industrial equipment (Hyperbaric, model: 300). After the treatments, the fructooligosaccharides were qualified and quantified by thin layer chromatography. The organic acids and color analysis were also evaluated. The maximal overall fructooligosaccharides degradation was found after high-pressure processing. The total color difference was pressure and plasma processing. citric and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) showed increased content after plasma and high-pressure treatment. Thus, atmospheric pressure cold plasma and high-pressure processing can be used as non-thermal alternatives to process prebiotic orange juice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spectrally resolved measurements of the terahertz beam profile generated from a two-color air plasma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Pernille Klarskov; Zalkovskij, Maksim; Strikwerda, Andrew

2014-01-01

Using a THz camera and THz bandpass filters, we measure the frequency - resolved beam profile emitted from a two - color air plasma. We observe a frequency - independent emission angle from the plasma .......Using a THz camera and THz bandpass filters, we measure the frequency - resolved beam profile emitted from a two - color air plasma. We observe a frequency - independent emission angle from the plasma ....

Interaction of EM Waves with Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Laroussi, Mounir

2000-01-01

.... The focus of the main activities is the generation of large volume, non-thermal, atmospheric pressure plasmas, their diagnostics, and their interactions with EM waves and with the cells of microorganism...

Kinetic Profiles in NSTX Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bell, R.E.; LeBlanc, B.P.; Bourdelle, C.; Ernst, D.R.; Fredrickson, E.D.; Gates, D.A.; Hosea, J.C.; Johnson, D.W.; Kaye, S.M.; Maingi, R.; Medley, S.; Menard, J.E.; Mueller, D.; Ono, M.; Paoletti, F.; Peng, M.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Stutman, D.; Swain, D.W.; Synakowski, E.J.; Wilson, J.R.

2001-01-01

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is a low aspect ratio (R/a approximately 1.3) device with auxiliary heating from neutral-beam injection (NBI) and high-harmonic fast-wave heating (HHFW). Typical NSTX parameters are R(subscript ''0'') = 85 cm, a = 67 cm, I(subscript ''p'') = 0.7-1.4 MA, B(subscript ''phi'') = 0.25-0.45 T. Three co-directed deuterium neutral-beam sources have injected P(subscript ''NB'') less than or equal to 4.7 MW. HHFW plasmas typically have delivered P(subscript ''RF'') less than or equal to 3 MW. Important to the understanding of NSTX confinement are the new kinetic profile diagnostics: a multi-pulse Thomson scattering system (MPTS) and a charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CHERS) system. The MPTS diagnostic currently measures electron density and temperature profiles at 30 Hz at ten spatial locations. The CHERS system has recently become available to measure carbon ion temperature and toroidal flow at 17 radial positions spanning the outer half of the minor radius with 20 msec time resolution during NBI. Experiments conducted during the last year have produced a wide range of kinetic profiles in NSTX. Some interesting examples are presented below

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of ready-to-eat meat

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Röd, Sara Katrine Solhøj; Hansen, Flemming; Leipold, Frank

Sliced ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products are susceptible to growth of the foodborne pathogenic bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes. Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) may be applicable for surface decontamination in sealed bags thus avoiding recontamination. Plasmas (Fig. 1), created in neutral...

Nanocapillary Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet: A Tool for Ultrafine Maskless Surface Modification at Atmospheric Pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Motrescu, Iuliana; Nagatsu, Masaaki

2016-05-18

With respect to microsized surface functionalization techniques we proposed the use of a maskless, versatile, simple tool, represented by a nano- or microcapillary atmospheric pressure plasma jet for producing microsized controlled etching, chemical vapor deposition, and chemical modification patterns on polymeric surfaces. In this work we show the possibility of size-controlled surface amination, and we discuss it as a function of different processing parameters. Moreover, we prove the successful connection of labeled sugar chains on the functionalized microscale patterns, indicating the possibility to use ultrafine capillary atmospheric pressure plasma jets as versatile tools for biosensing, tissue engineering, and related biomedical applications.

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet treatment of Salmonella Enteritidis inoculated eggshells.

Science.gov (United States)

Moritz, Maike; Wiacek, Claudia; Koethe, Martin; Braun, Peggy G

2017-03-20

Contamination of eggshells with Salmonella Enteritidis remains a food safety concern. In many cases human salmonellosis within the EU can be traced back to raw or undercooked eggs and egg products. Atmospheric pressure plasma is a novel decontamination method that can reduce a wide range of pathogens. The aim of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using an effective short time cold plasma treatment to inactivate Salmonella Enteritidis on the eggshell. Therefore, artificially contaminated eggshells were treated with an atmospheric pressure plasma jet under different experimental settings with various exposure times (15-300s), distances from the plasma jet nozzle to the eggshell surface (5, 8 or 12mm), feed gas compositions (Ar, Ar with 0.2, 0.5 or 1.0% O 2 ), gas flow rates (5 and 7slm) and different inoculations of Salmonella Enteritidis (10 1 -10 6 CFU/cm 2 ). Atmospheric pressure plasma could reduce Salmonella Enteritidis on eggshells significantly. Reduction factors ranged between 0.22 and 2.27 log CFU (colony-forming units). Exposure time and, particularly at 10 4 CFU/cm 2 inoculation, feed gas had a major impact on Salmonella reduction. Precisely, longer exposure times led to higher reductions and Ar as feed gas was more effective than ArO 2 mixtures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calculation of the non-inductive current profile in high-performance NSTX plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Gerhardt, S. P.; Fredrickson, E.; Gates, D.; Kaye, S.; Menard, J.; Bell, M. G.; Bell, R. E.; Le Blanc, B. P.; Kugel, H.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Yuh, H.

2011-03-01

The constituents of the current profile have been computed for a wide range of high-performance plasmas in NSTX (Ono et al 2000 Nucl. Fusion 40 557); these include cases designed to maximize the non-inductive fraction, pulse length, toroidal-β or stored energy. In the absence of low-frequency MHD activity, good agreement is found between the reconstructed current profile and that predicted by summing the independently calculated inductive, pressure-driven and neutral beam currents, without the need to invoke any anomalous beam ion diffusion. Exceptions occur, for instance, when there are toroidal Alfvén eigenmode avalanches or coupled m/n = 1/1 + 2/1 kink-tearing modes. In these cases, the addition of a spatially and temporally dependent fast-ion diffusivity can reduce the core beam current drive, restoring agreement between the reconstructed profile and the summed constituents, as well as bringing better agreement between the simulated and measured neutron emission rate. An upper bound on the fast-ion diffusivity of ~0.5-1 m2 s-1 is found in 'MHD-free' discharges, based on the neutron emission, the time rate of change in the neutron signal when a neutral beam is stepped and reconstructed on-axis current density.

Calculation of the Non-Inductive Current Profile in High-Performance NSTX Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerhardt, S.P.; Fredrickson, E.; Gates, D.; Kaye, S.; Menard, J.; Bell, M.G.; Bell, R.E.; Le Blanc, B.P.; Kugel, H.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Yuh, H.

2011-01-01

The constituents of the current profile have been computed for a wide range of high-performance plasmas in NSTX [M. Ono, et al., Nuclear Fusion 40, 557 (2000)]; these include cases designed to maximize the non-inductive fraction, pulse length, toroidal-β, or stored energy. In the absence of low-frequency MHD activity, good agreement is found between the reconstructed current profile and that predicted by summing the independently calculated inductive, pressure-driven, and neutral beam currents, without the need to invoke any anomalous beam ion diffusion. Exceptions occur, for instance, when there are toroidal Alfven eigenmode avalanches or coupled m/n=1/1+2/1 kink-tearing modes. In these cases, the addition of a spatially and temporally dependent fast ion diffusivity can reduce the core beam current drive, restoring agreement between the reconstructed profile and the summed constituents, as well as bringing better agreement between the simulated and measured neutron emission rate. An upper bound on the fast ion diffusivity of ∼0.5-1 m 2 /sec is found in 'MHD-free' discharges, based on the neutron emission, time rate of change of the neutron signal when a neutral beam is stepped, and reconstructed on-axis current density.

Recent developments in understanding the physics of laser produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bezzerides, B.; DuBois, D.F.; Forslund, D.W.; Kindel, J.M.; Lee, K.; Lindman, E.L.

1976-01-01

The absorption of intense laser light by a plasma is known to produce a high energy component of electrons. Even though the hot electron pressure may be larger than the cold background pressure, the background temperature can control the self-consistent profile modification. Since temperatures in high intensity experiments seem to be similar for CO 2 and Nd glass lasers, the profile modification may be so severe for CO 2 and Nd glass lasers, the profile modification may be so severe for CO 2 that orders of magnitude change in density can occur over microns, leading to a softened electron spectrum. However, the resulting equilibrium of laser pressure balancing plasma pressure is unstable even when flow is properly taken into account. We also briefly discuss recent results for self-generated magnetic fields including important kinetic effects

Development in Diagnostics Application to Control Advanced Tokamak Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koide, Y.

2008-01-01

For continuous operation expected in DEMO, all the plasma current must be non-inductively driven, with self-generated neoclassical bootstrap current being maximized. The control of such steady state high performance tokamak plasma (so-called 'Advanced Tokamak Plasma') is a challenge because of the strong coupling between the current density, the pressure profile and MHD stability. In considering diagnostic needs for the advanced tokamak research, diagnostics for MHD are the most fundamental, since discharges which violate the MHD stability criteria either disrupt or have significantly reduced confinement. This report deals with the development in diagnostic application to control advanced tokamak plasma, with emphasized on recent progress in active feedback control of the current profile and the pressure profile under DEMO-relevant high bootstrap-current fraction. In addition, issues in application of the present-day actuators and diagnostics for the advanced control to DEMO will be briefly addressed, where port space for the advanced control may be limited so as to keep sufficient tritium breeding ratio (TBR)

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet's characterization and surface wettability driven by neon transformer

Science.gov (United States)

Elfa, R. R.; Nafarizal, N.; Ahmad, M. K.; Sahdan, M. Z.; Soon, C. F.

2017-03-01

Atmospheric pressure plasma driven by Neon transformer power supply argon is presented in this paper. Atmospheric pressure plasma system has attracted researcher interest over low pressure plasma as it provides a flexibility process, cost-efficient, portable device and vacuum-free device. Besides, another golden key of this system is the wide promising application in the field of work cover from industrial and engineering to medical. However, there are still numbers of fundamental investigation that are necessary such as device configuration, gas configuration and its effect. Dielectric barrier discharge which is also known as atmospheric pressure plasma discharge is created when there is gas ionization process occur which enhance the movement of atom and electron and provide energetic particles. These energetic particles can provide modification and cleaning property to the sample surface due to the bombardment of the high reactive ion and radicals to the sample surface. In order to develop atmospheric pressure plasma discharge, a high voltage and high frequency power supply is needed. In this work, we used a neon transformer power supply as the power supply. The flow of the Ar is feed into 10 mm cylinder quartz tube with different treatment time in order to investigate the effect of the plasma discharge. The analysis of each treatment time is presented by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and water contact angle (WCA) measurement. The increase of gas treatment time shows increases intensity of reactive Ar and reduces the angle of water droplets in water contact angle. Treatment time of 20 s microslide glass surface shows that the plasma needle discharges have modified the sample surface from hydrophilic surface to superhydrophilic surface. Thus, this leads to another interesting application in reducing sample surface adhesion to optimize productivity in the industry of paintings, semiconductor and more.

Modeling, fabrication and plasma actuator coupling of flexible pressure sensors for flow separation detection and control in aeronautical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francioso, L; De Pascali, C; Siciliano, P; Pescini, E; De Giorgi, M G

2016-01-01

Preventing the flow separation could enhance the performance of propulsion systems and future civil aircraft. To this end, a fast detection of boundary layer separation is mandatory for a sustainable and successful application of active flow control devices, such as plasma actuators. The present work reports on the design, fabrication and functional tests of low-cost capacitive pressure sensors coupled with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators to detect and then control flow separation. Finite element method (FEM) simulations were used to obtain information on the deflection and the stress distribution in different-shaped floating membranes. The sensor sensitivity as a function of the pressure load was also calculated by experimental tests. The results of the calibration of different capacitive pressure sensors are reported in this work, together with functional tests in a wind tunnel equipped with a curved wall plate on which a DBD plasma actuator was mounted to control the flow separation. The flow behavior was experimentally investigated by particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Statistical and spectral analysis, applied to the output signals of the pressure sensor placed downstream of the profile leading edge, demonstrated that the sensor is able to discriminate different ionic wind velocity and turbulence conditions. The sensor sensitivity in the 0–100 Pa range was experimentally measured and it ranged between 0.0030 and 0.0046 pF Pa −1 for the best devices. (paper)

Atmospheric pressure plasma analysis by modulated molecular beam mass spectrometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aranda Gonzalvo, Y.; Whitmore, T.D.; Rees, J.A.; Seymour, D.L.; Stoffels - Adamowicz, E.

2006-01-01

Fractional no. d. measurements for a radiofrequency plasma needle operating at atm. pressure were obtained using a mol. beam mass spectrometer (MBMS) system designed for diagnostics of atm. plasmas. The MBMS system comprises three differentially pumped stages and a mass/energy analyzer and includes

Real-time control of the plasma density profile on ASDEX upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mlynek, Alexander

2010-01-01

The tokamak concept currently is the most promising approach to future power generation by controlled thermonuclear fusion. The spatial distribution of the particle density in the toroidally confined fusion plasma is of particular importance. This thesis work therefore focuses on the question as to what extent the shape of the density profile can be actively controlled by a feedback loop in the fusion experiment ASDEX Upgrade. There are basically two essential requirements for such feedback control of the density profile, which has been experimentally demonstrated within the scope of this thesis work: On the one hand, for this purpose the density profile must be continuously calculated under real-time constraints during a plasma discharge. The calculation of the density profile is based on the measurements of a sub-millimeter interferometer, which provides the line-integrated electron density along 5 chords through the plasma. Interferometric density measurements can suffer from counting errors by integer multiples of 2π when detecting the phase difference between a probing and a reference beam. As such measurement errors have severe impact on the reconstructed density profile, one major part of this work consists in the development of new readout electronics for the interferometer, which allows for detection of such measurement errors in real-time with high reliability. A further part of this work is the design of a computer algorithm which reconstructs the spatial distribution of the plasma density from the line-integrated measurements. This algorithm has to be implemented on a computer which communicates the measured data to other computers in real-time, especially to the tokamak control system. On the other hand, a second fundamental requirement for the successful implementation of a feedback controller is the identification of at least one actuator which enables a modification of the density profile. Here, electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) has been

High precision measurement of fuel density profiles in nuclear fusion plasmas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Svensson, J.; von Hellermann, M.; Konig, R.

2002-01-01

This paper presents a method for deducing fuel density profiles of nuclear fusion plasmas in realtime during an experiment. A Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network is used to create a mapping between plasma radiation spectra and indirectly deduced hydrogen isotope densities. By combining

Profiles of plasma parameters and density of negative hydrogen ions by laser detachment measurements in RF-driven ion sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christ-Koch, Sina

2007-01-01

This work shows the application of the Laserdetachment method for spatially resolved measurements of negative Hydrogen/Deuterium ion density. It was applied on a high power low pressure RF-driven ion source. The Laser detachment method is based on the measurement of electron currents on a positively biased Langmuir probe before and during/after a laser pulse. The density ratio of negative ions to electrons can be derived from the ratio of currents to the probe. The absolute density of negative ions can be obtained when the electron density is measured with the standard Langmuir probe setup. Measurements with the Langmuir probe additionally yield information about the floating and plasma potential, the electron temperature and the density of positive ions. The Laser detachment setup had to be adapted to the special conditions of the RF-driven source. In particular the existence of RF fields (1 MHz), high source potential (-20 kV), magnetic fields (∝ 7 mT) and caesium inside the source had to be considered. The density of negative ions could be identified in the range of n(H - )=1.10 17 1/m 3 , which is in the same order of magnitude as the electron density. Only the application of the Laser detachment method with the Langmuir probe measurements will yield spatially resolved plasma parameters and H- density profiles. The influence of diverse external parameters, such as pressure, RF-power, magnetic fields on the plasma parameters and their profiles were studied and explained. Hence, the measurements lead to a detailed understanding of the processes inside the source. (orig.)

Marangoni flows induced by atmospheric-pressure plasma jets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berendsen, C W J; Van Veldhuizen, E M; Kroesen, G M W; Darhuber, A A

2015-01-01

We studied the interaction of atmospheric-pressure plasma jets of Ar or air with liquid films of an aliphatic hydrocarbon on moving solid substrates. The hydrodynamic jet-liquid interaction induces a track of lower film thickness. The chemical plasma-surface interaction oxidizes the liquid, leading to a local increase of the surface tension and a self-organized redistribution of the liquid film. We developed a numerical model that qualitatively reproduces the formation, instability and coarsening of the flow patterns observed in the experiments. Monitoring the liquid flow has potential as an in-situ, spatially and temporally resolved, diagnostic tool for the plasma-liquid surface interaction. (paper)

Patterned deposition by atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced spatial atomic layer deposition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poodt, P.; Kniknie, B.J.; Branca, A.; Winands, G.J.J.; Roozeboom, F.

2011-01-01

An atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition reactor has been developed, to deposit Al2O3 films from trimethyl aluminum and an He/O2 plasma. This technique can be used for 2D patterned deposition in a single in-line process by making use of switched localized plasma sources. It

Analyses of plasma parameter profiles in JT-60U

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shirai, Hiroshi; Shimizu, Katsuhiro; Hayashi, Nobuhiko [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Naka, Ibaraki (Japan). Naka Fusion Research Establishment; Itakura, Hirofumi; Takase, Keizou [CSK Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

2001-01-01

The methods how diagnostics data are treated as the surface quantity of magnetic surface and processed to the profile data in the JT-60U plasmas are summarized. The MHD equilibrium obtained by solving Grad-Shafranov equation on the MHD equilibrium calculation and registration software FBEQU are saved shot by shot as a database. Various experimental plasma data measured at various geometrical positions on JT-60 are mapped onto the MHD equilibrium and treated as functions of the volume averaged minor radius {rho} on the experimental data time slice monitoring software SLICE. Experimental data are integrated and edited on SLICE. The experimental data measured as the line integral values are transformed by Able inversion. The mapped data are fitted to a functional form and saved to the profile database MAP-DB. SLICE can also read data from MAP-DB and redisplay and transform them. In addition, SLICE can generate the profile data TOKRD as run data for orbit following Monte-Carlo (OFMC) code, analyzer for current drive consistent with MHD equilibrium (ACCOME) code and tokamak predictive and interpretive code system (TOPICS). (author)

Analyses of plasma parameter profiles in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirai, Hiroshi; Shimizu, Katsuhiro; Hayashi, Nobuhiko

2001-01-01

The methods how diagnostics data are treated as the surface quantity of magnetic surface and processed to the profile data in the JT-60U plasmas are summarized. The MHD equilibrium obtained by solving Grad-Shafranov equation on the MHD equilibrium calculation and registration software FBEQU are saved shot by shot as a database. Various experimental plasma data measured at various geometrical positions on JT-60 are mapped onto the MHD equilibrium and treated as functions of the volume averaged minor radius ρ on the experimental data time slice monitoring software SLICE. Experimental data are integrated and edited on SLICE. The experimental data measured as the line integral values are transformed by Able inversion. The mapped data are fitted to a functional form and saved to the profile database MAP-DB. SLICE can also read data from MAP-DB and redisplay and transform them. In addition, SLICE can generate the profile data TOKRD as run data for orbit following Monte-Carlo (OFMC) code, analyzer for current drive consistent with MHD equilibrium (ACCOME) code and tokamak predictive and interpretive code system (TOPICS). (author)

Computational study of sheath structure in oxygen containing plasmas at medium pressures

Science.gov (United States)

Hrach, Rudolf; Novak, Stanislav; Ibehej, Tomas; Hrachova, Vera

2016-09-01

Plasma mixtures containing active species are used in many plasma-assisted material treatment technologies. The analysis of such systems is rather difficult, as both physical and chemical processes affect plasma properties. A combination of experimental and computational approaches is the best suited, especially at higher pressures and/or in chemically active plasmas. The first part of our study of argon-oxygen mixtures was based on experimental results obtained in the positive column of DC glow discharge. The plasma was analysed by the macroscopic kinetic approach which is based on the set of chemical reactions in the discharge. The result of this model is a time evolution of the number densities of each species. In the second part of contribution the detailed analysis of processes taking place during the interaction of oxygen containing plasma with immersed substrates was performed, the results of the first model being the input parameters. The used method was the particle simulation technique applied to multicomponent plasma. The sheath structure and fluxes of charged particles to substrates were analysed in the dependence on plasma pressure, plasma composition and surface geometry.

Stationary neoclassical profiles of plasma parameters in stellarators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danilkin, I.S.; Mineev, A.B.

1991-01-01

The properties of the neoclassical model of heat and particle transport are considered in connection with calculations of stationary profiles of the plasma parameters in stellarators. The most important feature is the poor agreement with real physical conditions of the boundary, which imposes the necessity of invoking either an additional anomalous transport or a special (although technically possible) consistency between the particle and heat sources in order to obtain a solution in the form of a correct monotonically decreasing profile. In search for monotonic stationary profiles maintained by external sources, it is ascertained that the neoclassical theory does not give rise to the well-known multivalued solutions for the ambipolar electric field

Methodological problems in pressure profile calculations for lipid bilayers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonne, Jacob; Hansen, Flemming Yssing; Peters, Günther H.J.

