Thermal plasmas: fundamental aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fauchais, P.

2005-01-01

This article treats of thermal plasmas, i.e. mainly produced by electric arcs and RF discharges. Their main characteristic is that they are generated at a pressure close to the atmospheric pressure (between 10 4 and 10 6 Pa) and refer to the classical kinetics of the Boltzmann equation. Because of the pressure, the collisions between particles are numerous and ionization is mainly due to a thermal effect. They correspond to electron densities between 10 20 and 10 24 m -3 and temperatures between 6000 and 25000 K. In these plasmas, the electric fields and the average free trajectories are too weak to generate a ionization state by direct inelastic collision. Ionization is thus essentially a thermal phenomenon due to elastic collisions. This article presents: 1 - the particles present in a plasma: definition, energy states; 2 - characteristic data: collisions, average free path and collision cross-section, distribution function, ionization types, charged particles mobility inside an electric field, scattering, Debye length; 3 - plasmas at the thermodynamical equilibrium: conditions of equilibrium, calculation of composition, thermodynamic properties, transport properties, radiation; 4 - thermal plasmas away from equilibrium: conditions of non-equilibrium, calculation of plasma composition, calculation of transport properties, quenching phenomenon. (J.S.)

Plasma technologies: applications to waste processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fauchais, P.

2007-01-01

Since the 1990's, plasma technologies have found applications in the processing of toxic wastes of military and industrial origin, like the treatment of contaminated solids and low level radioactive wastes, the decontamination of soils etc.. Since the years 2000, this development is becoming exponential, in particular for the processing of municipal wastes and the recovery of their synthesis gas. The advantage of thermal plasmas with respect to conventional combustion techniques are: a high temperature (more than 6000 K), a pyrolysis capability (CO formation instead of CO 2 ), about 90% of available energy above 1500 K (with respect to 23% with flames), a greater energy density, lower gas flow rates, and plasma start-up and shut-down times of only few tenth of seconds. This article presents: 1 - the present day situation of thermal plasmas development; 2 - some general considerations about plasma waste processing; 3 - the plasma processes: liquid toxic wastes, solid wastes (contaminated soils and low level radioactive wastes, military wastes, vitrification of incinerators fly ash, municipal wastes processing, treatment of asbestos fibers, treatment of chlorinated industrial wastes), metallurgy wastes (dusts, aluminium slags), medical and ship wastes, perspectives; 4 -conclusion. (J.S.)

Dense high-temperature plasma transport processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giniyatova, Sh.G.

2002-01-01

In this work the transport processes in dense high-temperature semiclassical plasma are studied on the base of the kinetic equation, where the semiclassical potential was used, in its collision integral. The coefficient of plasma electrical conductivity, viscosity and thermal conductivity were received. There were compared with the other authors' results. The Grad's method was used obtaining of viscosity and thermal coefficients. (author)

Influence of Bondcoat Spray Process on Lifetime of Suspension Plasma-Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, M.; Markocsan, N.; Li, X.-H.; Östergren, L.

2018-01-01

Development of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) manufactured by suspension plasma spraying (SPS) is of high commercial interest as SPS has been shown capable of producing highly porous columnar microstructures similar to the conventionally used electron beam-physical vapor deposition. However, lifetime of SPS coatings needs to be improved further to be used in commercial applications. The bondcoat microstructure as well as topcoat-bondcoat interface topography affects the TBC lifetime significantly. The objective of this work was to investigate the influence of different bondcoat deposition processes for SPS topcoats. In this work, a NiCoCrAlY bondcoat deposited by high velocity air fuel (HVAF) was compared to commercial vacuum plasma-sprayed NiCoCrAlY and PtAl diffusion bondcoats. All bondcoat variations were prepared with and without grit blasting the bondcoat surface. SPS was used to deposit the topcoats on all samples using the same spray parameters. Lifetime of these samples was examined by thermal cyclic fatigue testing. Isothermal heat treatment was performed to study bondcoat oxidation over time. The effect of bondcoat deposition process and interface topography on lifetime in each case has been discussed. The results show that HVAF could be a suitable process for bondcoat deposition in SPS TBCs.

Thermal plasma chemical vapor deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heberlein, J.; Pfender, E.

1993-01-01

Thermal plasmas, with temperatures up to and even exceeding 10 4 K, are capable of producing high density vapor phase precursors for the deposition of relatively thick films. Although this technology is still in its infancy, it will fill the void between the relatively slow deposition processes such as physical vapor deposition and the high rate thermal spray deposition processes. In this chapter, the present state-of-the-art of this field is reviewed with emphasis on the various types of reactors proposed for this emerging technology. Only applications which attracted particular attention, namely diamond and high T c superconducting film deposition, are discussed in greater detail. (orig.)

Abatement of global warming gas emissions from semiconductor manufacturing processes by non-thermal plasma-catalyst systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, J-S.; Urashima, K.