2005-01-01

calculations: The first problem is that the pressure profile is not uniquely defined since the expression for the local pressure involves an arbitrary choice of an integration contour. We have investigated two different choices leading to the Irving-Kirkwood (IK) and Harasima (H) expressions for the local...

Time-resolved wave profile measurements in copper to Megabar pressures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chhabildas, L C; Asay, J R

1981-01-01

Many time-resolved techniques have been developed which have greatly aided in the understanding of dynamic material behavior such as the high pressure-dynamic strength of materials. In the paper, time-resolved measurements of copper (at shock-induced high pressures and temperatures) are used to illustrate the capability of using such techniques to investigate high pressure strength. Continuous shock loading and release wave profiles have been made in copper to 93 GPa using velocity interferometric techniques. Fine structure in the release wave profiles from the shocked state indicates an increase in shear strength of copper to 1.5 GPa at 93 GPa from its ambient value of 0.08 GPa.

Penetration of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma into textile structures at medium pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyter, N De; Morent, R; Leys, C

2006-01-01

Plasma treatment of textiles is becoming more and more popular as a surface modification technique. Plasma treatment changes the outermost layer of a material without interfering with the bulk properties. However, textiles are several millimetres thick and need to be treated homogeneously throughout the entire thickness. To control the penetration depth of the plasma effect, it is necessary to study the influence of operating parameters. Three layers of a 100% polyester non-woven are treated in the medium pressure range (0.3-7 kPa) with a dielectric barrier discharge to study the influence of pressure and treatment time. Current and voltage waveforms and Lichtenberg figures are used to characterize the discharge. Process pressure proved to have an important effect on the penetration of the plasma through the textile layers. This is caused not only by the pressure dependence of diffusive transport of textile modifying particles but also by a different behaviour of the barrier discharge

Plasma pressure in the discharge column of the Novillo Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaytan G, E.

1995-01-01

The design and construction of an acquisition system for the measurement of the plasma pressure in the Novillo Tokamak is described in detail. The system includes a high voltage ramp generator, a hardware and a software interface with a personal computer. It is used to determine experimentally the variations of the pressure in the plasma column in the cleaning and main discharges. The measurement of the pressure is made with a Pirani sensor adapted to the acquisition hardware and synchronized with the discharge in the plasma. The software is made in object oriented programming as a graphic interface designed to be used easily. It controls the acquisition, records the data, displays in graphic form the results and save the measurements. The graphic interface is a building block that can be used in different acquisition tasks. The ramp generator can deliver a signal of 200 V peak to peak with a current of 200 m A and offset control. The acquisition time is 2.5 μ s for every measurement, 8192 measurements can be stored in the acquisition board for every discharge. (Author)

The Sensitivity Analysis of Axial Pressure Tube Creep Profile for Dryout Power in PHWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryu, Euiseung; Kim, Youngae [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

The Stern Laboratory performed the CHF tests with only one axial pressure tube creep profile per 3.3%, 5.1% peak crept channel and made CHF correlation including creep factor from the CHF test results. Wolsong nuclear power plants also have utilized the same CHF correlation derived by CNL. Pressure tube diameter creep rate is function of fast neutron, coolant temperature, and coolant pressure in a channel. It means that various axial pressure tube creep profiles exist in PHWR due to the history of operating conditions. Usually, CHF correlation is used during ROP(Regional Overpower Protection) Trip Setpoint Analysis or Safety Analysis in PHWR. The sensitivity analysis for CHF effects using various creep profiles is needed. This paper summarizes the comparison results of dryout power between CHF test creep profile and estimated creep profiles of Wolsong units. The effect of axial pressure tube creep profile for dryout power in fuel channel is evaluated by using Stern Lab. CHF test creep profile and 380 channel creep profiles of Wolsong. The dryout powers at 3.3% and 5.1% test conditions are slightly smaller when using 380 Wolsong channels creep profiles. These also show that the simulated dryout powers maintain consistency regardless of flow conditions.

Observations of nonlinear behaviour in a low-pressure discharge column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cartier, S.L.; Merlino, R.L.

1984-01-01

Sudden and abrupt jumps in the plasma density and discharge current of low-pressure magnetized argon and helium plasmas are observed. These jumps are found to depend on the discharge bias voltage, the neutral gas pressure, and the magnetic field strength and occur with a substantial hysteresis in those parameters. These jumps are accompanied by the onset of intense and coherent low-frequency plasma oscillations. In addition, under certain conditions, the radial density profile of the plasma is found to be significantly different following a jump. Some possibly related plasma instabilities are discussed

Destruction of Bacillus subtilis cells using an atmospheric-pressure dielectric capillary electrode discharge plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panikov, N.S.; Paduraru, S.; Crowe, R.; Ricatto, P.J.; Christodoulatos, C.; Becker, K.

2002-01-01

The results of experiments aimed at the investigation of the destruction of spore-forming bacteria, which are believed to be among the most resistant microorganisms, using a novel atmospheric-pressure dielectric capillary electrode discharge plasma are reported. Various well-characterized cultures of Bacillus subtilis were prepared, subjected to atmospheric-pressure plasma jets emanating from a plasma shower reactor operated either in He or in air (N 2 /O 2 mixture) at various power levels and exposure times, and analyzed after plasma treatment. Reductions in colony-forming units ranged from 10 4 (He plasma) to 10 8 (air plasma) for plasma exposure times of less than 10 minutes. (author)

Temperature measurement in low pressure plasmas. Temperaturmessungen im Niederdruckplasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosenbauer, K.A.; Wilting, H.; Schramm, G. (Duesseldorf Univ. (Germany, F.R.). Abt. fuer Histologie und Embryologie)

1989-11-01

The present work discusses the influence of various parameters on the substrate temperature in a low pressure plasma. The measurement method chosen utilized Signotherm (Merck) temperature sensors embedded in silicon between two glass substrates. All measurements were made in a 200 G Plasma Processor from Technics Plasma GmbH. The substrate temperature is dependent on the process time, the RF power, the process gas and the position in the chamber. The substrate temperature increases with increasing process time and increasing power. Due to the location of the microwave port from the magnetron to the chamber, the substrate temperature is highest in the center of the chamber. Measurements performed in an air plasma yielded higher results than in an oxygen plasma. (orig.).

Plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid fatty acid profile in professional basketball and football players.

Science.gov (United States)

Tepsic, Jasna; Vucic, Vesna; Arsic, Aleksandra; Blazencic-Mladenovic, Vera; Mazic, Sanja; Glibetic, Marija

2009-10-01

The effect of intensive long-term physical activity on phospholipid fatty acid (FA) composition has not been studied thoroughly. We determined plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid FA status of professional basketball and football players. Our results showed differences in plasma FA profile not only between sportsmen and sedentary subjects, but also between two groups of sportsmen. Plasma FA profile in basketball players showed significantly higher proportion of n-6 FA (20:3, 20:4, and 22:4) and total polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) than controls, while football players had higher palmitoleic acid (16:1) than basketball players and controls. Total PUFA and 22:4 were also higher in basketball than in football players. Erythrocyte FA profile showed no differences between football players and controls. However, basketball players had higher proportion of 18:0 than controls, higher saturated FA and lower 18:2 than two other groups, and higher 22:4 than football players. These findings suggest that long-term intensive exercise and type of sport influence FA profile.

Evaluation of pressure in a plasma produced by laser ablation of steel

Science.gov (United States)

Hermann, Jörg; Axente, Emanuel; Craciun, Valentin; Taleb, Aya; Pelascini, Frédéric

2018-05-01

We investigated the time evolution of pressure in the plume generated by laser ablation with ultraviolet nanosecond laser pulses in a near-atmospheric argon atmosphere. These conditions were previously identified to produce a plasma of properties that facilitate accurate spectroscopic diagnostics. Using steel as sample material, the present investigations benefit from the large number of reliable spectroscopic data available for iron. Recording time-resolved emission spectra with an echelle spectrometer, we were able to perform accurate measurements of electron density and temperature over a time interval from 200 ns to 12 μs. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, we computed the plasma composition within the ablated vapor material and the corresponding kinetic pressure. The time evolution of plume pressure is shown to reach a minimum value below the pressure of the background gas. This indicates that the process of vapor-gas interdiffusion has a negligible influence on the plume expansion dynamics in the considered timescale. Moreover, the results promote the plasma pressure as a control parameter in calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Perspective: The physics, diagnostics, and applications of atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma sources used in plasma medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Laroussi, M.; Lu, X.; Keidar, M.

2017-07-01

Low temperature plasmas have been used in various plasma processing applications for several decades. But it is only in the last thirty years or so that sources generating such plasmas at atmospheric pressure in reliable and stable ways have become more prevalent. First, in the late 1980s, the dielectric barrier discharge was used to generate relatively large volume diffuse plasmas at atmospheric pressure. Then, in the early 2000s, plasma jets that can launch cold plasma plumes in ambient air were developed. Extensive experimental and modeling work was carried out on both methods and much of the physics governing such sources was elucidated. Starting in the mid-1990s, low temperature plasma discharges have been used as sources of chemically reactive species that can be transported to interact with biological media, cells, and tissues and induce impactful biological effects. However, many of the biochemical pathways whereby plasma affects cells remain not well understood. This situation is changing rather quickly because the field, known today as "plasma medicine," has experienced exponential growth in the last few years thanks to a global research community that engaged in fundamental and applied research involving the use of cold plasma for the inactivation of bacteria, dental applications, wound healing, and the destruction of cancer cells/tumors. In this perspective, the authors first review the physics as well as the diagnostics of the principal plasma sources used in plasma medicine. Then, brief descriptions of their biomedical applications are presented. To conclude, the authors' personal assessment of the present status and future outlook of the field is given.

Fundamental Studies of Transient, Atmospheric-Pressure, Small-Scale Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-23

C. Jiang, R. Heller, J. Lane, and K. H. Schoenbach, " Ozone -free nitric oxide production using an atmospheric pressure surface discharge – a way to...Electrostatic modeling and energy-dependent studies showed that the direct and indirect electron-induced processes in the pulsed plasma jet are responsible for...Coupled sliding discharges : a scalable nonthermal plasma system utilizing positive and negative streamers on DISTRIBUTION A: Distribution

Adhesion improvement of fibres by continuous plasma treatment at atmospheric pressure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro; Løgstrup Andersen, Tom; Sørensen, Bent F.

2013-01-01

Carbon fibres and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibres were continuously treated by a dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure for adhesion improvement with epoxy resins. The plasma treatment improved wettability, increased the oxygen containing polar...

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment for Grey Cotton Knitted Fabric

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chi-wai Kan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available 100% grey cotton knitted fabric contains impurities and yellowness and needs to be prepared for processing to make it suitable for coloration and finishing. Therefore, conventionally 100% grey cotton knitted fabric undergoes a process of scouring and bleaching, which involves the use of large amounts of water and chemicals, in order to remove impurities and yellowness. Due to increased environmental awareness, pursuing a reduction of water and chemicals is a current trend in textile processing. In this study, we explore the possibility of using atmospheric pressure plasma as a dry process to treat 100% grey cotton knitted fabric (single jersey and interlock before processing. Experimental results reveal that atmospheric pressure plasma treatment can effectively remove impurities from 100% grey cotton knitted fabrics and significantly improve its water absorption property. On the other hand, if 100% grey cotton knitted fabrics are pretreated with plasma and then undergo a normal scouring process, the treatment time is reduced. In addition, the surface morphological and chemical changes in plasma-treated fabrics were studied and compared with the conventionally treated fabrics using scanning electron microscope (SEM, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS. The decrease in carbon content, as shown in XPS, reveal the removal of surface impurities. The oxygen-to-carbon (O/C ratios of the plasma treated knitted fabrics reveal enhanced hydrophilicity.

The Plasma Window: A Windowless High Pressure-Vacuum Interface for Various Accelerator Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hershcovitch, A. I.; Johnson, E. D.; Lanza, R. C.

1999-01-01

The Plasma Window is a stabilized plasma arc used as an interface between accelerator vacuum and pressurized targets. There is no solid material introduced into the beam and thus it is also capable of transmitting particle beams and electromagnetic radiation with low loss and of sustaining high beam currents without damage. Measurements on a prototype system with a 3 mm diameter opening have shown that pressure differences of more than 2.5 atmospheres can be sustained with an input pressure of ∼ 10 -6 Torr. The system is capable of scaling to higher-pressure differences and larger apertures. Various plasma window applications for synchrotron light sources, high power lasers, internal targets, high current accelerators such as the HAWK, ATW, APT, DARHT, spallation sources, as well as for a number of commercial applications, is discussed

Relativistic self-focusing of intense laser beam in thermal collisionless quantum plasma with ramped density profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Zare

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Propagation of a Gaussian x-ray laser beam has been analyzed in collisionless thermal quantum plasma with considering a ramped density profile. In this density profile due to the increase in the plasma density, an earlier and stronger self-focusing effect is noticed where the beam width oscillates with higher frequency and less amplitude. Moreover, the effect of the density profile slope and the initial plasma density on the laser propagation has been studied. It is found that, by increasing the initial density and the ramp slope, the laser beam focuses faster with less oscillation amplitude, smaller laser spot size and more oscillations. Furthermore, a comparison is made among the laser self-focusing in thermal quantum plasma, cold quantum plasma and classical plasma. It is realized that the laser self-focusing in the quantum plasma becomes stronger in comparison with the classical regime.

Electron density and temperature profile diagnostics for C-2 field reversed configuration plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, B. H.; Kinley, J. S.; Schroeder, J. [Tri Alpha Energy, Inc., Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688 (United States)

2012-10-15

The 9-point Thomson scattering diagnostic system for the C-2 field reversed configuration plasmas is improved and the measured electron temperature profiles are consistent with theoretical expectations. Rayleigh scattering revealed a finite line width of the ruby laser emission, which complicates density calibration. Taking advantage of the plasma wobble motion, density profile reconstruction accuracy from the 6-chord two-color CO{sub 2}/HeNe interferometer data is improved.

Measurements of Electron Density Profiles of Plasmas Produced by Nike KrF Laser for Laser Plasma Instability (LPI) Research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Obenschain, S. P.; Schmitt, A. J.; Kehne, D. M.; Karasik, M.; Chan, L.-Y.; Serlin, V.; Phillips, L.

2013-10-01

Knowing spatial profiles of electron density (ne) in the underdense coronal region (n Nike LPI experiment, a side-on grid imaging refractometer (GIR) was deployed for measuring the underdense plasma profiles. Plasmas were produced from flat CH targets illuminated by Nike KrF laser with total energies up to 1 kJ of 0.5 ~ 1 nsec FWHM pulses. The GIR resolved ne up to 3 ×1021 /cm3 in space taking 2D snapshot images of probe laser (λ = 263 nm, Δt = 10 ps) beamlets (50 μm spacing) refracted by the plasma at a selected time during the laser illumination. The individual beamlet transmittances were also measured for Te estimation. Time-resolved spectrometers with an absolute-intensity-calibrated photodiode array and a streak camera simultaneously detected light emission from the plasma in spectral ranges relevant to Raman (SRS) and two plasmon decay instabilities. The measured spatial profiles are compared with simulation results from the FAST3D radiation hydrocode and their effects on the LPI observations are investigated. Work supported by DoE/NNSA and performed at Naval Research Laboratory.

Pulsed, atmospheric pressure plasma source for emission spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Yixiang; Jin, Zhe; Su, Yongxuan

2004-05-11

A low-power, plasma source-based, portable molecular light emission generator/detector employing an atmospheric pressure pulsed-plasma for molecular fragmentation and excitation is described. The average power required for the operation of the plasma is between 0.02 W and 5 W. The features of the optical emission spectra obtained with the pulsed plasma source are significantly different from those obtained with direct current (dc) discharge higher power; for example, strong CH emission at 431.2 nm which is only weakly observed with dc plasma sources was observed, and the intense CN emission observed at 383-388 nm using dc plasma sources was weak in most cases. Strong CN emission was only observed using the present apparatus when compounds containing nitrogen, such as aniline were employed as samples. The present apparatus detects dimethylsulfoxide at 200 ppb using helium as the plasma gas by observing the emission band of the CH radical. When coupled with a gas chromatograph for separating components present in a sample to be analyzed, the present invention provides an apparatus for detecting the arrival of a particular component in the sample at the end of the chromatographic column and the identity thereof.

Non-Thermal Sanitation By Atmospheric Pressure Plasma, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ORBITEC proposes to develop a non-thermal technology based on atmospheric-pressure (AP) cold plasma to sanitize foods, food packaging materials, and other hardware...

Vacuum heating evaluation for plasmas of exponentially decreasing density profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pestehe, S.J.; Mohammadnejad, M.

2008-01-01

Ultra-short pulse lasers have opened a regime of laser-plasma interaction where plasmas have scale lengths shorter than the laser wavelength and allow the possibility of generating near-solid density plasmas. The interaction of high-intensity laser beams with sharply bounded high-density and small scale length plasmas is considered. Absorption of the laser energy associated with the mechanism of dragging electrons out of the plasma into the vacuum and sending them back into the plasma with the electric field component along the density gradient, so called vacuum heating, is studied. An exponentially decreasing electron density profile is assumed. The vector potential of the electromagnetic field propagating through the plasma is calculated and the behaviour of the electric and magnetic components of the electromagnetic field is studied. The fraction of laser power absorbed in this process is calculated and plotted versus the laser beam incidence angle, illumination energy, and the plasma scale length

Cold plasma brush generated at atmospheric pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Yixiang; Huang, C.; Yu, Q. S.

2007-01-01

A cold plasma brush is generated at atmospheric pressure with low power consumption in the level of several watts (as low as 4 W) up to tens of watts (up to 45 W). The plasma can be ignited and sustained in both continuous and pulsed modes with different plasma gases such as argon or helium, but argon was selected as a primary gas for use in this work. The brush-shaped plasma is formed and extended outside of the discharge chamber with typical dimension of 10-15 mm in width and less than 1.0 mm in thickness, which are adjustable by changing the discharge chamber design and operating conditions. The brush-shaped plasma provides some unique features and distinct nonequilibrium plasma characteristics. Temperature measurements using a thermocouple thermometer showed that the gas phase temperatures of the plasma brush are close to room temperature (as low as 42 deg. C) when running with a relatively high gas flow rate of about 3500 ml/min. For an argon plasma brush, the operating voltage from less than 500 V to about 2500 V was tested, with an argon gas flow rate varied from less than 1000 to 3500 ml/min. The cold plasma brush can most efficiently use the discharge power as well as the plasma gas for material and surface treatment. The very low power consumption of such an atmospheric argon plasma brush provides many unique advantages in practical applications including battery-powered operation and use in large-scale applications. Several polymer film samples were tested for surface treatment with the newly developed device, and successful changes of the wettability property from hydrophobic to hydrophilic were achieved within a few seconds

Modification of K-line emission profiles in laser-created solid-density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sengebusch, A.; Reinholz, H.; Roepke, G.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. X-ray emissions in the keV energy range have shown to be suitable radiation to investigate the properties of laser-created solid-density plasmas. We use the modifications of inner shell transitions due to the environment to characterize these plasmas. A theoretical treatment of spectral line profiles based on a self-consistent ion sphere model is applied on moderately ionized mid-Z materials, such as titanium, silicon and chlorine. We observe large contributions of satellite transitions due to M-shell ionization and excitation. To determine the composition a mixture of various excited and ionized ionic states embedded in a plasma has to be considered. Plasma polarization effects that cause shifts of the emission and ionization energies are taken into account. K-line profiles are calculated for bulk temperatures up to 100 eV and free electron densities up to 10 24 cm -3 in order to analyze recent measurements with respect to the plasma parameters of electron heated target regions. Moreover, in high-intensity laser-matter interactions, inevitable prepulses are likely to create preplasma and shocks within the target before the main pulse arrives. We investigate the influence of density gradients due to prepulses on the spectral profiles. Further, radial bulk temperature distributions as well the composition of the created warm dense matter are inferred.

Atmospheric pressure plasma surface modification of carbon fibres

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro; Løgstrup Andersen, Tom; Michelsen, Poul

2008-01-01

Carbon fibres are continuously treated with dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure in various gas conditions for adhesion improvement in mind. An x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis indicated that oxygen is effectively introduced onto the carbon fibre surfaces by He, He...

Electron density measurement of non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma using dispersion interferometer

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Shinji; Kasahara, Hiroshi; Akiyama, Tsuyoshi

2017-10-01

Medical applications of non-equilibrium atmospheric plasmas have recently been attracting a great deal of attention, where many types of plasma sources have been developed to meet the purposes. For example, plasma-activated medium (PAM), which is now being studied for cancer treatment, has been produced by irradiating non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma with ultrahigh electron density to a culture medium. Meanwhile, in order to measure electron density in magnetic confinement plasmas, a CO2 laser dispersion interferometer has been developed and installed on the Large Helical Device (LHD) at the National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan. The dispersion interferometer has advantages that the measurement is insensitive to mechanical vibrations and changes in neutral gas density. Taking advantage of these properties, we applied the dispersion interferometer to electron density diagnostics of atmospheric pressure plasmas produced by the NU-Global HUMAP-WSAP-50 device, which is used for producing PAM. This study was supported by the Grant of Joint Research by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS).

Optical Emission Spectroscopy of an Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet During Tooth Bleaching Gel Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Šantak, Vedran; Zaplotnik, Rok; Tarle, Zrinka; Milošević, Slobodan

2015-11-01

Optical emission spectroscopy was performed during atmospheric pressure plasma needle helium jet treatment of various tooth-bleaching gels. When the gel sample was inserted under the plasma plume, the intensity of all the spectral features increased approximately two times near the plasma needle tip and up to two orders of magnitude near the sample surface. The color change of the hydroxylapatite pastille treated with bleaching gels in conjunction with the atmospheric pressure plasma jet was found to be in correlation with the intensity of OH emission band (309 nm). Using argon as an additive to helium flow (2 L/min), a linear increase (up to four times) of OH intensity and, consequently, whitening (up to 10%) of the pastilles was achieved. An atmospheric pressure plasma jet activates bleaching gel, accelerates OH production, and accelerates tooth bleaching (up to six times faster).

Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Cleaning of Contaminated Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hicks, Robert F.; Herrmann, Hans W.

2003-01-01

The objective of this work is to demonstrate a practical, atmospheric pressure plasma tool for the surface decontamination of radioactive waste. Decontamination of radioactive materials that have accumulated on the surfaces of equipment and structures is a challenging and costly undertaking for the US Department of Energy. Our technology shows great potential for accelerating this clean up effort

Similarity analysis for the high-pressure inductively coupled plasma source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanden-Abeele, D; Degrez, G

2004-01-01

It is well known that the optimal operating parameters of an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch strongly depend upon its dimensions. To understand this relationship better, we derive a dimensionless form of the equations governing the behaviour of high-pressure ICPs. The requirement of similarity then naturally leads to expressions for the operating parameters as a function of the plasma radius. In addition to the well-known scaling law for frequency, surprising results appear for the dependence of the mass flow rate, dissipated power and operating pressure upon the plasma radius. While the obtained laws do not appear to be in good agreement with empirical results in the literature, their correctness is supported by detailed numerical calculations of ICP sources of varying diameters. The approximations of local thermodynamic equilibrium and negligible radiative losses restrict the validity of our results and can be responsible for the disagreement with empirical data. The derived scaling laws are useful for the design of new plasma torches and may provide explanations for the unsteadiness observed in certain existing ICP sources

Sterilization and decontamination of surfaces using atmospheric pressure plasma discharges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garate, E.; Gornostaeva, O.; Alexeff, I.; Kang, W.L.

1999-07-01

The goal of the program is to demonstrate that an atmospheric pressure plasma discharge can rapidly and effectively sterilize or decontaminate surfaces that are contaminated with model biological and chemical warfare agents. The plasma is produced by corona discharge from an array of pins and a ground plane. The array is constructed so that various gases, like argon or helium, can be flowed past the pins where the discharge is initiated. The pin array can be biased using either DC. AC or pulsed discharges. the work done to date has focused on the sterilization of aluminum, polished steel and tantalum foil metal coupons, about 2 cm on a side and 2 mm thick, which have been inoculated with up to 10{sup 6} spores per coupon of Bacillus subtilis var niger or Bascillus stearothermorphilus. Results indicate that 5 minute exposures to the atmospheric pressure plasma discharge can reduce the viable spore count by 4 orders of magnitude. The atmospheric pressure discharge is also effective in decomposing organic phosphate compounds that are stimulants for chemical warfare agents. Details of the decomposition chemistry, by-product formation, and electrical energy consumption of the system will be discussed.

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet with high-voltage power supply based on piezoelectric transformer.

Science.gov (United States)

Babij, Michał; Kowalski, Zbigniew W; Nitsch, Karol; Silberring, Jerzy; Gotszalk, Teodor

2014-05-01

The dielectric barrier discharge plasma jet, an example of the nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), generates low-temperature plasmas that are suitable for the atomization of volatile species and can also be served as an ionization source for ambient mass and ion mobility spectrometry. A new design of APPJ for mass spectrometry has been built in our group. In these plasma sources magnetic transformers (MTs) and inductors are typically used in power supplies but they present several drawbacks that are even more evident when dealing with high-voltage normally used in APPJs. To overcome these disadvantages, high frequency generators with the absence of MT are proposed in the literature. However, in the case of miniaturized APPJs these conventional power converters, built of ferromagnetic cores and inductors or by means of LC resonant tank circuits, are not so useful as piezoelectric transformer (PT) based power converters due to bulky components and small efficiency. We made and examined a novel atmospheric pressure plasma jet with PT supplier served as ionization source for ambient mass spectrometry, and especially mobile spectrometry where miniaturization, integration of components, and clean plasma are required. The objective of this paper is to describe the concept, design, and implementation of this miniaturized piezoelectric transformer-based atmospheric pressure plasma jet.

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet with high-voltage power supply based on piezoelectric transformer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babij, Michał; Kowalski, Zbigniew W., E-mail: zbigniew.w.kowalski@pwr.wroc.pl; Nitsch, Karol; Gotszalk, Teodor [Wrocław University of Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław (Poland); Silberring, Jerzy [AGH University of Science and Technology, Al. A. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków (Poland)

2014-05-15

The dielectric barrier discharge plasma jet, an example of the nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), generates low-temperature plasmas that are suitable for the atomization of volatile species and can also be served as an ionization source for ambient mass and ion mobility spectrometry. A new design of APPJ for mass spectrometry has been built in our group. In these plasma sources magnetic transformers (MTs) and inductors are typically used in power supplies but they present several drawbacks that are even more evident when dealing with high-voltage normally used in APPJs. To overcome these disadvantages, high frequency generators with the absence of MT are proposed in the literature. However, in the case of miniaturized APPJs these conventional power converters, built of ferromagnetic cores and inductors or by means of LC resonant tank circuits, are not so useful as piezoelectric transformer (PT) based power converters due to bulky components and small efficiency. We made and examined a novel atmospheric pressure plasma jet with PT supplier served as ionization source for ambient mass spectrometry, and especially mobile spectrometry where miniaturization, integration of components, and clean plasma are required. The objective of this paper is to describe the concept, design, and implementation of this miniaturized piezoelectric transformer-based atmospheric pressure plasma jet.

Decline of the relative risk of death associated with low employment grade at older age: the impact of age related differences in smoking, blood pressure and plasma cholesterol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marang-van de Mheen, P. J.; Shipley, M. J.; Witteman, J. C.; Marmot, M. G.; Gunning-Schepers, L. J.

2001-01-01

To explore whether the observed age related decline in the relative risk of death associated with low employment grade can be explained by the profiles of smoking, blood pressure and plasma cholesterol changing differently with age between the employment grades. Prospective cohort study with 25

Interactive network analysis of the plasma amino acids profile in a mouse model of hyperglycemia

OpenAIRE

Tanaka, Takayuki; Mochida, Taiga; Maki, Yukihiro; Shiraki, Yasuko; Mori, Hiroko; Matsumoto, Shirou; Shimbo, Kazutaka; Ando, Toshihiko; Nakamura, Kimitoshi; Endo, Fumio; Okamoto, Masahiro

2013-01-01

Amino acids are a group of metabolites that are important substrates for protein synthesis, are important as signaling molecules and play central roles as highly connected metabolic hubs, and therefore, there are many reports that describe disease-specific abnormalities in plasma amino acids profile. However, the causes of progression from a healthy control to a manifestation of the plasma amino acid changes remain obscure. Here, we extended the plasma amino acids profile to relationships tha...

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets: an overview of devices and new directions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winter, J; Brandenburg, R; Weltmann, K-D

2015-01-01

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets have a long history of more than 50 years. During this time their design and plasma generation mechanism has been developed and adapted to various fields of applications. This review aims at giving an overview of jet devices by starting with a brief history of their development. This is followed by an overview of commonly used terms and definitions as well as a survey of different classification schemes (e.g. geometry, excition frequency or specific energy input) described in literature. A selective update of new designs and novel research achievments on atmospheric pressure plasma jets published in 2012 or later shows the impressive variety and rapid development of the field. Finally, a brief outlook on the future trends and directions is given. (paper)

Atmospheric pressure plasma cleaning of contamination surfaces. 1997 mid-year progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hicks, R.; Selwyn, G.S.

1997-01-01

'Goals of the project are to (1) identify the key physics and chemistry underlying the use of high pressure plasmas for etching removal of actinides and actinide surrogates; and (2) identify key surface reactions and plasma physics necessary for optimization of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet. Technical description of the work decommissioning of transuranic waste (TRU) into low-level radioactive waste (LLW) represents the largest cleanup cost associated with the nuclear weapons complex. This work is directed towards developing a low-cost plasma technology capable of converting TRU into LLW, based upon highly selective plasma etching of plutonium and other actinides from contaminated surfaces. In this way, only the actinide material is removed, leaving the surface less contaminated. The plasma etches actinide material by producing a volatile halide compound, which may be efficiently trapped using filters. To achieve practical, low-cost operation of a plasma capable of etching actinide materials, the authors have developed a y-mode, resonant-cavity, atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ). In contrast to conventional, low pressure plasmas, the APPJ produces a purely-chemical effluent free of ions, and so achieves very high selectivity and produces negligible damage to the surface. Since the jet operates outside a chamber, many nuclear wastes may be treated including machinery, duct-work, concrete and other building materials. In some cases, it may be necessary to first remove paint from contaminated surfaces using a plasma selective for that surface, then to switch to the actinide etching chemistry for removal of actinide contamination. The goal of this work is to develop the underlying science required for maturation of this technology and to establish early version engineering prototypes. Accomplishments to Date The authors have made significant progress in this program. The work conducted jointly at Los Alamos and at UCLA. This has been facilitated by exchange

Atmospheric pressure plasma cleaning of contamination surfaces. 1997 mid-year progress report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Selwyn, G.S. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (US); Hicks, R. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (US)

1997-06-01

'Goals of the project are to (1) identify the key physics and chemistry underlying the use of high pressure plasmas for etching removal of actinides and actinide surrogates; and (2) identify key surface reactions and plasma physics necessary for optimization of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet. Technical description of the work decommissioning of transuranic waste (TRU) into low-level radioactive waste (LLW) represents the largest cleanup cost associated with the nuclear weapons complex. This work is directed towards developing a low-cost plasma technology capable of converting TRU into LLW, based upon highly selective plasma etching of plutonium and other actinides from contaminated surfaces. In this way, only the actinide material is removed, leaving the surface less contaminated. The plasma etches actinide material by producing a volatile halide compound, which may be efficiently trapped using filters. To achieve practical, low-cost operation of a plasma capable of etching actinide materials, the authors have developed a y-mode, resonant-cavity, atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ). In contrast to conventional, low pressure plasmas, the APPJ produces a purely-chemical effluent free of ions, and so achieves very high selectivity and produces negligible damage to the surface. Since the jet operates outside a chamber, many nuclear wastes may be treated including machinery, duct-work, concrete and other building materials. In some cases, it may be necessary to first remove paint from contaminated surfaces using a plasma selective for that surface, then to switch to the actinide etching chemistry for removal of actinide contamination. The goal of this work is to develop the underlying science required for maturation of this technology and to establish early version engineering prototypes. Accomplishments to Date The authors have made significant progress in this program. The work conducted jointly at Los Alamos and at UCLA. This has been facilitated by

Measurements of Electron Temperature and Density Profiles of Plasmas Produced by Nike KrF Laser for Laser Plasma Instability (LPI) Research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Obenschain, S. P.; Schmitt, A. J.; Kehne, D. M.; Karasik, M.; Chan, L.-Y.; Serlin, V.; Phillips, L.

2012-10-01

ExperimentsfootnotetextJ. Oh, et al, GO5.4, APS DPP (2010).^,footnotetextJ. L. Weaver, et al, GO5.3, APS DPP (2010). using Nike KrF laser observed LPI signatures from CH plasmas at the laser intensities above ˜1x10^15 W/cm^2. Knowing spatial profiles of temperature (Te) and density (ne) in the underdense coronal region (0 Nike LPI experiment, a side-on grid imaging refractometer (GIR)footnotetextR. S. Craxton, et al, Phys. Fluids B 5, 4419 (1993). is being deployed for measuring the underdense plasma profiles. The GIR will resolve Te and ne in space taking a 2D snapshot of probe laser (λ= 263 nm, δt = 10 psec) beamlets (50μm spacing) refracted by the plasma at a selected time during the laser illumination. Time-resolved spectrometers with an absolute-intensity-calibrated photodiode array and a streak camera will simultaneously monitor light emission from the plasma in spectral ranges relevant to Raman (SRS) and two plasmon decay (TDP) instabilities. The experimental study of effects of the plasma profiles on the LPI initiation will be presented.

Reactive species in non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure plasmas: Generation, transport, and biological effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, X., E-mail: luxinpei@hotmail.com [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China); IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Naidis, G.V. [Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 125412 (Russian Federation); Laroussi, M. [Plasma Engineering & Medicine Institute, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529 (United States); Reuter, S. [Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology, Felix-Hausdorff-Strasse 2, 17489 Greifswald (Germany); Graves, D.B. [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Ostrikov, K. [Institute for Future Environments, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000 (Australia); School of Physics, Chemistry, and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000 (Australia); Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, P.O.Box 218, Lindfield, NSW 2070 (Australia); School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2016-05-04

Non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure plasmas have recently become a topical area of research owing to their diverse applications in health care and medicine, environmental remediation and pollution control, materials processing, electrochemistry, nanotechnology and other fields. This review focuses on the reactive electrons and ionic, atomic, molecular, and radical species that are produced in these plasmas and then transported from the point of generation to the point of interaction with the material, medium, living cells or tissues being processed. The most important mechanisms of generation and transport of the key species in the plasmas of atmospheric-pressure plasma jets and other non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure plasmas are introduced and examined from the viewpoint of their applications in plasma hygiene and medicine and other relevant fields. Sophisticated high-precision, time-resolved plasma diagnostics approaches and techniques are presented and their applications to monitor the reactive species and plasma dynamics in the plasma jets and other discharges, both in the gas phase and during the plasma interaction with liquid media, are critically reviewed. The large amount of experimental data is supported by the theoretical models of reactive species generation and transport in the plasmas, surrounding gaseous environments, and plasma interaction with liquid media. These models are presented and their limitations are discussed. Special attention is paid to biological effects of the plasma-generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen (and some other) species in basic biological processes such as cell metabolism, proliferation, survival, etc. as well as plasma applications in bacterial inactivation, wound healing, cancer treatment and some others. Challenges and opportunities for theoretical and experimental research are discussed and the authors’ vision for the emerging convergence trends across several disciplines and application domains is presented to

Plasma density profiles and finite bandwidth effects on electron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spielman, R.B.; Mizuno, K.; DeGroot, J.S.; Bollen, W.M.; Woo, W.

1980-01-01

Intense, p-polarized microwaves are incident on an inhomogeneous plasma in a cylindrical waveguide. Microwaves are mainly absorbed by resonant absorption near the critical surface (where the plasma frequency, ω/sub pe/, equals the microwave frequency, ω/sub o/). The localized plasma waves strongly modify the plasma density. Step-plateau density profiles or a cavity are created depending on the plasma flow speed. Hot electron production is strongly affected by the microwave bandwidth. The hot electron temperature varies as T/sub H/ is proportional to (Δ ω/ω) -0 25 . As the hot electron temperature decreases with increasing driver bandwidth, the hot electron density increases. This increase is such that the heat flux into the overdense region (Q is proportional to eta/sub H/T/sub H/ 3 2 ) is nearly constant

Emission spectroscopy of argon ferrocene mixture jet in a low pressure plasma reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiwari, N.; Tak, A.K.; Chakravarthy, Y.; Shukla, A.; Meher, K.C.; Ghorui, S.; Thiyagarajan, T.K.

2015-01-01

Emission spectroscopy is employed to measure the plasma temperature and species identification in a reactor used for studying homogenous nucleation and growth of iron nano particle. Reactor employs segmented non transferred plasma torch mounted on water cooled cylindrical chamber. The plasma jet passes through graphite nozzle and expands in low pressure reactor. Ferrocene is fed into the nozzle where it mixes with Argon plasma jet. A high resolution spectrograph (SHAMROCK 303i, resolution 0.06 nm) has been used to record the spectra over a wide range. Identification of different emission lines has been done using NIST database. Lines from (700 to 860nm) were considered for calculation of temperature. Spectra were recorded for different axial location, pressure and power. Temperature was calculated using Maxwell Boltzman plot method. Variation in temperature with pressure and location is presented and possible reasons for different behaviour are explored. (author)

Two dimensional radial gas flows in atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Gwihyun; Park, Seran; Shin, Hyunsu; Song, Seungho; Oh, Hoon-Jung; Ko, Dae Hong; Choi, Jung-Il; Baik, Seung Jae

2017-12-01

Atmospheric pressure (AP) operation of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is one of promising concepts for high quality and low cost processing. Atmospheric plasma discharge requires narrow gap configuration, which causes an inherent feature of AP PECVD. Two dimensional radial gas flows in AP PECVD induces radial variation of mass-transport and that of substrate temperature. The opposite trend of these variations would be the key consideration in the development of uniform deposition process. Another inherent feature of AP PECVD is confined plasma discharge, from which volume power density concept is derived as a key parameter for the control of deposition rate. We investigated deposition rate as a function of volume power density, gas flux, source gas partial pressure, hydrogen partial pressure, plasma source frequency, and substrate temperature; and derived a design guideline of deposition tool and process development in terms of deposition rate and uniformity.

Influence of gender on the correlation between plasma growth hormone profiles and urinary growth hormone excretion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Main, K M; Jansson, C; Skakkebak, N

1997-01-01

A lot of interest has been directed towards the measurement of urinary growth hormone (GH) excretion instead of plasma GH profiles or provocation tests. We investigated the factors influencing the relationship between 24- and 3-hour plasma GH profiles and urinary GH excretion in a cohort of 113...... than spontaneous GH peaks. The difference in cross-reactivities of molecular GH forms in polyclonal assays may have an impact on the correlation between plasma and urinary GH. Thus, the diagnostic value of urinary GH measurement as compared to serum GH profiles needs to be further evaluated....

Anomalous plasma heating induced by modulation of the current-density profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopes Cardozo, N.J.

1985-05-01

The usual plasma heating in a tokamak needs additional heating to reach ignition temperature (approx. 10 8 K). The method used in the TORTUR III experiment is to induce anomalous plasma resistivity by applying a short (10 microseconds) high-voltage pulse. A sharp rise of the plasma temperature is found almost simultaneously, but this effect, though considerable, is too short-lived to be of interest for a thermonuclear chain reaction. A second pulse gives a second rise of temperature, but this time a slow one, extending over several milliseconds. The mechanism of this delayed heating and the reservoir within the plasma supplying the energy are subjects of investigation in the TORTUR III experiments. Some conclusions concerning the plasma heating mechanism are presented. The conclusion is reached that the application of the high-voltage pulse results in a modulation of the current-density profile: the (normally already peaked) profile sharpens, the current concentrates in the centre of the plasma column. This is a non-equilibrium situation. It relaxes to the noraml current distribution within approximately 2 milliseconds. As long as this relaxation process is not finished, the dissipation is on an enhanced level and anomalous plasma heating is observed. Many plasma parameters are surveyed and evaluated: temperature (both of the ions and the electrons), density, emission spectrum (from microwaves to hard X-rays) and the fluctuation spectrum. Main subject of this report is the measurement and interpretation of the X-rays of the emission spectrum. Experimental results are presented and discussed

Generation of high-power-density atmospheric pressure plasma with liquid electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Lifang; Mao Zhiguo; Yin Zengqian; Ran Junxia

2004-01-01

We present a method for generating atmospheric pressure plasma using a dielectric barrier discharge reactor with two liquid electrodes. Four distinct kinds of discharge, including stochastic filaments, regular square pattern, glow-like discharge, and Turing stripe pattern, are observed in argon with a flow rate of 9 slm. The electrical and optical characteristics of the device are investigated. Results show that high-power-density atmospheric pressure plasma with high duty ratio in space and time can be obtained. The influence of wall charges on discharge power and duty ratio has been discussed

Plasma confinement in a magnetic dipole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kesner, J.; Bromberg, L.; Garnier, D.; Mauel, M.

1999-01-01

A dipole fusion confinement device is stable to MHD interchange and ballooning modes when the pressure profile is sufficiently gentle. The plasma can be confined at high beta, is steady state and disruption free. Theory indicates that when the pressure gradient is sufficiently gentle to satisfy MHD requirements drift waves will also be stable. The dipole approach is particularly applicable for advanced fuels. A new experimental facility is presently being built to test the stability and transport properties of a dipole-confined plasma. (author)

Plasma confinement in a magnetic dipole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kesner, J.; Bromberg, L.; Garnier, D.; Mauel, M.

2001-01-01

A dipole fusion confinement device is stable to MHD interchange and ballooning modes when the pressure profile is sufficiently gentle. The plasma can be confined at high beta, is steady state and disruption free. Theory indicates that when the pressure gradient is sufficiently gentle to satisfy MHD requirements drift waves will also be stable. The dipole approach is particularly applicable for advanced fuels. A new experimental facility is presently being built to test the stability and transport properties of a dipole-confined plasma. (author)

Dynamics of ZnO laser produced plasma in high pressure argon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaydashev, V.E.; Lunney, J.G.

2011-01-01

Pulsed laser deposition of ZnO in high pressure gas offers a route for the catalyst-free preparation of ZnO nanorods less than 10 nm in diameter. This paper describes the results of some experiments to investigate the laser plume dynamics in the high gas pressure (5 x 10 3 -10 4 Pa) regime used for PLD of ZnO nanorods. In this regime the ablation plume is strongly coupled to the gas and the plume expansion is brought to a halt within about 1 cm from the target. A 248 nm excimer laser was used to ablate a ceramic ZnO target in various pressures of argon. Time- and space-resolved UV/vis emission spectroscopy and Langmuir probe measurements were used to diagnose the plasma and follow the plume dynamics. By measuring the spatial profiles of Zn I and Zn II spectral lines it was possible to follow the propagation of the external and internal shock waves associated with the interaction of the ablation plume with the gas. The Langmuir probe measurements showed that the electron density was 10 9 -10 10 cm -3 and the electron temperature was several eV. At these conditions the ionization equilibrium is described by the collisional-radiative model. The plume dynamics was also studied for ZnO targets doped with elements which are lighter (Mg), comparable to (Ga), and heavier (Er) than Zn, to see if there is any elemental segregation in the plume.

Radiofrequency initiation and radiofrequency sustainment of laser initiated seeded high pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paller, Eric S.; Scharer, John E.; Akhtar, Kamran; Kelly, Kurt; Ding, Guowen

2001-01-01

We examine radiofrequency initiation of high pressure(1-70 Torr) inductive plasma discharges in argon, nitrogen, air and organic seed gas mixtures. Millimeter wave interferometry, optical emission and antenna wave impedance measurements for double half-turn helix and helical inductive antennas are used to interpret the rf/plasma coupling, measure the densities in the range of 10 12 cm -3 and analyze the ionization and excited states of the gas mixtures. We have also carried out 193 nm excimer laser initiation of an organic gas seed plasma which is sustained at higher pressures(150 Torr) by radiofrequency coupling at 2.8 kW power levels

Exploratory Study on Plasma Immunomodulator and Antibody Profiles in Tuberculosis Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Ravindran, Resmi; Krishnan, Viswanathan V.; Khanum, Azra; Luciw, Paul A.

2013-01-01

Host immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis are generally able to contain infection and maintain a delicate balance between protection and immunopathology. A shift in this balance appears to underlie active disease observed in about 10% of infected individuals. Effects of local inflammation, combined with anti-M. tuberculosis systemic immune responses, are directly detectable in peripheral circulation, without ex vivo stimulation of blood cells or biopsy of the affected organs. We studied plasma immunomodulator and antibody biomarkers in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) by a combination of multiplex microbead immunoassays and computational tools for data analysis. Plasma profiles of 10 immunomodulators and antibodies against eight M. tuberculosis antigens (previously reported by us) were examined in active pulmonary TB patients in a country where TB is endemic, Pakistan. Multiplex analyses were performed on samples from apparently healthy individuals without active TB from the same community as the TB patients to establish the assay baselines for all analytes. Over 3,000 data points were collected from patients (n = 135) and controls (n = 37). The data were analyzed by multivariate and computer-assisted cluster analyses to reveal patterns of plasma immunomodulators and antibodies. This study shows plasma profiles that in most patients represented either strong antibody or strong immunomodulator biomarkers. Profiling of a combination of both immunomodulators and antibodies described here may be valuable for the analysis of host immune responses in active TB in countries where the disease is endemic. PMID:23761664

Code Description for Generation of Meteorological Height and Pressure Level and Layer Profiles

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

defined by user input height or pressure levels. It can process input profiles from sensing systems such as radiosonde, lidar, or wind profiling radar...routine may be required for different input types and formats. meteorological sounding interpolation , integrated mean layer values, US Army Research...or other radiosonde soundings. There are 2 main versions or “methods” that produce output in height- or pressure-based profiles of interpolated level

Effect of the atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasmas on the conformational changes of plasmid DNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Xu; He Guangyuan; Shi Mengjun; Gao Xuan; Li Yin; Ma Fengyun; Yu Men; Wang Changdong; Wang Yuesheng; Yang Guangxiao; Zou Fei; Lu Xinpei; Xiong Qing; Xiong Zilan

2009-01-01

The cold atmospheric pressure plasma, which has been widely used for biomedical applications, may potentially affect the conformation of DNA. In this letter, an atmospheric pressure plasma plume is used to investigate its effects on the conformational changes of DNA of plasmid pAHC25. It is found that the plasma plume could cause plasmid DNA topology alteration, resulting in the percentage of the supercoiled plasmid DNA form decreased while that of the open circular and linearized form of plasmid DNA increased as detected by agrose gel electrophoresis. On the other hand, further investigation by using polymerase chain reaction method shows that the atmospheric pressure plasma jet treatments under proper conditions does not affect the genes of the plasmid DNA, which may have potential application in increasing the transformation frequency by genetic engineering.

Characterization of a dielectric barrier plasma gun discharging at atmospheric pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Guangqiu; Ge Yuanjing; Zhang Yuefei; Chen Guangliang

2004-01-01

The authors develop a plasma gun based on dielectric barrier discharge and working at atmospheric pressure. A theoretical model to predict the gun discharge voltage is built, which is in agreement with the experimental results. After investigating the characterization of discharging gun and utilizing it for polymerization, authors find that the gun can be used as a source to generate a stable uniform plasma for different plasma-processing technologies. (author)

An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Setup to Investigate the Reactive Species Formation

OpenAIRE

Gorbanev, Yury; Soriano, Robert; O'Connell, Deborah; Chechik, Victor

2016-01-01

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure ('cold') plasmas have received increased attention in recent years due to their significant biomedical potential. The reactions of cold plasma with the surrounding atmosphere yield a variety of reactive species, which can define its effectiveness. While efficient development of cold plasma therapy requires kinetic models, model benchmarking needs empirical data. Experimental studies of the source of reactive species detected in aqueous solutions exposed to pla...

Achieving uniform layer deposition by atmospheric-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jae-Ok [Department of Plasma Engineering, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Woo Seok, E-mail: kang@kimm.re.kr [Department of Plasma Engineering, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Environment & Energy Mechanical Engineering, University of Science & Technology (UST), Daejeon 305-350 (Korea, Republic of); Hur, Min; Lee, Jin Young [Department of Plasma Engineering, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Song, Young-Hoon [Department of Plasma Engineering, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Environment & Energy Mechanical Engineering, University of Science & Technology (UST), Daejeon 305-350 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-12-31

This work investigates the use of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition under atmospheric pressure for achieving uniform layer formation. Electrical and optical measurements demonstrated that the counterbalance between oxygen and precursors maintained the homogeneous discharge mode, while creating intermediate species for layer deposition. Several steps of the deposition process of the layers, which were processed on a stationary stage, were affected by flow stream and precursor depletion. This study showed that by changing the flow streamlines using substrate stage motion uniform layer deposition under atmospheric pressure can be achieved. - Highlights: • Zirconium oxide was deposited by atmospheric-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. • Homogeneous plasma was maintained by counterbalancing between discharge gas and precursors. • Several deposition steps were observed affected by the gas flow stream and precursor depletion. • Thin film layer was uniformly grown when the substrate underwent a sweeping motion.

Numerical Investigation of Pressure Profile in Hydrodynamic Lubrication Thrust Bearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Najar, Farooq Ahmad; Harmain, G A

2014-01-01

Reynolds equation is solved using finite difference method (FDM) on the surface of the tilting pad to find the pressure distribution in the lubricant oil film. Different pressure profiles with grid independence are described. The present work evaluates pressure at various locations after performing a thorough grid refinement. In recent similar works, this aspect has not been addressed. However, present study shows that it can have significant effect on the pressure profile. Results of a sector shaped pad are presented and it is shown that the maximum average value of pressure is 12% (approximately) greater than the previous results. Grid independence occurs after 24 × 24 grids. A parameter "ψ" has been proposed to provide convenient indicator of obtaining grid independent results. ψ = |(P refinedgrid - P Refrence-grid)/P refinedgrid|, ψ ≤ ε, where "ε" can be fixed to a convenient value and a constant minimum film thickness value of 75 μm is used in present study. This important parameter is highlighted in the present work; the location of the peak pressure zone in terms of (r, θ) coordinates is getting shifted by changing the grid size which will help the designer and experimentalist to conveniently determine the position of pressure measurement probe.

Numerical Investigation of Pressure Profile in Hydrodynamic Lubrication Thrust Bearing

Science.gov (United States)

Najar, Farooq Ahmad; Harmain, G. A.

2014-01-01

Reynolds equation is solved using finite difference method (FDM) on the surface of the tilting pad to find the pressure distribution in the lubricant oil film. Different pressure profiles with grid independence are described. The present work evaluates pressure at various locations after performing a thorough grid refinement. In recent similar works, this aspect has not been addressed. However, present study shows that it can have significant effect on the pressure profile. Results of a sector shaped pad are presented and it is shown that the maximum average value of pressure is 12% (approximately) greater than the previous results. Grid independence occurs after 24 × 24 grids. A parameter “ψ” has been proposed to provide convenient indicator of obtaining grid independent results. ψ = |(P refinedgrid − P Refrence-grid)/P refinedgrid|, ψ ≤ ε, where “ε” can be fixed to a convenient value and a constant minimum film thickness value of 75 μm is used in present study. This important parameter is highlighted in the present work; the location of the peak pressure zone in terms of (r, θ) coordinates is getting shifted by changing the grid size which will help the designer and experimentalist to conveniently determine the position of pressure measurement probe. PMID:27350977

Langmuir probe study of a magnetically enhanced RF plasma source at pressures below 0.1 Pa

Science.gov (United States)

Kousal, Jaroslav; Tichý, Milan; Šebek, Ondřej; Čechvala, Juraj; Biederman, Hynek

2011-08-01

The majority of plasma polymerization sources operate at pressures higher than 1 Pa. At these pressures most common deposition methods do not show significant directionality. One way of enhancing the directional effects is to decrease the working pressure to increase the mean free path of the reactive molecules. The plasma source used in this work was designed to study the plasma polymerization process at pressures below 0.1 Pa. The source consists of the classical radio frequency (RF) (13.56 MHz, capacitive coupled) tubular reactor enhanced by an external magnetic circuit. The working gas is introduced into the discharge by a capillary. This forms a relatively localized zone of higher pressure where the monomer is activated. Due to the magnetic field, the plasma is constricted near the axis of the reactor with nearly collisionless gas flow. The plasma parameters were obtained using a double Langmuir probe. Plasma density in the range ni = 1013-1016 m-3 was obtained in various parts of the discharge under typical conditions. The presence of the magnetic field led to the presence of relatively strong electric fields (103 V m-1) and relatively high electron energies up to several tens of eV in the plasma.

Langmuir probe study of a magnetically enhanced RF plasma source at pressures below 0.1 Pa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kousal, Jaroslav; Tichy, Milan; Sebek, Ondrej; Cechvala, Juraj; Biederman, Hynek, E-mail: jaroslav.kousal@mff.cuni.cz [Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holesovickach 2, 180 00, Prague 8 (Czech Republic)

2011-08-15

The majority of plasma polymerization sources operate at pressures higher than 1 Pa. At these pressures most common deposition methods do not show significant directionality. One way of enhancing the directional effects is to decrease the working pressure to increase the mean free path of the reactive molecules. The plasma source used in this work was designed to study the plasma polymerization process at pressures below 0.1 Pa. The source consists of the classical radio frequency (RF) (13.56 MHz, capacitive coupled) tubular reactor enhanced by an external magnetic circuit. The working gas is introduced into the discharge by a capillary. This forms a relatively localized zone of higher pressure where the monomer is activated. Due to the magnetic field, the plasma is constricted near the axis of the reactor with nearly collisionless gas flow. The plasma parameters were obtained using a double Langmuir probe. Plasma density in the range n{sub i} = 10{sup 13}-10{sup 16} m{sup -3} was obtained in various parts of the discharge under typical conditions. The presence of the magnetic field led to the presence of relatively strong electric fields (10{sup 3} V m{sup -1}) and relatively high electron energies up to several tens of eV in the plasma.

Searching for order in atmospheric pressure plasma jets

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Jan; Sigeneger, Florian; Šperka, Jiří; Rodenburg, Cornelia; Foest, Rüdiger

2018-01-01

The self-organized discharge behaviour occurring in a non-thermal radio-frequency plasma jet in rare gases at atmospheric pressure was investigated. The frequency of the azimuthal rotation of filaments in the active plasma volume and their inclination were measured along with the gas temperature under varying discharge conditions. The gas flow and heating were described theoretically by a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The rotation frequencies obtained by both methods qualitatively agree. The results demonstrate that the plasma filaments forming an inclination angle α with the axial gas velocity u z are forced to a transversal movement with the velocity {u}φ =\\tan (α )\\cdot {u}z, which is oriented in the inclination direction. Variations of {u}φ in the model reveal that the observed dynamics minimizes the energy loss due to convective heat transfer by the gas flow. The control of the self-organization regime motivates the application of the plasma jet for precise and reproducible material processing.

Atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization of 1,3-butadiene for hydrophobic finishing of textile substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samanta, Kartick K; Jassal, Manjeet; Agrawal, Ashwini K, E-mail: ashwini@smita-iitd.co, E-mail: manjeet.jassal@smita-iitd.co [Smart and Innovative Textile Materials Group (SMITA), Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016 (India)

2010-02-01

Atmospheric pressure plasma processing of textile has both ecological and economical advantages over the wet-chemical processing. However, reaction in atmospheric pressure plasma has important challenges to be overcome before it can be successfully used for finishing applications in textile. These challenges are (i) generating stable glow plasma in presence liquid/gaseous monomer, and (ii) keeping the generated radicals active in the presence of contaminants such as oxygen and air. In this study, a stable glow plasma was generated at atmospheric pressure in the mixture of gaseous reactive monomer-1,3-butadiene and He and was made to react with cellulosic textile substrate. After 12 min of plasma treatment, the hydrophilic surface of the cellulosic substrate turned into highly hydrophobic surface. The hydrophobic finish was found to be durable to soap washing. After soap washing, a water drop of 37 {mu}l took around 250 s to get absorbed in the treated sample compared to < 1 s in the untreated samples. The plasma modified samples showed water contact angle of around 134{sup 0}. Both top and bottom sides of the fabric showed similar hydrophobic results in terms of water absorbency and contact angle. The results may be attributed to chemical reaction of butadiene with the cellulosic textile substrate. The surface characterization of the plasma modified samples under SEM and AFM revealed modification of the surface under <100 nm. The results showed that atmospheric pressure plasma can be successfully used for carrying out reaction of 1,3-butadiene with cellulosic textile substrates for producing hydrophobic surface finish.

More vertical etch profile using a Faraday cage in plasma etching

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Byeong-Ok; Hwang, Sung-Wook; Ryu, Jung-Hyun; Moon, Sang Heup

1999-05-01

Scanning electron microscope images of sidewalls obtained by plasma etching of an SiO2 film with and without a Faraday cage have been compared. When the substrate film is etched in the Faraday cage, faceting is effectively suppressed and the etch profile becomes more vertical regardless of the process conditions. This is because the electric potential in the cage is nearly uniform and therefore distortion of the electric field at the convex corner of a microfeature is prevented. The most vertical etch profile is obtained when the cage is used in fluorocarbon plasmas, where faceting is further suppressed due to the decrease in the chemical sputtering yield and the increase in the radical/ion flux on the substrate.

Atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization of 1,3-butadiene for hydrophobic finishing of textile substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samanta, Kartick K; Jassal, Manjeet; Agrawal, Ashwini K

2010-01-01

Atmospheric pressure plasma processing of textile has both ecological and economical advantages over the wet-chemical processing. However, reaction in atmospheric pressure plasma has important challenges to be overcome before it can be successfully used for finishing applications in textile. These challenges are (i) generating stable glow plasma in presence liquid/gaseous monomer, and (ii) keeping the generated radicals active in the presence of contaminants such as oxygen and air. In this study, a stable glow plasma was generated at atmospheric pressure in the mixture of gaseous reactive monomer-1,3-butadiene and He and was made to react with cellulosic textile substrate. After 12 min of plasma treatment, the hydrophilic surface of the cellulosic substrate turned into highly hydrophobic surface. The hydrophobic finish was found to be durable to soap washing. After soap washing, a water drop of 37 μl took around 250 s to get absorbed in the treated sample compared to 0 . Both top and bottom sides of the fabric showed similar hydrophobic results in terms of water absorbency and contact angle. The results may be attributed to chemical reaction of butadiene with the cellulosic textile substrate. The surface characterization of the plasma modified samples under SEM and AFM revealed modification of the surface under <100 nm. The results showed that atmospheric pressure plasma can be successfully used for carrying out reaction of 1,3-butadiene with cellulosic textile substrates for producing hydrophobic surface finish.

Measurement of the non-thermal properties of a low pressure spraying plasma by electric and spectroscopic methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Yong Ho

2003-02-01

For the case of an atmospheric plasma, the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model can be applied to plasmas at a nozzle entrance and to those on the axis of the plasma flame, but it is not easy to justify applying the LTE model to off-center plasma and to a low-pressure spraying plasma. Although the energy distribution of the electrons is assumed to be Maxwellian for the most of spraying plasmas, the non-Maxwellian distribution is possible for the case of low-pressure spaying plasma and edge plasma of atmospheric spraying plasma. In this work, the non-Maxwellian distribution of electrons was measured by using an electric probe installed on the fast scanning probe system, and non-LTE effects were measured by using the optical emission spectroscopy system. Distribution of the electrons of a low-pressure spraying plasma is observed not as Maxwellian but as bi-Maxwellian by the measurement of the single probe. Bi-Maxwellian distribution appears in the edge of a low pressure spraying plasma and seems to be due to the reduction of the collisonality by the drastic variation of the plasma density. Non-LTE characteristics of a low-pressure spraying plasma can be deuced from the measured results of the optical emission spectroscopy and is analyzed by the collisional radiative equilibrium (CRE) model, where the Maxwellian and the non-Maxwellian distributions are assumed for comparison. For the electron temperature, the results from optical emission spectroscopy were similar to the results from the single probe (3∼5 % in error)

Design of experiment approach for sintering study of nanocrystalline SiC fabricated using plasma pressure compaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bothara M.G.

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Plasma pressure compaction (P2C is a novel sintering technique that enables the consolidation of silicon carbide with a nanoscale microstructure at a relatively low temperature. To achieve a high final density with optimized mechanical properties, the effects of various sintering factors pertaining to the temperature-time profile and pressure were characterized. This paper reports a design of experiment approach used to optimize the processing for a 100 nm SiC powder focused on four sintering factors: temperature, time, pressure, and heating rate. Response variables included the density and mechanical properties. A L9 orthogonal array approach that includes the signal-to-noise (S/N ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA was employed to optimize the processing factors. All of the sintering factors have significant effect on the density and mechanical properties. A final density of 98.1% was achieved with a temperature of 1600°C, hold time of 30 min, pressure of 50 MPa, and heating rate of 100°C/min. The hardness reached 18.4 GPa with a fracture toughness of 4.6 MPa√m, and these are comparable to reports from prior studies using higher consolidation temperatures.

Differences in cardiovascular risk profile based on relationship between post-load plasma glucose and fasting plasma levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Succurro, Elena; Marini, Maria Adelaide; Grembiale, Alessandro; Lugarà, Marina; Andreozzi, Francesco; Sciacqua, Angela; Hribal, Marta Letizia; Lauro, Renato; Perticone, Francesco; Sesti, Giorgio

2009-05-01

It has been shown that subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), whose plasma glucose (PG) levels do not return to their fasting PG level within 2 h during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (Group I), have a significantly higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes than NGT subjects whose 2-h glucose returns to, or drops below, the fasting level (Group I). However, it is still unsettled whether individuals in Group II have a more atherogenic profile than Group I subjects. To address this issue, we examined 266 non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetic patients, recruited in the context of EUGENE2 cross-sectional study. All subjects underwent an euglycaemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, cardiovascular risk factors and ultrasound measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were evaluated. Individuals in Group II exhibited significantly higher waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, 2-h post-load PG, hsC-reactive protein, interleukin-6, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IMT, and lower insulin sensitivity than subjects in Group I. Subjects with NGT, whose PG concentration does not return to their fasting PG level within 2 h during OGTT, have an atherogenic profile, suggesting that performing OGTT with measurement of PG every 30 min may be useful to assess the risk for cardiovascular disease in glucose-tolerant subjects.

Altered gene-expression profile in rat plasma and promoted body ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Altered gene-expression profile in rat plasma and promoted body and brain development ... The study was aimed to explore how the prenatal EE impacts affect the ... positively promote the body and nervous system development of offspring, ...

Atomic and molecular hydrogen gas temperatures in a low-pressure helicon plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Samuell, Cameron M.; Corr, Cormac S.

2015-08-01

Neutral gas temperatures in hydrogen plasmas are important for experimental and modelling efforts in fusion technology, plasma processing, and surface modification applications. To provide values relevant to these application areas, neutral gas temperatures were measured in a low pressure (radiofrequency helicon discharge using spectroscopic techniques. The atomic and molecular species were not found to be in thermal equilibrium with the atomic temperature being mostly larger then the molecular temperature. In low power operation (measurements near a graphite target demonstrated localised cooling near the sample surface. The temporal evolution of the molecular gas temperature during a high power 1.1 ms plasma pulse was also investigated and found to vary considerably as a function of pressure.

Transient effects caused by pulsed gas and liquid injections into low pressure plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogawa, D; Goeckner, M; Overzet, L; Chung, C W

2010-01-01

The fast injection of liquid droplets into a glow discharge causes significant time variations in the pressure, the chemical composition of the gas and the phases present (liquid and/or solid along with gas). While the variations can be large and important, very few studies, especially kinetic studies, have been published. In this paper we examine the changes brought about in argon plasma by injecting Ar (gas), N 2 (gas) hexane (gas) and hexane (liquid droplets). The changes in the RF capacitively coupled power (forward and reflected), electron and ion density (n e , n i ), electron temperature (T e ) and optical emissions were monitored during the injections. It was found that the Ar injection (pressure change only) caused expected variations. The electron temperature reduced, the plasma density increased and the optical emission intensity remained nearly constant. The N 2 and hexane gas injections (chemical composition and pressure changes) also followed expected trends. The plasma densities increased and electron temperature decreased while the optical emissions changed from argon to the injected gas. These all serve to highlight the fact that the injection of evaporating hexane droplets in the plasma caused very little change. This is because the number of injected droplets is too small to noticeably affect the plasma, even though the shift in the chemical composition of the gas caused by evaporation from those same droplets can be very significant. The net conclusion is that using liquid droplets to inject precursors for low pressure plasmas is both feasible and controllable.

The effect of glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 polymorphisms on blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipid profiles following the supplementation of kale (Brassica oleracea acephala) juice in South Korean subclinical hypertensive patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jeong-Hwa; Lee, Hye-Jin; Kim, Tae-Seok; Kang, Myung-Hee

2015-02-01

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) forms a multigene family of phase II detoxification enzymes which are involved in the detoxification of reactive oxygen species. This study examines whether daily supplementation of kale juice can modulate blood pressure (BP), levels of lipid profiles, and blood glucose, and whether this modulation could be affected by the GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms. 84 subclinical hypertensive patients showing systolic BP over 130 mmHg or diastolic BP over 85 mmHg received 300 ml/day of kale juice for 6 weeks, and blood samples were collected on 0-week and 6-week in order to evaluate plasma lipid profiles (total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol) and blood glucose. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly decreased in all patients regardless of their GSTM1 or GSTT1 polymorphisms after kale juice supplementation. Blood glucose level was decreased only in the GSTM1-present genotype, and plasma lipid profiles showed no difference in both the GSTM1-null and GSTM1-present genotypes. In the case of GSTT1, on the other hand, plasma HDL-C was increased and LDL-C was decreased only in the GSTT1-present type, while blood glucose was decreased only in the GSTT1-null genotype. These findings suggest that the supplementation of kale juice affected blood pressure, lipid profiles, and blood glucose in subclinical hypertensive patients depending on their GST genetic polymorphisms, and the improvement of lipid profiles was mainly greater in the GSTT1-present genotype and the decrease of blood glucose was greater in the GSTM1-present or GSTT1-null genotypes.

Lyapunov-based distributed control of the safety-factor profile in a tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bribiesca Argomedo, Federico; Witrant, Emmanuel; Prieur, Christophe; Brémond, Sylvain; Nouailletas, Rémy; Artaud, Jean-François

2013-01-01

A real-time model-based controller is developed for the tracking of the distributed safety-factor profile in a tokamak plasma. Using relevant physical models and simplifying assumptions, theoretical stability and robustness guarantees were obtained using a Lyapunov function. This approach considers the couplings between the poloidal flux diffusion equation, the time-varying temperature profiles and an independent total plasma current control. The actuator chosen for the safety-factor profile tracking is the lower hybrid current drive, although the results presented can be easily extended to any non-inductive current source. The performance and robustness of the proposed control law is evaluated with a physics-oriented simulation code on Tore Supra experimental test cases. (paper)

Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet Surface Treatment for Use in Improving Adhesion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuettner, Lindsey Ann [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-09-06

Atmospheric-pressure plasma jets (APPJs) are a method of plasma treatment that plays an important role in material processing and modifying surface properties of materials, especially polymers. Gas plasmas react with polymer surfaces in numerous ways such as oxidation, radical formation, degradation, and promotion of cross-linking. Because of this, gas and plasma conditions can be explored for chosen processes to maximize desired properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate plasma parameters in order to modify surface properties for improved adhesion between aluminum and epoxy substrates using two types of adhesives. The background, results to date, and future work will be discussed.

Plasma metabolic profiling of dairy cows affected with clinical ketosis using LC/MS technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Y; Xu, C; Xia, C; Zhang, Hy; Sun, Lw; Gao, Y

2014-01-01

Ketosis in dairy cattle is an important metabolic disorder. Currently, the plasma metabolic profile of ketosis as determined using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has not been reported. To investigate plasma metabolic profiles from cows with clinical ketosis in comparison to control cows. Twenty Holstein dairy cows were divided into two groups based on clinical signs and plasma β-hydroxybutyric acid and glucose concentrations 7-21 days postpartum: clinical ketosis and control cows. Plasma metabolic profiles were analyzed using LC/MS. Data were processed using principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis. Compared to control cows, the levels of valine, glycine, glycocholic, tetradecenoic acid, and palmitoleic acid increased significantly in clinical ketosis. On the other hand, the levels of arginine, aminobutyric acid, leucine/isoleucine, tryptophan, creatinine, lysine, norcotinine, and undecanoic acid decreased markedly. Our results showed that the metabolic changes in cows with clinical ketosis involve complex metabolic networks and signal transduction. These results are important for future studies elucidating the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and prevention of clinical ketosis in dairy cows.

Computational study of plasma-solid interaction in DC glow discharge in argon plasma at medium pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Havlickova, E; Bartos, P; Hrach, R

2007-01-01

In the presented contribution two groups of techniques of computational physics-fluid modelling and non self-consistent particle technique were used to study plasma-solid interaction in argon plasma. We focused both on the physical processes taking place in the sheath at various pressures and on the problems of computational physics. The attention was given to preparation of two-dimensional fluid models with realistic assumptions about physical processes taking place in plasma during the plasma-solid interaction, further to improvement of the non self-consistent technique of particle modelling, where the external electric field was obtained either from the fluid model or directly from the trajectories of charged particles and finally to efficiency of individual algorithms

Effect of feed-gas humidity on nitrogen atmospheric-pressure plasma jet for biological applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephan, Karl D; McLean, Robert J C; DeLeon, Gian; Melnikov, Vadim

2016-11-14

We investigate the effect of feed-gas humidity on the oxidative properties of an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet using nitrogen gas. Plasma jets operating at atmospheric pressure are finding uses in medical and biological settings for sterilization and other applications involving oxidative stress applied to organisms. Most jets use noble gases, but some researchers use less expensive nitrogen gas. The feed-gas water content (humidity) has been found to influence the performance of noble-gas plasma jets, but has not yet been systematically investigated for jets using nitrogen gas. Low-humidity and high-humidity feed gases were used in a nitrogen plasma jet, and the oxidation effect of the jet was measured quantitatively using a chemical dosimeter known as FBX (ferrous sulfate-benzoic acid-xylenol orange). The plasma jet using high humidity was found to have about ten times the oxidation effect of the low-humidity jet, as measured by comparison with the addition of measured amounts of hydrogen peroxide to the FBX dosimeter. Atmospheric-pressure plasma jets using nitrogen as a feed gas have a greater oxidizing effect with a high level of humidity added to the feed gas.

Asymmetry of Hβ Stark profiles in T-tube hydrogen plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djurovic, S.; Nikolic, D.; Savic, I.; Soerge, S.; Demura, A. V.

2005-01-01

The whole Balmer H β line profiles are studied in detail experimentally in the T-tube discharge for the wide range of plasma parameters. Besides the common one, two additional parameters are introduced to characterize the asymmetry behavior of the experimental Stark profiles with the reference point chosen in the center of the line. The experimental data are analyzed and benchmarked versus the simple theoretical model based on the effects of microfield nonuniformity and electron impact shifts

Polydiagnostic calibration performed on a low pressure surface wave sustained argon plasma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de N.; Palomares, J.M.; Iordanova, E.I.; Veldhuizen, van E.M.; Mullen, van der J.J.A.M.

2008-01-01

The electron density and electron temperature of a low pressure surface wave sustained argon plasma have been determined using passive and active (laser) spectroscopic methods simultaneously. In this way the validity of the various techniques is established while the plasma properties are determined

Physico-chemical characteristics of high performance polymer modified by low and atmospheric pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhatnagar, Nitu; Sangeeta, Jha; Bhowmik, Shantanu; Gupta, Govind; Moon, J.B.; Kim, C.G.

2012-01-01

In this work, the effect of low pressure plasma and atmospheric p ressure plasma treatment on surface properties and adhesion characteristics of high performance polymer, Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK) are investigated in terms of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The experimental results show that the PEEK surface treated by atmospheric pressure plasma lead to an increase in the polar component of the surface energy, resulting in improving the adhesion characteristics of the PEEK/Epoxy adhesive system. Also, the roughness of the treated surfaces is largely increased as confirmed by AFM observation. These results can be explained by the fact that the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of PEEK surface yields several oxygen functionalities on hydrophobic surface, which play an important role in increasing the surface polarity, wettability, and the adhesion characteristics of the PEEK/Epoxy adhesive system. (authors)

On the relation between plasma and neutral gas profiles in a cold gas-blanket system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bures, M.

1981-01-01

A solution for the neutral density profile using the measured plasma density and temperature gradients is presented. The fluid model is used. It is found that the penetration length for neutrals is underestimated in the situation where the integrated profiles are used. The ionization rate need not be inferred in the present calculation, because the ionization of neutrals diffusing into the plasma is implicitly included in measured profiles. This calculation is advantageous in the low temperature range where the ionization rate is a strongly varying function of temperature. Finally the presented solution indicates that the temperature gradient plays the essential role in the determination of the neutral density profile. (Auth.)

Conditions for sustaining low-pressure plasma columns by travelling electromagnetic UHF waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benova, E.; Zhelyazkov, I.

1997-01-01

The paper considers the conditions for sustaining low-pressure plasma columns by travelling electromagnetic waves in symmetric and dipolar modes, respectively. The treatment is fully electrodynamic. It is shown that the wave energy flux along the plasma column determines the conditions for sustaining the discharge. In particular as the plasma is sustained by a symmetric wave whose flux depends mainly on the radial distribution of the wave electric field whilst for a dipolar wave sustained plasma the flux is specified by the magnitude of the axial wave field component at the plasma-dielectric interface. (orig.)

Plasma lipid profile, atherogenic and coronary risk indices in some ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

JTEkanem

2008-09-20

Sep 20, 2008 ... (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride, adiposity and blood pressure) in 92 ... cholesterol, although slightly higher in women, was not significantly different from that of ... inverse correlation between plasma high.

Measurements of electron density and temperature profiles in plasma produced by Nike KrF laser for laser plasma instability research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Karasik, M.; Chan, L. Y.

2015-08-01

A grid image refractometer (GIR) has been implemented at the Nike krypton fluoride laser facility of the Naval Research Laboratory. This instrument simultaneously measures propagation angles and transmissions of UV probe rays (λ = 263 nm, Δt = 10 ps) refracted through plasma. We report results of the first Nike-GIR measurement on a CH plasma produced by the Nike laser pulse (˜1 ns FWHM) with the intensity of 1.1 × 1015 W/cm2. The measured angles and transmissions were processed to construct spatial profiles of electron density (ne) and temperature (Te) in the underdense coronal region of the plasma. Using an inversion algorithm developed for the strongly refracted rays, the deployed GIR system probed electron densities up to 4 × 1021 cm-3 with the density scale length of 120 μm along the plasma symmetry axis. The resulting ne and Te profiles are verified to be self-consistent with the measured quantities of the refracted probe light.

Surface modification of polyester synthetic leather with tetramethylsilane by atmospheric pressure plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kan, C.W., E-mail: tccwk@polyu.edu.hk [Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon (Hong Kong); Kwong, C.H. [Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon (Hong Kong); Ng, S.P. [Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong)

2015-08-15

Highlights: • Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment improved surface performance of polyester synthetic leather with tetramethylsilane. • XPS and FTIR confirmed the deposition of organosilanes on the sample's surface. • Contact angle increases to 138° after plasma treatment. - Abstract: Much works have been done on synthetic materials but scarcely on synthetic leather owing to its surface structures in terms of porosity and roughness. This paper examines the use of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment for improving the surface performance of polyester synthetic leather by use of a precursor, tetramethylsilane (TMS). Plasma deposition is regarded as an effective, simple and single-step method with low pollution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirm the deposition of organosilanes on the sample's surface. The results showed that under a particular combination of treatment parameters, a hydrophobic surface was achieved on the APP treated sample with sessile drop static contact angle of 138°. The hydrophobic surface is stable without hydrophilic recovery 30 days after plasma treatment.

Surface modification of polyester synthetic leather with tetramethylsilane by atmospheric pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kan, C.W.; Kwong, C.H.; Ng, S.P.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment improved surface performance of polyester synthetic leather with tetramethylsilane. • XPS and FTIR confirmed the deposition of organosilanes on the sample's surface. • Contact angle increases to 138° after plasma treatment. - Abstract: Much works have been done on synthetic materials but scarcely on synthetic leather owing to its surface structures in terms of porosity and roughness. This paper examines the use of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment for improving the surface performance of polyester synthetic leather by use of a precursor, tetramethylsilane (TMS). Plasma deposition is regarded as an effective, simple and single-step method with low pollution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirm the deposition of organosilanes on the sample's surface. The results showed that under a particular combination of treatment parameters, a hydrophobic surface was achieved on the APP treated sample with sessile drop static contact angle of 138°. The hydrophobic surface is stable without hydrophilic recovery 30 days after plasma treatment

Profiles of plasma parameters and density of negative hydrogen ions by laser detachment measurements in RF-driven ion sources; Profile der Plasmaparameter und Dichte negativer Wasserstoffionen mittels Laserdetachmentmessungen in HF-angeregten Ionenquellen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christ-Koch, Sina

2007-12-20

This work shows the application of the Laserdetachment method for spatially resolved measurements of negative Hydrogen/Deuterium ion density. It was applied on a high power low pressure RF-driven ion source. The Laser detachment method is based on the measurement of electron currents on a positively biased Langmuir probe before and during/after a laser pulse. The density ratio of negative ions to electrons can be derived from the ratio of currents to the probe. The absolute density of negative ions can be obtained when the electron density is measured with the standard Langmuir probe setup. Measurements with the Langmuir probe additionally yield information about the floating and plasma potential, the electron temperature and the density of positive ions. The Laser detachment setup had to be adapted to the special conditions of the RF-driven source. In particular the existence of RF fields (1 MHz), high source potential (-20 kV), magnetic fields ({proportional_to} 7 mT) and caesium inside the source had to be considered. The density of negative ions could be identified in the range of n(H{sup -})=1.10{sup 17} 1/m{sup 3}, which is in the same order of magnitude as the electron density. Only the application of the Laser detachment method with the Langmuir probe measurements will yield spatially resolved plasma parameters and H- density profiles. The influence of diverse external parameters, such as pressure, RF-power, magnetic fields on the plasma parameters and their profiles were studied and explained. Hence, the measurements lead to a detailed understanding of the processes inside the source. (orig.)

Degradation of nitride coatings in low-pressure gas discharge plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanov, Yurii; Shugurov, Vladimir; Krysina, Olga; Petrikova, Elizaveta; Tolkachev, Oleg

2017-12-01

The paper provides research data on the defect structure, mechanical characteristics, and tribological properties of commercially pure VT1-0 titanium exposed to surface modification on a COMPLEX laboratory electron-ion plasma setup which allows nitriding, coating deposition, and etching in low-pressure gas discharge plasma in a single vacuum cycle. It is shown that preliminary plasma nitriding forms a columnar Ti2N phase in VT1-0 titanium and that subsequent TiN deposition results in a thin nanocrystalline TiN layer. When the coating-substrate system is etched, the coating fails and the tribological properties of the material degrade greatly.

Real-time control of the current density and pressure profiles in Jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazon, D.; Moreau, D.; Litaudon, X.; Joffrin, E.; Laborde, L.; Zabeo, L.; Crisanti, F.; Riva, M.; Felton, R.; Murari, A.; Tala, T.

2003-01-01

In order to ultimately control internal transport barriers during advanced operation scenarios, new algorithms using a truncated singular value decomposition of a linearized model operator have been implemented in the JET real-time controller, with the potentiality of retaining the distributed nature of plasma parameter profiles. First experiments using the simplest, lumped-parameter, version of this technique have been dedicated to the feedback control of the current density profile in a negative shear plasma using three heating and current drive actuators, namely neutral beam injection (NBI), ion cyclotron resonant frequency heating (ICRH) and lower hybrid current drive (LHCD). Successful control of the safety factor profile has been achieved on the time scale of the current redistribution time, first during an extended preheat phase with only LHCD as actuator and, then, in quasi steady-state conditions during the main heating phase of a discharge, using the three heating and current drive actuators

Boron Profile Sharpening in Ultra-Shallow p+-n Junction Produced by Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation from BF3 Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lukichev, V.; Rudenko, K.; Orlikovsky, A.; Pustovit, A.; Vyatkin, A.

2008-01-01

We have investigated plasma immersion ion implantation (PI 3 ) of boron with energies of 500 eV (doses up to 2x10 15 cm -2 ) from BF 3 plasma with He pre-amorphizing implantation (PAI)(energy 3 keV, dose 5x10 16 cm -2 ). Implanted samples were subjected to RTA (T = 900 to 1050 deg. C, t = 2 to 24 sec and spike anneal). SIMS analysis of boron profiles revealed its anomalous behavior. For short RTA times the profile tail (below 5x10 19 cm -3 ) moves toward the surface and then, as in the usual diffusion, toward the bulk at longer annealing times.

Sterilization of Surfaces with a Handheld Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Robert; Habib, Sara; Chan, Wai; Gonzalez, Eleazar; Tijerina, A.; Sloan, Mark

2009-10-01

Low temperature, atmospheric pressure plasmas have shown great promise for decontaminating the surfaces of materials and equipment. In this study, an atmospheric pressure, oxygen and argon plasma was investigated for the destruction of viruses, bacteria, and spores. The plasma was operated at an argon flow rate of 30 L/min, an oxygen flow rate of 20 mL/min, a power density of 101.0 W/cm^3 (beam area = 5.1 cm^2), and at a distance from the surface of 7.1 mm. An average 6log10 reduction of viable spores was obtained after only 45 seconds of exposure to the reactive gas. By contrast, it takes more than 35 minutes at 121^oC to sterilize anthrax in an autoclave. The plasma properties were investigated by numerical modeling and chemical titration with nitric oxide. The numerical model included a detailed reaction mechanism for the discharge as well as for the afterglow. It was predicted that at a delivered power density of 29.3 W/cm^3, 30 L/min argon, and 0.01 volume% O2, the plasma generated 1.9 x 10^14 cm-3 O atoms, 1.6 x 10^12 cm-3 ozone, 9.3 x 10^13 cm-3 O2(^1δg), and 2.9 x 10^12 cm-3 O2(^1σ^+g) at 1 cm downstream of the source. The O atom density measured by chemical titration with NO was 6.0 x 10^14 cm-3 at the same conditions. It is believe that the oxygen atoms and the O2(^1δg) metastables were responsible for killing the anthrax and other microorganisms.

Rotation and transport in Alcator C-Mod ITB plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Fiore, C. L.; Rice, J. E.; Podpaly, Y.; Bespamyatnov, I. O.; Rowan, W. L.; Hughes, J. W.; Reinke, M.

2010-06-01

Internal transport barriers (ITBs) are seen under a number of conditions in Alcator C-Mod plasmas. Most typically, radio frequency power in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRFs) is injected with the second harmonic of the resonant frequency for minority hydrogen ions positioned off-axis at r/a > 0.5 to initiate the ITBs. They can also arise spontaneously in ohmic H-mode plasmas. These ITBs typically persist tens of energy confinement times until the plasma terminates in radiative collapse or a disruption occurs. All C-Mod core barriers exhibit strongly peaked density and pressure profiles, static or peaking temperature profiles, peaking impurity density profiles and thermal transport coefficients that approach neoclassical values in the core. The strongly co-current intrinsic central plasma rotation that is observed following the H-mode transition has a profile that is peaked in the centre of the plasma and decreases towards the edge if the ICRF power deposition is in the plasma centre. When the ICRF resonance is placed off-axis, the rotation develops a well in the core region. The central rotation continues to decrease as long as the central density peaks when an ITB develops. This rotation profile is flat in the centre (0 ITB density profile is observed (0.5 ITB foot that is sufficiently large to stabilize ion temperature gradient instabilities that dominate transport in C-Mod high density plasmas.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Transport Control via Shaping of Radial Plasma Flow Profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilmore, Mark Allen

2017-01-01

Turbulence, and turbulence-driven transport are ubiquitous in magnetically confined plasmas, where there is an intimate relationship between turbulence, transport, instability driving mechanisms (such as gradients), plasma flows, and flow shear. Though many of the detailed physics of the interrelationship between turbulence, transport, drive mechanisms, and flow remain unclear, there have been many demonstrations that transport and/or turbulence can be suppressed or reduced via manipulations of plasma flow profiles. This is well known in magnetic fusion plasmas [e.g., high confinement mode (H-mode) and internal transport barriers (ITB's)], and has also been demonstrated in laboratory plasmas. However, it may be that the levels of particle transport obtained in such cases [e.g. H-mode, ITB's] are actually lower than is desirable for a practical fusion device. Ideally, one would be able to actively feedback control the turbulent transport, via manipulation of the flow profiles. The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using both advanced model-based control algorithms, as well as non-model-based algorithms, to control cross-field turbulence-driven particle transport through appropriate manipulation of radial plasma flow profiles. The University of New Mexico was responsible for the experimental portion of the project, while our collaborators at the University of Montana provided plasma transport modeling, and collaborators at Lehigh University developed and explored control methods.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Transport Control via Shaping of Radial Plasma Flow Profiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilmore, Mark Allen [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-02-05

Turbulence, and turbulence-driven transport are ubiquitous in magnetically confined plasmas, where there is an intimate relationship between turbulence, transport, instability driving mechanisms (such as gradients), plasma flows, and flow shear. Though many of the detailed physics of the interrelationship between turbulence, transport, drive mechanisms, and flow remain unclear, there have been many demonstrations that transport and/or turbulence can be suppressed or reduced via manipulations of plasma flow profiles. This is well known in magnetic fusion plasmas [e.g., high confinement mode (H-mode) and internal transport barriers (ITB’s)], and has also been demonstrated in laboratory plasmas. However, it may be that the levels of particle transport obtained in such cases [e.g. H-mode, ITB’s] are actually lower than is desirable for a practical fusion device. Ideally, one would be able to actively feedback control the turbulent transport, via manipulation of the flow profiles. The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using both advanced model-based control algorithms, as well as non-model-based algorithms, to control cross-field turbulence-driven particle transport through appropriate manipulation of radial plasma flow profiles. The University of New Mexico was responsible for the experimental portion of the project, while our collaborators at the University of Montana provided plasma transport modeling, and collaborators at Lehigh University developed and explored control methods.

Characteristics of Atmospheric Pressure Rotating Gliding Arc Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hao; Zhu, Fengsen; Tu, Xin; Bo, Zheng; Cen, Kefa; Li, Xiaodong

2016-05-01

In this work, a novel direct current (DC) atmospheric pressure rotating gliding arc (RGA) plasma reactor has been developed for plasma-assisted chemical reactions. The influence of the gas composition and the gas flow rate on the arc dynamic behaviour and the formation of reactive species in the N2 and air gliding arc plasmas has been investigated by means of electrical signals, high speed photography, and optical emission spectroscopic diagnostics. Compared to conventional gliding arc reactors with knife-shaped electrodes which generally require a high flow rate (e.g., 10-20 L/min) to maintain a long arc length and reasonable plasma discharge zone, in this RGA system, a lower gas flow rate (e.g., 2 L/min) can also generate a larger effective plasma reaction zone with a longer arc length for chemical reactions. Two different motion patterns can be clearly observed in the N2 and air RGA plasmas. The time-resolved arc voltage signals show that three different arc dynamic modes, the arc restrike mode, takeover mode, and combined modes, can be clearly identified in the RGA plasmas. The occurrence of different motion and arc dynamic modes is strongly dependent on the composition of the working gas and gas flow rate. supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51576174), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20120101110099) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2015FZA4011)

Chemically reactive species in liquids generated by atmospheric-pressure plasmas and their roles in plasma medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamaguchi, Satoshi

2013-01-01

Plasmas whose gas temperatures are close to room temperature may be generated in ambient air or a gas at atmospheric pressure with the use of low-frequency high voltage or low-power radio-frequency (RF) or microwave power applied to electrodes. Such plasmas can serve as a powerful source of free radicals and/or chemically reactive species that arise from atoms and molecules of the ambient gas. Recently use of such plasmas for medical purposes has attracted much attention as they can be implemented in possible medical devices that can cause blood coagulation, heal wounds, facilitate angiogenesis, sterilize surgical devices as well as living tissues without harming healthy cells, and selectively inactivate cancer cells. Especially of interest among reactive species generated by atmospheric-pressure plasmas (APP) are reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) that are generated in liquid phase. Since most living tissues and cells are immersed in liquids (such as blood or culture media), reactive species generated by APPs in the gas phase are transported to the liquid phase and possibly converted to different types of reactive species therein before causing some influence on the tissues or cells. In this study, the rate equations are solved to evaluate concentrations of various reactive species in pure water that are originated by plasma reactions in atmosphere and possible effects of such species (including ROS/RNS) on living tissues and cells are discussed

Chemically reactive species in liquids generated by atmospheric-pressure plasmas and their roles in plasma medicine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamaguchi, Satoshi [Center for Atomic and Molecular Technologies, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan)

2013-07-11

Plasmas whose gas temperatures are close to room temperature may be generated in ambient air or a gas at atmospheric pressure with the use of low-frequency high voltage or low-power radio-frequency (RF) or microwave power applied to electrodes. Such plasmas can serve as a powerful source of free radicals and/or chemically reactive species that arise from atoms and molecules of the ambient gas. Recently use of such plasmas for medical purposes has attracted much attention as they can be implemented in possible medical devices that can cause blood coagulation, heal wounds, facilitate angiogenesis, sterilize surgical devices as well as living tissues without harming healthy cells, and selectively inactivate cancer cells. Especially of interest among reactive species generated by atmospheric-pressure plasmas (APP) are reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) that are generated in liquid phase. Since most living tissues and cells are immersed in liquids (such as blood or culture media), reactive species generated by APPs in the gas phase are transported to the liquid phase and possibly converted to different types of reactive species therein before causing some influence on the tissues or cells. In this study, the rate equations are solved to evaluate concentrations of various reactive species in pure water that are originated by plasma reactions in atmosphere and possible effects of such species (including ROS/RNS) on living tissues and cells are discussed.

Wiedemann-Franz ratio in high-pressure and low-temperature thermal xenon plasma with 10% caesium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novakovic, N.V.; Milic, B.S.; Stojilkovic, S.M.

1995-01-01

Theoretical investigations of various transport properties of low-temperature noble-gas plasmas with additives has aroused a continuous interest over a considerable spall of time, due to numerous applications. In this paper the results of a theoretical evaluation of electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and their ratio (the Wiedemann-Franz ratio) in xenon plasma with 10% of argon and 10% of caesium are presented, for the temperature range from 2000 K to 20000 K, and for pressures equal to or 5, 10, and 15 time higher than the normal atmospheric pressure. The plasma was regarded as weakly non-ideal and in the state of local thermodynamical equilibrium with the assumption that the equilibrium is attained with the pressure kept constant. The plasma composition was determined on the ground of a set of Saha equations; the ionization energy lowerings were expressed with the aid of a modified plasma Debye radius r* D (rather than the standard r D ), as proposed previously

Mercury-free electrodeless discharge lamp: effect of xenon pressure and plasma parameters on luminance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nazri Dagang Ahmad; Kondo, Akira; Motomura, Hideki; Jinno, Masafumi

2009-01-01

Since there is much concern about environmental preservation, the authors have paid attention to the uses of mercury in lighting application. They have focused on the application of the xenon low-pressure inductively coupled plasma (ICP) discharge in developing cylindrical type mercury-free light sources. ICP can be operated at low filling gas pressures and demonstrates significant potential in producing high density plasma. Xenon pressure was varied from 0.1 to 100 Torr and the lamp luminance was measured. The gas pressure dependence shows an increase in luminance at pressures below 1 Torr. In order to clarify this behaviour, measurement of plasma parameters was carried out using the double probe method and its relation to lamp luminance is discussed. As the gas pressure is decreased (from 1 to 0.01 Torr), the electron temperature increases while the electron density decreases while at the same time the lamp luminance increases. There are several factors that are believed to contribute to the increase in luminance in the very low pressure region. Increases in luminance are considered to be due to the electron-ion recombination process which brings a strong recombination radiation in continuum in the visible region and also due to the effect of stochastic heating.

Efficacy of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma as an Antibacterial Agent Against Enterococcus Faecalis in Vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Yingguang; Yang Ping; Lu Xinpei; Xiong Zilan; Ye Tao; Xiong Qing; Sun Ziyong

2011-01-01

Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is a microorganism that can survive extreme challenges in obturated root canals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma plume against E. faecalis in vitro. A non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet device which could generate a cold plasma plume carrying a peak current of 300 mA was used. The antibacterial efficacy of this device against E. faecalis and its biofilm under different conditions was detected. The antibacterial efficacy of the plasma against E. faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was also evaluated. After plasma treatment, the average diameter of inhibition zone on S. aureus and E. faecalis was 2.62±0.26 cm and 1.06±0.30 cm, respectively (P < 0.05). The diameter was increased with prolongation of the treatment duration. The diameters of inhibition zone of the sealed Petri dishes were larger than those of the uncovered Petri dishes. There was significant difference in colony-forming units between plasma group and control group on E. faecalis biofilm (P < 0.01). The transmission electron microscopy revealed that the ultrastructural changes cytoderm of E. faecalis were observed after treatment for 2 min. It is concluded that the non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma could serve as an effective adjunct to standard endodontic microbial treatment.

Sterilization of Turmeric by Atmospheric Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Setareh, Salarieh; Davoud, Dorranian

2013-11-01

In this study atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma has been employed for sterilizing dry turmeric powders. A 6 kV, 6 kHz frequency generator was used to generate plasma with Ar, Ar/O2, He, and He/O2 gases between the 5 mm gap of two quartz covered electrodes. The complete sterilization time of samples due to plasma treatment was measured. The most important contaminant of turmeric is bacillus subtilis. The results show that the shortest sterilization time of 15 min is achieved by exposing the samples to Ar/O2 plasma. Survival curves of samples are exponential functions of time and the addition of oxygen to plasma leads to a significant increase of the absolute value of time constant of the curves. Magnitudes of protein and DNA in treated samples were increased to a similar value for all samples. Taste, color, and solubility of samples were not changed after the plasma treatment.

Sterilization of Turmeric by Atmospheric Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salarieh Setareh; Dorranian Davoud

2013-01-01

In this study atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma has been employed for sterilizing dry turmeric powders. A 6 kV, 6 kHz frequency generator was used to generate plasma with Ar, Ar/O 2 , He, and He/O 2 gases between the 5 mm gap of two quartz covered electrodes. The complete sterilization time of samples due to plasma treatment was measured. The most important contaminant of turmeric is bacillus subtilis. The results show that the shortest sterilization time of 15 min is achieved by exposing the samples to Ar/O 2 plasma. Survival curves of samples are exponential functions of time and the addition of oxygen to plasma leads to a significant increase of the absolute value of time constant of the curves. Magnitudes of protein and DNA in treated samples were increased to a similar value for all samples. Taste, color, and solubility of samples were not changed after the plasma treatment

Laser Thomson scattering diagnostics of non-equilibrium high pressure plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muraoka, K.; Uchino, K.; Bowden, M.D.; Noguchi, Y.

2001-01-01

For various applications of non-equilibrium high pressure plasmas, knowledge of electron properties, such as electron density, electron temperature and/or electron energy distribution function (eedf), is prerequisite for any rational approach to understanding physical and chemical processes occurring in the plasmas. For this purpose, laser Thomson scattering has been successfully applied for the first time to measure the electron properties in plasmas for excimer laser pumping and in microdischarges. Although this diagnostic technique is well established for measurements in high temperature plasmas, its applications to these glow discharge plasmas have had various inherent difficulties, such as a presence of high density neutral particles (>10 21 m -3 ) in the excimer laser pumping discharges and an extremely small plasma size (<0.1 mm) and the presence of nearby walls for microdischarges. These difficulties have been overcome and clear signals have been obtained. The measured results are presented and their implications in the respective discharge phenomena are discussed

Development of bio/blood compatible polypropylene through low pressure nitrogen plasma surface modification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomathi, N.; Rajasekar, R.; Babu, R. Rajesh; Mishra, Debasish; Neogi, S.

2012-01-01

Surface modification of polypropylene by nitrogen containing plasma was performed in this work in order to improve the wettability which resulted in enhanced biocompatibility and blood compatibility. Various nitrogen containing functional groups as well as oxygen containing functional groups were found to be incorporated to the polymer surface during plasma treatment and post plasma reaction respectively. Wettability of the polymers was evaluated by static contact angle measurement to show the improvement in hydrophilicity of plasma treated polypropylene. Cross linking and surface modification were reported to be dominating in the case of nitrogen plasma treatment compared to degradation. The effect of various process variables namely power, pressure, flow rate and treatment time on surface energy and weight loss was studied at various levels according to the central composite design of response surface methodology (RSM). Except pressure the other variables resulted in increased weight loss due to etching whereas with increasing pressure weight loss was found to increase and then decrease. The effect of process variables on surface morphology of polymers was evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Well spread fibroblast cells on nitrogen plasma treated polypropylene due to the presence of CO, NH 2+ and NH + was observed. Reduced platelet adhesion and increased partial thromboplastin time evidenced the increased blood compatibility. - Highlights: ► Improved biocompatibility and blood compatibility of polypropylene. ► Nitrogen plasma surface modification. ► Maintaining a balance between polar group incorporation and weight loss due to etching. ► Optimization of process conditions by response surface methodology.

Large plasma pressure perturbations and radial convective transport in a tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krasheninnikov, Sergei; Yu, Guanghui; Ryutov, Dmitri

2004-01-01

Strongly localized plasma structures with large pressure inhomogeneities (such as plasma blobs in the scrape-off-layer (SOL)/shadow regions, pellet clouds, Edge localized Modes (ELMs)) observed in the tokamaks, stellarators and linear plasma devices. Experimental studies of these phenomena reveal striking similarities including more convective rather than diffusive radial plasma transport. We suggest that rather simple models can describe many essentials of blobs, ELMs, and pellet clouds dynamics. The main ingredient of these models is the effective plasma gravity caused by magnetic curvature, centrifugal or friction forces effects. As a result, the equations governing plasma transport in such localized structures appear to be rather similar to that used to describe nonlinear evolution of thermal convection in the Boussinesq approximation (directly related to the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability). (author)

Radial plasma profile and neutron yield in an adiabatic trap with fast atom injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panov, D.A.

1988-01-01

Radial profiles of ion densities depending on two dimensionless parameters, which values are determined by the trap, plasma and injected beam parameters are found in dimensionless units for a plasma generated by fast atom injection in an adiabatic trap. The calculated profiles are used for determining the neutron yield. Simple approximated dimensional relations permitting to estimate quickly neutron yield, required injection power, flux of charge exchange atoms on the wall around the plasma in a wide energy range of injected atoms, trap field modulud, injection angle, trap radius and length are determined. The energetic efficiency of neutron production is estimated and it is shown that it grows with the injection energy. 7 refs.; 7 figs

Interaction of a spheromak-like compact toroid with a high beta spherical tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, D.Q.; McLean, H.S.; Baker, K.L.; Evans, R.W.; Horton, R.D.; Terry, S.D.; Howard, S.; Schmidt, G.L.

2000-01-01

Recent experiments using accelerated spheromak-like compact toroids (SCTs) to fuel tokamak plasmas have quantified the penetration mechanism in the low beta regime; i.e. external magnetic field pressure dominates plasma thermal pressure. However, fusion reactor designs require high beta plasma and, more importantly, the proper plasma pressure profile. Here, the effect of the plasma pressure profile on SCT penetration, specifically, the effect of diamagnetism, is addressed. It is estimated that magnetic field pressure dominates penetration even up to 50% local beta. The combination of the diamagnetic effect on the toroidal magnetic field and the strong poloidal field at the outer major radius of a spherical tokamak will result in a diamagnetic well in the total magnetic field. Therefore, the spherical tokamak is a good candidate to test the potential trapping of an SCT in a high beta diamagnetic well. The diamagnetic effects of a high beta spherical tokamak discharge (low aspect ratio) are computed. To test the penetration of an SCT into such a diamagnetic well, experiments have been conducted of SCT injection into a vacuum field structure which simulates the diamagnetic field effect of a high beta tokamak. The diamagnetic field gradient length is substantially shorter than that of the toroidal field of the tokamak, and the results show that it can still improve the penetration of the SCT. Finally, analytic results have been used to estimate the effect of plasma pressure on penetration, and the effect of plasma pressure was found to be small in comparison with the magnetic field pressure. The penetration condition for a vacuum field only is reported. To study the diamagnetic effect in a high beta plasma, additional experiments need to be carried out on a high beta spherical tokamak. (author)

Gene Transfection Method Using Atmospheric Pressure Dielectric-Barrier Discharge Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Shota; Kanzaki, Makoto; Kaneko, Toshiro

2013-09-01

Gene transfection which is the process of deliberately introducing nucleic acids into cells is expected to play an important role in medical treatment because the process is necessary for gene therapy and creation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. However, the conventional transfection methods have some problems, so we focus attention on promising transfection methods by atmospheric pressure dielectric-barrier discharge (AP-DBD) plasmas. AP-DBD He plasmas are irradiated to the living cell covered with genes. Preliminarily, we use fluorescent dye YOYO-1 instead of the genes and use LIVE/DEAD Stain for cell viability test, and we analyze the transfection efficiency and cell viability under the various conditions. It is clarified that the transfection efficiency is strongly dependence on the plasma irradiation time and cell viability rates is high rates (>90%) regardless of long plasma irradiation time. These results suggest that ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) and electric field generated by the plasma affect the gene transfection. In addition to this (the plasma irradiation time) dependency, we now investigate the effect of the plasma irradiation under the various conditions.

Variability of hydrostatic hepatic vein and ascitic fluid pressure, and of plasma and ascitic fluid colloid osmotic pressure in patients with liver cirrhosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Jens Henrik Sahl

1980-01-01

The variability of hydrostatic hepatic vein and ascitic fluid pressures and of plasma and ascitic fluid colloid osmotic (oncotic) pressures was assessed during hepatic venous catheterization by repeated measurements on different days and at different locations in patients with cirrhosis...... of the liver. Furthermore, calculation of oncotic pressure from protein determinations was compared to the directly measured value of plasma and ascitic fluid samples. Repeated measurements of hydrostatic pressure in the same hepatic vein within 15 min showed a standard deviation (SD) below 1 mm......Hg. The variation in hydrostatic hepatic vein pressures, pressure differences and ascitic fluid pressures (when measured at different locations within the liver and peritoneal space during a single examination) was 1.5, 1.0 and 1.0 mmHg (SD), respectively. When measured on different days, the variation...

GPU based 3D feature profile simulation of high-aspect ratio contact hole etch process under fluorocarbon plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Chun, Poo-Reum; Lee, Se-Ah; Yook, Yeong-Geun; Choi, Kwang-Sung; Cho, Deog-Geun; Yu, Dong-Hun; Chang, Won-Seok; Kwon, Deuk-Chul; Im, Yeon-Ho

2013-09-01

Although plasma etch profile simulation has been attracted much interest for developing reliable plasma etching, there still exist big gaps between current research status and predictable modeling due to the inherent complexity of plasma process. As an effort to address this issue, we present 3D feature profile simulation coupled with well-defined plasma-surface kinetic model for silicon dioxide etching process under fluorocarbon plasmas. To capture the realistic plasma surface reaction behaviors, a polymer layer based surface kinetic model was proposed to consider the simultaneous polymer deposition and oxide etching. Finally, the realistic plasma surface model was used for calculation of speed function for 3D topology simulation, which consists of multiple level set based moving algorithm, and ballistic transport module. In addition, the time consumable computations in the ballistic transport calculation were improved drastically by GPU based numerical computation, leading to the real time computation. Finally, we demonstrated that the surface kinetic model could be coupled successfully for 3D etch profile simulations in high-aspect ratio contact hole plasma etching.

Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma and Subsequent Enzymatic Treatment on Flax Fabrics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Shaofeng; Yang Bin; Ou Qiongrong

2015-01-01

The objective is to investigate the effect of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (APDBD) plasma and subsequent cellulase enzyme treatment on the properties of flax fabrics. The changes of surface morphology and structure, physico-mechanical properties, hydrophilicity, bending properties, whiteness, and dyeing properties of the treated substrate were investigated. The results indicated that atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma pre-treatment and subsequent cellulase enzyme treatment could diminish the hairiness of flax fabrics, endowing the flax fabrics with good bending properties, water uptake and fiber accessibility while keeping their good mechanical properties compared with those treated with cellulase enzyme alone. (paper)

Laser scattering on an atmospheric pressure plasma jet : disentangling Rayleigh, Raman and Thomson scattering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gessel, van A.F.H.; Carbone, E.A.D.; Bruggeman, P.J.; Mullen, van der J.J.A.M.

2012-01-01

Laser scattering provides a very direct method for measuring the local densities and temperatures inside a plasma. We present new experimental results of laser scattering on an argon atmospheric pressure microwave plasma jet operating in an air environment. The plasma is very small so a high spatial

Characterization of an atmospheric pressure air plasma source for polymer surface modification

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shujun; Tang, Jiansheng

2013-10-01

An atmospheric pressure air plasma source was generated through dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). It was used to modify polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) surfaces with very high throughput. An equivalent circuit model was used to calculate the peak average electron density. The emission spectrum from the plasma was taken and the main peaks in the spectrum were identified. The ozone density in the down plasma region was estimated by Absorption Spectroscopy. NSF and ARC-ODU

Modeling and Data Needs of Atmospheric Pressure Gas Plasma and Biomaterial Interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakiyama, Yukinori; Graves, David B.

2009-01-01

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas have received considerable attention recently. One promising application of non-thermal plasma devices appears to be biomaterial and biomedical treatment. Various biological and medical effects of non-thermal plasmas have been observed by a variety of investigators, including bacteria sterilization, cell apoptosis, and blood coagulation, among others. The mechanisms of the plasma-biomaterial interaction are however only poorly understood. A central scientific challenge is therefore how to answer the question: 'What plasma-generated agents are responsible for the observed biological effects?' Our modeling efforts are motivated by this question. In this paper, we review our modeling results of the plasma needle discharge. Then, we address data needs for further modeling and understanding of plasma-biomaterial interaction

Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Cleaning of Contaminated Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hicks, Robert F.; Selwyn, Gary S.

2001-01-01

Project was to develop a low-cost, environmentally benign technology for the decontamination and decommissioning of transuranic waste. With the invention of the atmospheric-pressure plasma jet the goal was achieved. This device selectively etches heavy metals from surfaces, rendering objects radiation free and suitable for decommissioning. The volatile reaction products are captured on filters, which yields a tremendous reduction in the volume of the waste. Studies on tantalum, a surrogate material for plutonium, have shown that etch rate of 6.0 microns per minute can be achieved under mild conditions. Over the past three years, we have made numerous improvements in the design of the plasma jet. It may now be operated for hundreds of hours and not undergo any degradation in performance. Furthermore, small compact units have been developed, which are easily deployed in the field

Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Cleaning of Contaminated Surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert F. Hicks; Gary S. Selwyn

2001-01-09

Project was to develop a low-cost, environmentally benign technology for the decontamination and decommissioning of transuranic waste. With the invention of the atmospheric-pressure plasma jet the goal was achieved. This device selectively etches heavy metals from surfaces, rendering objects radiation free and suitable for decommissioning. The volatile reaction products are captured on filters, which yields a tremendous reduction in the volume of the waste. Studies on tantalum, a surrogate material for plutonium, have shown that etch rate of 6.0 microns per minute can be achieved under mild conditions. Over the past three years, we have made numerous improvements in the design of the plasma jet. It may now be operated for hundreds of hours and not undergo any degradation in performance. Furthermore, small compact units have been developed, which are easily deployed in the field.

Room-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma plume for biomedical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laroussi, M.; Lu, X.

2005-01-01

As low-temperature nonequilibrium plasmas come to play an increasing role in biomedical applications, reliable and user-friendly sources need to be developed. These plasma sources have to meet stringent requirements such as low temperature (at or near room temperature), no risk of arcing, operation at atmospheric pressure, preferably hand-held operation, low concentration of ozone generation, etc. In this letter, we present a device that meets exactly such requirements. This device is capable of generating a cold plasma plume several centimeters in length. It exhibits low power requirements as shown by its current-voltage characteristics. Using helium as a carrier gas, very little ozone is generated and the gas temperature, as measured by emission spectroscopy, remains at room temperature even after hours of operations. The plasma plume can be touched by bare hands and can be directed manually by a user to come in contact with delicate objects and materials including skin and dental gum without causing any heating or painful sensation

Atmospheric pressure plasma-assisted femtosecond laser engraving of aluminium

Science.gov (United States)

Gerhard, Christoph; Gimpel, Thomas; Tasche, Daniel; Koch née Hoffmeister, Jennifer; Brückner, Stephan; Flachenecker, Günter; Wieneke, Stephan; Schade, Wolfgang; Viöl, Wolfgang

2018-05-01

In this contribution, we report on the impact of direct dielectric barrier discharge argon plasma at atmospheric pressure on femtosecond laser engraving of aluminium. It is shown that the assisting plasma strongly affects the surface geometry and formation of spikes of both laser-engraved single lines and patterns of adjacent lines with an appropriate overlap. Further, it was observed that the overall ablation depth is significantly increased in case of large-scale patterning whereas no notable differences in ablation depth are found for single lines. Several possible mechanisms and underlying effects of this behaviour are suggested. The increase in ablation depth is supposed to be due to a plasma-induced removal of debris particles from the cutting point via charging and oxidation as supported by EDX analysis of the re-solidified debris. Furthermore, the impact of a higher degree of surface wrinkling as well as direct interactions of plasma species with the aluminium surface on the ablation process are discussed.

Coffee Consumption Increases the Antioxidant Capacity of Plasma and Has No Effect on the Lipid Profile or Vascular Function in Healthy Adults in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Agudelo-Ochoa, Gloria M; Pulgarín-Zapata, Isabel C; Velásquez-Rodriguez, Claudia M; Duque-Ramírez, Mauricio; Naranjo-Cano, Mauricio; Quintero-Ortiz, Mónica M; Lara-Guzmán, Oscar J; Muñoz-Durango, Katalina

2016-03-01

Coffee, a source of antioxidants, has controversial effects on cardiovascular health. We evaluated the bioavailability of chlorogenic acids (CGAs) in 2 coffees and the effects of their consumption on the plasma antioxidant capacity (AC), the serum lipid profile, and the vascular function in healthy adults. Thirty-eight men and 37 women with a mean ± SD age of 38.5 ± 9 y and body mass index of 24.1 ± 2.6 kg/m(2) were randomly assigned to 3 groups: a control group that did not consume coffee or a placebo and 2 groups that consumed 400 mL coffee/d for 8 wk containing a medium (MCCGA; 420 mg) or high (HCCGA; 780 mg) CGA content. Both were low in diterpenes (0.83 mg/d) and caffeine (193 mg/d). Plasma caffeic and ferulic acid concentrations were measured by GC, and the plasma AC was evaluated with use of the ferric-reducing antioxidant power method. The serum lipid profile, nitric oxide (NO) plasma metabolites, vascular endothelial function (flow-mediated dilation; FMD), and blood pressure (BP) were evaluated. After coffee consumption (1 h and 8 wk), caffeic and ferulic acid concentrations increased in the coffee-drinking groups, although the values of the 2 groups were significantly different (P consumption, the plasma AC in the control group was significantly lower than the baseline value (-2%) and significantly increased in the MCCGA (6%) and HCCGA (5%) groups (P profile, FMD, BP, or NO plasma metabolites. This trial was registered at registroclinico.sld.cu as RPCEC00000168. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Digitalis-like activity in human plasma: Relation to blood pressure and sodium balance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goto, A.; Yamada, K.; Ishii, M.; Sugimoto, T. (Univ. of Tokyo (Japan))

1990-10-01

PURPOSE: On the assumption that renal tubular cells are more important as the target cells for a natriuretic factor than blood cells, we used a well-characterized cultured renal tubular cell line, Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK), cells to monitor the circulating digitalis-like factor in human plasma and examine its role in the regulation of blood pressure and sodium balance. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We investigated the effects of plasma on binding of radioactive ouabain to monolayered MDCK cells in order to determine the level of a circulating digitalis-like factor. First, we measured specific 3H-ouabain binding to MDCK cells in the presence of plasma from 71 outpatients (34 normotensive subjects and 37 hypertensive patients) after incubation for 4 hours. Second, we measured specific 3H-ouabain binding after incubation of cells with plasma from 16 hospitalized subjects (eight normotensive subjects and eight hypertensive patients) receiving low and high sodium diets. RESULTS: In Study 1, ouabain binding was lower by 30% with plasma from hypertensive patients than with plasma from normotensive subjects (p less than 0.01). There was a significant negative correlation between individual subject's systolic or mean blood pressure and ouabain binding (r = -0.34, p less than 0.01 or r = -0.29, p less than 0.01). In Study 2, ouabain binding was also significantly reduced by 25% in the presence of plasma from hypertensive subjects as compared with plasma from normotensive subjects irrespective of sodium intake (p less than 0.01). A significant negative correlation was also found for all subjects between either systolic, diastolic, or mean blood pressure and ouabain binding (r = -0.58, p less than 0.01, r = -0.51, p less than 0.01, or r = -0.55, p less than 0.01, respectively).

[Investigation on the gas temperature of a plasma jet at atmospheric pressure by emission spectrum].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xue-chen; Yuan, Ning; Jia, Peng-ying; Niu, Dong-ying

2010-11-01

A plasma jet of a dielectric barrier discharge in coaxial electrode was used to produce plasma plume in atmospheric pressure argon. Spatially and temporally resolved measurement was carried out by photomultiplier tubes. The light emission signals both from the dielectric barrier discharge and from the plasma plume were analyzed. Furthermore, emission spectrum from the plasma plume was collected by high-resolution optical spectrometer. The emission spectra of OH (A 2sigma + --> X2 II, 307.7-308.9 nm) and the first negative band of N2+ (B2 sigma u+ --> X2 IIg+, 390-391.6 nm) were used to estimate the rotational temperature of the plasma plume by fitting the experimental spectra to the simulated spectra. The rotational temperature obtained is about 443 K by fitting the emission spectrum from the OH, and that from the first negative band of N2+ is about 450 K. The rotational temperatures obtained by the two method are consistent within 5% error band. The gas temperature of the plasma plume at atmospheric pressure was obtained because rotational temperature equals to gas temperature approximately in gas discharge at atmospheric pressure. Results show that gas temperature increases with increasing the applied voltage.

Induction of proliferation of basal epidermal keratinocytes by cold atmospheric-pressure plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasse, S; Duong Tran, T; Hahn, O; Kindler, S; Metelmann, H-R; von Woedtke, T; Masur, K

2016-03-01

Over the past few decades, new cold plasma sources have been developed that have the great advantage of operating at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures tolerable by biological material. New applications for these have emerged, especially in the field of dermatology. Recently it was demonstrated that cold atmospheric-pressure plasma positively influences healing of chronic wounds. The potential of cold plasma lies in its capacity to reduce bacterial load in the wound while at the same time stimulating skin cells and therefore promoting wound closure. In recent years, there have been great advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms triggered by cold plasma involving signalling pathways and gene regulation in cell culture. To investigate cold plasma-induced effects in ex vivo treated human skin biopsies. Human skin tissue was exposed to cold plasma for different lengths of time, and analysed by immunofluorescence with respect to DNA damage, apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation markers. After cold plasma treatment, the epidermal integrity and keratin expression pattern remained unchanged. As expected, the results revealed an increase in apoptotic cells after 3 and 5 min of treatment. Strikingly, an induction of proliferating basal keratinocytes was detected after cold plasma exposure for 1 and 3 min. As these are the cells that regenerate the epidermis, this could indeed be beneficial for wound closure. We investigated the effect of cold plasma on human skin by detecting molecules for growth and apoptosis, and found that both processes are dependent on treatment time. Therefore, this approach offers promising results for further applications of cold plasma in clinical dermatology. © 2015 British Association of Dermatologists.

A Plasma Focus operated at a very low pressure range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruzzone, H.; Grondona, D.; Kelly, H.; Marquez, A.

1990-01-01

Several characteristics of the neutron production and the hard X-ray emission from a Plasma Focus device operating at 30 kV (6 kV of stored energy) and at an unusually low pressure range are presented. (Author)

Diffuse plasma treatment of polyamide 66 fabric in atmospheric pressure air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Lee; Peng, Ming-yang; Teng, Yun; Gao, Guozhen

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • A cylindrical-electrode nanosecond-pulse diffuse-discharge reactor is presented. • Large-scale non-thermal plasmas were generated steadily in atmospheric air. • Treated PA66 fabric is etched with oxygen-containing group increases. • The hydrophily of treated PA66 fabric improves effectively. • Extending the treatment time is a method to reduce the treatment frequency. - Abstract: The polyamide 66 (PA66) fabrics are hard to be colored or glued in industrial production due to the poor hydrophily. Diffuse plasma is a kind of non-thermal plasma generated at atmospheric pressure in air. This paper proposes that large-scale diffuse plasma generated between wire electrodes can be employed for improving the hydrophily of PA66 fabrics. A repetitive nanosecond-pulse diffuse-discharge reactor using a cylindrical wire electrode configuration is presented, which can generate large-scale non-thermal plasmas steadily at atmospheric pressure without any barrier dielectric. Then the reactor is used to treat PA66 fabrics in different discharge conditions. The hydrophilicity property of modified PA66 is measured by wicking test method. The modified PA66 is also analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to prove the surface changes in physical microstructure and chemical functional groups, respectively. What's more, the effects of treatment time and treatment frequency on surface modification are investigated and discussed.

A new algorithm predicts pressure and temperature profiles of gas/gas-condensate transmission pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mokhatab, Saied [OIEC - Oil Industries' Engineering and Construction Group, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Vatani, Ali [University of Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2003-07-01

The main objective of the present study has been the development of a relatively simple analytical algorithm for predicting flow temperature and pressure profiles along the two-phase, gas/gas-condensate transmission pipelines. Results demonstrate the ability of the method to predict reasonably accurate pressure gradient and temperature gradient profiles under operating conditions. (author)

Gas and heat dynamics of a micro-scaled atmospheric pressure plasma reference jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, Seán; Golda, Judith; Schulz-von der Gathen, Volker; Turner, Miles M

2015-01-01

Gas and heat dynamics of the ‘Cooperation on Science and Technology (COST) Reference Microplasma Jet’ (COST-jet), a European lead reference device for low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma application, are investigated. Of particular interest to many biomedical application scenarios, the temperature characteristics of a surface impacted by the jet are revealed. Schlieren imaging, thermocouple measurements, infrared thermal imaging and numerical modelling are employed. Temperature spatial profiles in the gas domain reveal heating primarily of the helium fraction of the gas mixture. Thermocouple and model temporal data show a bounded exponential temperature growth described by a single characteristic time parameter to reach  ∼63% or (1-1/e) fraction of the temperature increase. Peak temperatures occurred in the gas domain where the carrier jet exits the COST-jet, with values ranging from ambient temperatures to in excess of 100 °C in ‘α-mode’ operation. In a horizontal orientation of the COST-jet a curved trajectory of the helium effluent at low gas flows results from buoyant forces. Gas mixture profiles reveal significant containment of the helium concentrations for a surface placed in close proximity to the COST-jet. Surface heating of a quartz plate follows a similar bounded exponential temporal temperature growth as device heating. Spatial profiles of surface heating are found to correlate strongly to the impacting effluent where peak temperatures occur in regions of maximum surface helium concentration. (paper)

Gas and heat dynamics of a micro-scaled atmospheric pressure plasma reference jet

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Seán; Golda, Judith; Turner, Miles M.; Schulz-von der Gathen, Volker

2015-11-01

Gas and heat dynamics of the ‘Cooperation on Science and Technology (COST) Reference Microplasma Jet’ (COST-jet), a European lead reference device for low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma application, are investigated. Of particular interest to many biomedical application scenarios, the temperature characteristics of a surface impacted by the jet are revealed. Schlieren imaging, thermocouple measurements, infrared thermal imaging and numerical modelling are employed. Temperature spatial profiles in the gas domain reveal heating primarily of the helium fraction of the gas mixture. Thermocouple and model temporal data show a bounded exponential temperature growth described by a single characteristic time parameter to reach  ∼63% or (1-1/e) fraction of the temperature increase. Peak temperatures occurred in the gas domain where the carrier jet exits the COST-jet, with values ranging from ambient temperatures to in excess of 100 °C in ‘α-mode’ operation. In a horizontal orientation of the COST-jet a curved trajectory of the helium effluent at low gas flows results from buoyant forces. Gas mixture profiles reveal significant containment of the helium concentrations for a surface placed in close proximity to the COST-jet. Surface heating of a quartz plate follows a similar bounded exponential temporal temperature growth as device heating. Spatial profiles of surface heating are found to correlate strongly to the impacting effluent where peak temperatures occur in regions of maximum surface helium concentration.

Nanoparticle formation in a low pressure argon/aniline RF plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Pattyn, C.; Kovacevic, E.; Hussain, S.; Dias, A.; Lecas, T.; Berndt, J.

2018-01-01

The formation of nanoparticles in low temperature plasmas is of high importance for different fields: from astrophysics to microelectronics. The plasma based synthesis of nanoparticles is a complex multi-scale process that involves a great variety of different species and comprises timescales ranging from milliseconds to several minutes. This contribution focuses on the synthesis of nanoparticles in a low temperature, low pressure capacitively coupled plasma containing mixtures of argon and aniline. Aniline is commonly used for the production of polyaniline, a material that belongs to the family of conductive polymers, which has attracted increasing interest in the last few years due to the large number of potential applications. The nanoparticles which are formed in the plasma volume and levitate there due to the collection of negative charges are investigated in this contribution by means of in-situ FTIR spectroscopy. In addition, the plasma is analyzed by means of plasma (ion) mass spectroscopy. The experiments reveal the possibility to synthesize nanoparticles both in continuous wave and in pulsed discharges. The formation of particles in the plasma volume can be suppressed by pulsing the plasma in a specific frequency range. The in-situ FTIR analysis also reveals the influence of the argon plasma on the characteristics of the nanoparticles.

The definition of the pressure of the classical one-component plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navet, Marcel; Jamin, Eric; Feix, M.R.

1980-01-01

A numerical simulation illustrates the 'virial' kinetic definition of the pressure of the classical one-component plasma introduced in a recent note. In spherical geometry it is found that this pressure, divided by kT, is equal to the density of particles on the wall, and a complete explanation of the discrepancy with the generally accepted thermodynamical definition is given [fr

Plasma current sustained by fusion charged particles in a field reversed configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berk, H.L.; Momota, H.; Tajima, T.

1987-04-01

The distribution of energetic charged particles generated by thermonuclear fusion reactions in a field reversed configuration (FRC) are studied analytically and numerically. A fraction of the charged fusion products escapes directly while the others are trapped to form a directed particle flow parallel to the plasma current. It is shown that the resultant current density produced by these fusion charged particles can be comparable to background plasma current density that produces the original field reversed configuration in a D- 3 He reactor. Self-consistent equilibria arising from the currents of the background plasma and proton fusion products are constructed where the Larmor radius of the fusion product is of arbitrary size. Reactor relevant parameters are examined, such as how the fusion reactivity rate varies as a result of supporting the pressure associated with the fusion products. We also model the synchrotron emission from various pressure profiles and quantitatively show how synchrotron losses vary with different pressure profiles in an FRC configuration

Temperature profiles of time dependent tokamak plasmas from the parallel Ohm's law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Micozzi, P.; Roccella, M.

1993-01-01

Profile consistency based on the parallel component of Ohm's law has been used to obtain electron temperature profiles. A resistive neoclassical term and a term that accounts for the bootstrap current contributions have been considered in Ohm's law. A numerical code has been developed to find solutions according to the MHD equilibrium equations. For stationary plasmas, the temperature profiles, obtained by a procedure in which a pseudo-parabolic shape of (J φ /R) is assumed and the peak temperature known from experiments is used, are close to the experimental data for several very different machines (JET, TFTR, ASDEX, ALCATOR-C and FT). The main feature of the model is its capability to provide an easy parametrization of Ohm's law also in non-stationary cases, without going through the complication of a detailed solution of the magnetic field diffusion equation. A rule for estimating a maximum value of the current diffusion time inside the plasma volume in such situations is given. This rule accounts for both the temperature profiles and the stabilization times in some non-stationary pulses observed in JET. (author). 28 refs, 12 figs

On the parallel momentum balance in low pressure plasmas with an inhomogeneous magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smolyakov, A.I.; Garbet, X.; Bourdelle, C.

2009-01-01

This paper describes the structure of the parallel momentum balance in low pressure plasmas with an inhomogeneous magnetic field. The parallel momentum balance equation is derived from magnetohydrodynamic equations by an expansion in the inverse magnetic field 1/B as a small parameter. Contributions of the gyroviscosity and inertia terms are clarified. It is shown that magnetic field curvature leads to important coupling of parallel flow with fluctuations of the electric field and plasma pressure.

Contribution of energetic and heavy ions to the plasma pressure: The 27 September to 3 October 2002 storm

Science.gov (United States)

Kronberg, E. A.; Welling, D.; Kistler, L. M.; Mouikis, C.; Daly, P. W.; Grigorenko, E. E.; Klecker, B.; Dandouras, I.

2017-09-01

Magnetospheric plasma sheet ions drift toward the Earth and populate the ring current. The ring current plasma pressure distorts the terrestrial internal magnetic field at the surface, and this disturbance strongly affects the strength of a magnetic storm. The contribution of energetic ions (>40 keV) and of heavy ions to the total plasma pressure in the near-Earth plasma sheet is not always considered. In this study, we evaluate the contribution of low-energy and energetic ions of different species to the total plasma pressure for the storm observed by the Cluster mission from 27 September until 3 October 2002. We show that the contribution of energetic ions (>40 keV) and of heavy ions to the total plasma pressure is ≃76-98.6% in the ring current and ≃14-59% in the magnetotail. The main source of oxygen ions, responsible for ≃56% of the plasma pressure of the ring current, is located at distances earthward of XGSE ≃ -13.5 RE during the main phase of the storm. The contribution of the ring current particles agrees with the observed Dst index. We model the magnetic storm using the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF). We assess the plasma pressure output in the ring current for two different ion outflow models in the SWMF through comparison with observations. Both models yield reasonable results. The model which produces the most heavy ions agrees best with the observations. However, the data suggest that there is still potential for refinement in the simulations.

Gas Diffusion Barriers Prepared by Spatial Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Enhanced ALD.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Lukas; Theirich, Detlef; Pack, Sven; Kocak, Firat; Schlamm, Daniel; Hasselmann, Tim; Fahl, Henry; Räupke, André; Gargouri, Hassan; Riedl, Thomas

2017-02-01

In this work, we report on aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) gas permeation barriers prepared by spatial ALD (SALD) at atmospheric pressure. We compare the growth characteristics and layer properties using trimethylaluminum (TMA) in combination with an Ar/O 2 remote atmospheric pressure plasma for different substrate velocities and different temperatures. The resulting Al 2 O 3 films show ultralow water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) on the order of 10 -6 gm -2 d -1 . In notable contrast, plasma based layers already show good barrier properties at low deposition temperatures (75 °C), while water based processes require a growth temperature above 100 °C to achieve equally low WVTRs. The activation energy for the water permeation mechanism was determined to be 62 kJ/mol.

International symposium on high pressure low temperature plasma chemistry. Contributed papers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

The proceedings contain the texts of 77 contributions, of which 31 contributions fall within the scope of the INIS database. The latter deal with various aspects of plasma behavior in pulsed electric discharges of various types, with the spectroscopic and probe diagnostics of a discharge plasma, and with the computer simulation of ionization and breakdown processes in the glow, corona, and arc discharges at atmospheric pressure. (J.U.)

International symposium on high pressure low temperature plasma chemistry. Contributed papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-06-01

The proceedings contain the texts of 77 contributions, of which 31 contributions fall within the scope of the INIS database. The latter deal with various aspects of plasma behavior in pulsed electric discharges of various types, with the spectroscopic and probe diagnostics of a discharge plasma, and with the computer simulation of ionization and breakdown processes in the glow, corona, and arc discharges at atmospheric pressure. (J.U.).

Plasmid DNA damage induced by helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xu; Cantrell, William A.; Escobar, Erika E.; Ptasinska, Sylwia

2014-03-01

A helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is applied to induce damage to aqueous plasmid DNA. The resulting fractions of the DNA conformers, which indicate intact molecules or DNA with single- or double-strand breaks, are determined using agarose gel electrophoresis. The DNA strand breaks increase with a decrease in the distance between the APPJ and DNA samples under two working conditions of the plasma source with different parameters of applied electric pulses. The damage level induced in the plasmid DNA is also enhanced with increased plasma irradiation time. The reactive species generated in the APPJ are characterized by optical emission spectra, and their roles in possible DNA damage processes occurring in an aqueous environment are also discussed.

Non-equilibrium synergistic effects in atmospheric pressure plasmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Heng; Zhang, Xiao-Ning; Chen, Jian; Li, He-Ping; Ostrikov, Kostya Ken

2018-03-19

Non-equilibrium is one of the important features of an atmospheric gas discharge plasma. It involves complicated physical-chemical processes and plays a key role in various actual plasma processing. In this report, a novel complete non-equilibrium model is developed to reveal the non-equilibrium synergistic effects for the atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasmas (AP-LTPs). It combines a thermal-chemical non-equilibrium fluid model for the quasi-neutral plasma region and a simplified sheath model for the electrode sheath region. The free-burning argon arc is selected as a model system because both the electrical-thermal-chemical equilibrium and non-equilibrium regions are involved simultaneously in this arc plasma system. The modeling results indicate for the first time that it is the strong and synergistic interactions among the mass, momentum and energy transfer processes that determine the self-consistent non-equilibrium characteristics of the AP-LTPs. An energy transfer process related to the non-uniform spatial distributions of the electron-to-heavy-particle temperature ratio has also been discovered for the first time. It has a significant influence for self-consistently predicting the transition region between the "hot" and "cold" equilibrium regions of an AP-LTP system. The modeling results would provide an instructive guidance for predicting and possibly controlling the non-equilibrium particle-energy transportation process in various AP-LTPs in future.

Transport Studies in Alcator C-Mod ITB Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Fiore, C. L.; Bonoli, P. T.; Ernst, D.; Greenwald, M. J.; Ince-Cushman, A.; Lin, L.; Marmar, E. S.; Porkolab, M.; Rice, J. E.; Wukitch, S.; Rowan, W.; Bespamyatnov, I.; Phillips, P.

2008-11-01

Internal transport barriers occur in C-Mod plasmas that have off-axis ICRF heating and also in Ohmic H-mode plasmas. These ITBs are marked by highly peaked density and pressure profiles, as they rely on a reduction of particle and thermal flux in the barrier region which allows the neoclassical pinch to peak the central density without reducing the central temperature. Enhancement of several core diagnostics has resulted in increased understanding of C-Mod ITBs. Ion temperature profile measurements have been obtained using an innovative design for x-ray crystal spectrometry and clearly show a barrier forming in the ion temperature profile. The phase contrast imaging (PCI) provides limited localization of the ITB related fluctuations that increase in strength as the central density increases. Simulation of triggering conditions, integrated simulations with fluctuation measurements, parametric studies, and transport implications of fully ionized boron impurity profiles in the plasma are under study. A summary of these results will be presented.

Formation of electrostatic double-layers and electron-holes in a low pressure mercury plasma column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petraconi, G; Maciel, Homero S

2003-01-01

Experimental studies of the formation of electrostatic double layers (DLs) and electron-holes (e-holes) are reported. The measurements were performed in the positive column of a mercury arc discharge operating in the low-pressure range of (2.0-14.0) x 10 -2 Pa with current density in the range of (3.0-8.0) x 10 3 A m -2 . Stable and unstable modes of the discharge were identified as the current was gradually increased, keeping constant the vapour pressure. The discharge remains stable until a critical current from which a slight increase of the current leads to an unstable regime characterized by high discharge impedance and strong oscillations. This mode ceased after a DL was formed in the plasma column. To induce the DL formation and to transport it smoothly along the discharge column, a low intensity B-field (7-10) x 10 -3 T produced by a movable single coil was used. The B-field locally increases the electron current density and makes the DL form at the centre of the magnetic constriction where it remained at rest. Electrostatic potential structures compatible with ordinary DLs and multiple-layers could be formed in the plasma column by dealing with the combined effects of the operational parameters of the discharge. It is noticeable that a pure e-hole, which is a symmetric triple-layer having a bell shape potential profile, could easily be formed by means of this experimental technique. A partial kinetic description, based on the space charge structure derived from an experimental e-hole, is presented in order to infer the charged particle populations that could contribute to the space charge of the e-hole. Evidence is shown that strong e-hole formation might be driven by an ion beam, therefore it could not be formed in isolation since its formation requires a nearby ion accelerating potential structure. Probe measurements of the plasma properties, at various radial positions of the stable positive column, are also presented. In the stable mode, prior to

Correlation between Balmer α emission and hydrogen flux through a superpermeable niobium membrane in a low-pressure multicusp plasma source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruneteau, A.M.; Notkin, M.E.; Livshits, A.I.; Bacal, M.

2002-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to correlate hydrogen or deuterium flux through super permeable membranes with incident hydrogen or deuterium atom flux from the plasma. To this aim a hydrogen or deuterium plasma is created in a hybrid multicusp plasma source. We investigate Balmer α emission from the multicusp plasma and the output pressure behind a superpermeable niobium membrane immersed in the plasma.The output pressure is proportional to the flux of atoms and ions arriving on the membrane. We find that both output pressure and excited atoms emission satisfy plasma parameters relations. It is thus verified that plasma-driven superpermeation of hydrogen is due essentially to neutral atoms from the plasma incident to the membrane

Plasma chemistry in an atmospheric pressure Ar/NH3 dielectric barrier discharge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fateev, A.; Leipold, F.; Kusano, Y.

2005-01-01

An atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in Ar/NH3 (0.1 - 10%) mixtures with a parallel plate electrode geometry was studied. The plasma was investigated by emission and absorption spectroscopy in the UV spectral range. Discharge current and voltage were measured as well. UV...... of an atmospheric pressure Ar/NH3 DBD are H-2, N-2 and N2H4. The hydrazine (N2H4) concentration in the plasma and in the exhaust gases at various ammonia concentrations and different discharge powers was measured. Thermal N2H4 decomposition into NH2 radicals may be used for NOx reduction processes....

Effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kausik, S. S.; Kakati, B.; Saikia, B. K.

2013-01-01

The effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma has been studied in a dusty plasma experimental setup by applying electrostatic field to each channel of a multicusp magnetic cage. Argon plasma is produced by hot cathode discharge method at a pressure of 5×10 −4 millibars and is confined by a full line cusped magnetic field confinement system. Silver dust grains are produced by gas-evaporation technique and move upward in the form of a collimated dust beam due to differential pressure maintained between the dust and plasma chambers. The charged grains in the beam after coming out from the plasma column enter into the diagnostic chamber and are deflected by a dc field applied across a pair of deflector plates at different confining potentials. Both from the amount of deflection and the floating potential, the number of charges collected by the dust grains is calculated. Furthermore, the collimated dust beam strikes the Faraday cup, which is placed above the deflector plates, and the current (∼pA) so produced is measured by an electrometer at different confining potentials. The experimental results demonstrate the significant effect of confining wall potential on charging of dust grains

Effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kausik, S. S.; Kakati, B.; Saikia, B. K. [Centre of Plasma Physics, Institute for Plasma Research, Sonapur 782 402 (India)

2013-05-15

The effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma has been studied in a dusty plasma experimental setup by applying electrostatic field to each channel of a multicusp magnetic cage. Argon plasma is produced by hot cathode discharge method at a pressure of 5×10{sup −4} millibars and is confined by a full line cusped magnetic field confinement system. Silver dust grains are produced by gas-evaporation technique and move upward in the form of a collimated dust beam due to differential pressure maintained between the dust and plasma chambers. The charged grains in the beam after coming out from the plasma column enter into the diagnostic chamber and are deflected by a dc field applied across a pair of deflector plates at different confining potentials. Both from the amount of deflection and the floating potential, the number of charges collected by the dust grains is calculated. Furthermore, the collimated dust beam strikes the Faraday cup, which is placed above the deflector plates, and the current (∼pA) so produced is measured by an electrometer at different confining potentials. The experimental results demonstrate the significant effect of confining wall potential on charging of dust grains.

Effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Kausik, S. S.; Kakati, B.; Saikia, B. K.

2013-05-01

The effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma has been studied in a dusty plasma experimental setup by applying electrostatic field to each channel of a multicusp magnetic cage. Argon plasma is produced by hot cathode discharge method at a pressure of 5×10-4 millibars and is confined by a full line cusped magnetic field confinement system. Silver dust grains are produced by gas-evaporation technique and move upward in the form of a collimated dust beam due to differential pressure maintained between the dust and plasma chambers. The charged grains in the beam after coming out from the plasma column enter into the diagnostic chamber and are deflected by a dc field applied across a pair of deflector plates at different confining potentials. Both from the amount of deflection and the floating potential, the number of charges collected by the dust grains is calculated. Furthermore, the collimated dust beam strikes the Faraday cup, which is placed above the deflector plates, and the current (˜pA) so produced is measured by an electrometer at different confining potentials. The experimental results demonstrate the significant effect of confining wall potential on charging of dust grains.

Pressure profiles of the BRing based on the simulation used in the CSRm

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J. C.; Li, P.; Yang, J. C.; Yuan, Y. J.; Wu, B.; Chai, Z.; Luo, C.; Dong, Z. Q.; Zheng, W. H.; Zhao, H.; Ruan, S.; Wang, G.; Liu, J.; Chen, X.; Wang, K. D.; Qin, Z. M.; Yin, B.

2017-07-01

HIAF-BRing, a new multipurpose accelerator facility of the High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility project, requires an extremely high vacuum lower than 10-11 mbar to fulfill the requirements of radioactive beam physics and high energy density physics. To achieve the required process pressure, the bench-marked codes of VAKTRAK and Molflow+ are used to simulate the pressure profiles of the BRing system. In order to ensure the accuracy of the implementation of VAKTRAK, the computational results are verified by measured pressure data and compared with a new simulation code BOLIDE on the current synchrotron CSRm. Since the verification of VAKTRAK has been done, the pressure profiles of the BRing are calculated with different parameters such as conductance, out-gassing rates and pumping speeds. According to the computational results, the optimal parameters are selected to achieve the required pressure for the BRing.

The use of internal transport barriers in tokamak plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Challis, C D [Euratom/UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 3DB (United Kingdom)

2004-12-01

Internal transport barriers (ITBs) can provide high tokamak confinement at modest plasma current. This is desirable for operation with most of the current driven non-inductively by the bootstrap mechanism, as currently envisaged for steady-state power plants. Maintaining such plasmas in steady conditions with high plasma purity is challenging, however, due to MHD instabilities and impurity transport effects. Significant progress has been made in the control of ITB plasmas: the pressure profile has been varied using the barrier location; q-profile modification has been achieved with non-inductive current drive, and means have been found to affect density peaking and impurity accumulation. All these features are, to some extent, interdependent and must be integrated self-consistently to demonstrate a sound basis for extrapolation to future devices.

Plasma and White Blood Cells Show Different miRNA Expression Profiles in Parkinson's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwienbacher, Christine; Foco, Luisa; Picard, Anne; Corradi, Eloina; Serafin, Alice; Panzer, Jörg; Zanigni, Stefano; Blankenburg, Hagen; Facheris, Maurizio F; Giannini, Giulia; Falla, Marika; Cortelli, Pietro; Pramstaller, Peter P; Hicks, Andrew A

2017-06-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis is based on the assessment of motor symptoms, which manifest when more than 50% of dopaminergic neurons are degenerated. To date, no validated biomarkers are available for the diagnosis of PD. The aims of the present study are to evaluate whether plasma and white blood cells (WBCs) are interchangeable biomarker sources and to identify circulating plasma-based microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for an early detection of PD. We profiled plasma miRNA levels in 99 L-dopa-treated PD patients from two independent data collections, in ten drug-naïve PD patients, and in unaffected controls matched by sex and age. We evaluated expression levels by reverse transcription and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and combined the results from treated PD patients using a fixed effect inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis. We revealed different expression profiles comparing plasma and WBCs and drug-naïve and L-dopa-treated PD patients. We observed an upregulation trend for miR-30a-5p in L-dopa-treated PD patients and investigated candidate target genes by integrated in silico analyses. We could not analyse miR-29b-3p, normally expressed in WBCs, due to the very low expression in plasma. We observed different expression profiles in WBCs and plasma, suggesting that they are both suitable but not interchangeable peripheral sources for biomarkers. We revealed miR-30a-5p as a potential biomarker for PD in plasma. In silico analyses suggest that miR-30a-5p might have a regulatory role in mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy. Further investigations are needed to confirm miR-30a-5p deregulation and targets and to investigate the influence of L-dopa treatment on miRNA expression levels.

Can pyrene probes be used to measure lateral pressure profiles of lipid membranes? Perspective through atomistic simulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Franova, M. D.; Vattulainen, I.; Ollila, O. H. S.

2014-01-01

The lateral pressure profile of lipid bilayers has gained a lot of attention, since changes in the pressure profile have been suggested to shift the membrane protein conformational equilibrium. This relation has been mostly studied with theoretical methods, especially with molecular dynamics....../monomer fluorescence ratio has been assumed to represent the lateral pressure in the location of the pyrene moieties. Here, we consider the validity of this assumption through atomistic molecular dynamics simulations in a DOPC (dioleoylphosphatidylcholine) membrane, which hosts di-pyr-PC probes with different acyl...... simulations, since established methods to measure the lateral pressure profile experimentally have not been available. The only experiments that have attempted to gauge the lateral pressure profile have been done by using di-pyrenyl-phosphatidylcholine (di-pyr-PC) probes. In these experiments, the excimer...

Using atmospheric pressure plasma treatment for treating grey cotton fabric.

Science.gov (United States)

Kan, Chi-Wai; Lam, Chui-Fung; Chan, Chee-Kooi; Ng, Sun-Pui

2014-02-15

Conventional wet treatment, desizing, scouring and bleaching, for grey cotton fabric involves the use of high water, chemical and energy consumption which may not be considered as a clean process. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of the atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment on treating grey cotton fabric when compared with the conventional wet treatment. Grey cotton fabrics were treated with different combinations of plasma parameters with helium and oxygen gases and also through conventional desizing, scouring and bleaching processes in order to obtain comparable results. The results obtained from wicking and water drop tests showed that wettability of grey cotton fabrics was greatly improved after plasma treatment and yielded better results than conventional desizing and scouring. The weight reduction of plasma treated grey cotton fabrics revealed that plasma treatment can help remove sizing materials and impurities. Chemical and morphological changes in plasma treated samples were analysed by FTIR and SEM, respectively. Finally, dyeability of the plasma treated and conventional wet treated grey cotton fabrics was compared and the results showed that similar dyeing results were obtained. This can prove that plasma treatment would be another choice for treating grey cotton fabrics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Ramadan Fasting on Blood Pressure and Lipid Profiles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam sadat Amirkalali sijavandi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims during which avoid from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse for about 13-17 hours. The aim of this study was surveying the effects of Islamic fasting in Ramadan on lipid profile and blood pressure.Materials and Methods: we designed this study in two phases, a week before and a week after Ramadan month. Eighty nine healthy subjects with 20-50 years old were participated in this study. Blood sampling for lipid profile measurement was done in the morning and blood pressure was measured in the afternoon with digital sphygmomanometer. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 16.0 software.Results: In a week after Ramadan, body weight and body mass index (BMI decreased in both sexes, comparing with the week before Ramadan measurements (p

Statistical study of phase relationships between magnetic and plasma thermal pressures in the near-earth magnetosphere using the THEMIS satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Nishi, K.; Kazuo, S.

2017-12-01

The auroral finger-like structures appear in the equatorward part of the auroral oval in the diffuse auroral region, and contribute to the auroral fragmentation into patches during substorm recovery phase. In our previous presentations, we reported the first conjugate observation of auroral finger-like structures using the THEMIS GBO cameras and the THEMIS satellites, which was located at a radial distance of 9 Re in the dawnside plasma sheet. In this conjugate event, we found anti-phase fluctuation of plasma pressure and magnetic pressure with a time scale of 5-20 min in the plasma sheet. This observational fact is consistent with the idea that the finger-like structures are caused by a pressure-driven instability in the balance of plasma and magnetic pressures in the magnetosphere. Then we also searched simultaneous observation events of auroral finger-like structures with the RBSP satellites which have an apogee of 5.8 Re in the inner magnetosphere. Contrary to the first result, the observed variation of plasma and magnetic pressures do not show systematic phase relationship. In order to investigate these phase relationships between plasma and magnetic pressures in the magnetosphere, we statistically analyzed these pressure data using the THEMIS-E satellite for one year in 2011. In the preliminary analysis of pressure variation spectra, we found that out of phase relationship between magnetic and plasma pressures occupied 40 % of the entire period of study. In the presentation, we will discuss these results in the context of relationships between the pressure fluctuations and the magnetospheric instabilities that can cause auroral finger-like structures.

Development of a measuring system for poloidal field profile in JIPP T-IIU plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuramoto, Hideharu; Hiraki, Naoji; Moriyama, Shin-ichi; Toi, Kazuo; Sato, Kuninori.

1995-01-01

A Zeeman polarimeter has been developed to measure the poloidal magnetic field profile in the plasma edge of the JIPP T-IIU tokamak. The poloidal field strength is determined from the analysis of circular polarization of a HeII 4686A spectral lines emitted from a plasma. The polarization modulation rate, which is proportional to the magnetic field strength along a line of sight, is estimated as a ratio of the difference between the left-hand circular polarized line intensity and right-hand one to the sum of them. A newly developed fast scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer allows us to improve a time resolution up to 1.5 ms. The poloidal magnetic field profile in He-doped deuterium plasmas of JIPP T-IIU has been successfully obtained with this polarimeter system. (author)

Confinement properties of JET plasmas with different temperature and density profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watkins, M.L.; Balet, B.; Bhatnagar, V.P.

1989-01-01