2009-01-01

Emission of various hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and greenhouse gases including perfluoro-compounds (PFCs) from semiconductor industries may cause significant impact on human health and the global environment, has attracted much public attention. In this paper, an application of nonthermal plasma-adsorbent system for a removal of PFCs emission from semiconductor process flue gases is experimentally investigated. The non-thermal plasma reactor used is the ferro-electric packed-bed type barrier discharge plasma and adsorbent reactor used is Zeolite bed reactor. The results show that for a simulated semiconductor process flue gas with C 2 F 6 (2000ppm)/ CF 4 (1000ppm)/ N 2 O(1000ppm)/ N 2 / Air mixture, 54% of C 2 F 6 and 32% of CF 4 were decomposed by the plasma reactor and 100% of C 2 F 6 and 98% of CF 4 were removed by plasma reactor/Zeolite adsorbent hybrid system. For a simulated semiconductor process flue gas with NF 3 (2000ppm)/ SiF 4 (1000ppm)/ N 2 O(200ppm)/ N 2 / Air mixture, 92% of NF 3 and 32% of SiF 4 were decomposed by the plasma reactor and total (100%) removal of the pollutant gases was achieved by plasma reactor/Zeolite adsorbent hybrid system. (author)

Synthesis of TiO2 Nanoparticles from Ilmenite Through the Mechanism of Vapor-Phase Reaction Process by Thermal Plasma Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Samal, Sneha

2017-11-01

Synthesis of nanoparticles of TiO2 was carried out by non-transferred arc thermal plasma reactor using ilmenite as the precursor material. The powder ilmenite was vaporized at high temperature in plasma flame and converted to a gaseous state of ions in the metastable phase. On cooling, chamber condensation process takes place on recombination of ions for the formation of nanoparticles. The top-to-bottom approach induces the disintegration of complex ilmenite phases into simpler compounds of iron oxide and titanium dioxide phases. The vapor-phase reaction mechanism was carried out in thermal plasma zone for the synthesis of nanoparticles from ilmenite compound in a plasma reactor. The easy separation of iron particles from TiO2 was taken place in the plasma chamber with deposition of light TiO2 particles at the top of the cooling chamber and iron particles at the bottom. The dissociation and combination process of mechanism and synthesis are studied briefly in this article. The product TiO2 nanoparticle shows the purity with a major phase of rutile content. TiO2 nanoparticles produced in vapor-phase reaction process shows more photo-induced capacity.

Plasma thermal performance of a dual-process PVD/PS tungsten coating on carbon-based panels for nuclear fusion application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyunmyung; Lee, Ho Jung; Kim, Sung Hwan; Jang, Changheui

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Plasma thermal performance of a dual-process PVD/PS W coating was evaluated. • Steady-state heat fluxes of 1–3 MW/m 2 were applied to the W coated specimens. • Less micro-pores and grain growth were observed for the dual-process coating. • Loss of coating thickness was observed for the simple PS W coating. • Dual-process PVD/PS W coating was resistant to erosion due to the surface PVD layer. - Abstract: Various tungsten (W) coating techniques have been used for the application of plasma facing material in nuclear fusion devices, which resulted in limited success. In this study, a dual-process W coating structure was developed on a graphite substrate to improve the thermal performance of the coating structure. The dual-process coating structure consisted of a thin (∼7 μm) multilayer W/Mo physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating layer deposited on top of the relatively thick (∼160 μm) plasma spray (PS) W coating on a graphite substrate panel. Then the coated sample was exposed to plasma heat flux of 1–3 MW/m 2 for 300 s. With addition of a thin surface PVD coating layer, the microstructure change in underlying PS W coating was substantially reduced compared to the simple PS W coating structure. The thickness of overall coating structure was maintained for the dual-process PVD/PS coated samples after the thermal loading tests, while a significant reduction in thickness due to surface erosion was observed for the simple PS W coated samples. The improvement in surface erosion resistance in the dual-process coating structure was discussed in view of the characteristics of PVD and PS coating layers.

Plasma thermal performance of a dual-process PVD/PS tungsten coating on carbon-based panels for nuclear fusion application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyunmyung; Lee, Ho Jung; Kim, Sung Hwan; Jang, Changheui, E-mail: chjang@kaist.ac.kr

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Plasma thermal performance of a dual-process PVD/PS W coating was evaluated. • Steady-state heat fluxes of 1–3 MW/m{sup 2} were applied to the W coated specimens. • Less micro-pores and grain growth were observed for the dual-process coating. • Loss of coating thickness was observed for the simple PS W coating. • Dual-process PVD/PS W coating was resistant to erosion due to the surface PVD layer. - Abstract: Various tungsten (W) coating techniques have been used for the application of plasma facing material in nuclear fusion devices, which resulted in limited success. In this study, a dual-process W coating structure was developed on a graphite substrate to improve the thermal performance of the coating structure. The dual-process coating structure consisted of a thin (∼7 μm) multilayer W/Mo physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating layer deposited on top of the relatively thick (∼160 μm) plasma spray (PS) W coating on a graphite substrate panel. Then the coated sample was exposed to plasma heat flux of 1–3 MW/m{sup 2} for 300 s. With addition of a thin surface PVD coating layer, the microstructure change in underlying PS W coating was substantially reduced compared to the simple PS W coating structure. The thickness of overall coating structure was maintained for the dual-process PVD/PS coated samples after the thermal loading tests, while a significant reduction in thickness due to surface erosion was observed for the simple PS W coated samples. The improvement in surface erosion resistance in the dual-process coating structure was discussed in view of the characteristics of PVD and PS coating layers.

Optimizing Compliance and Thermal Conductivity of Plasma Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings via Controlled Powders and Processing Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Yang; Srinivasan, Vasudevan; Nakamura, Toshio; Sampath, Sanjay; Bertrand, Pierre; Bertrand, Ghislaine

2012-09-01

The properties and performance of plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are strongly dependent on the microstructural defects, which are affected by starting powder morphology and processing conditions. Of particular interest is the use of hollow powders which not only allow for efficient melting of zirconia ceramics but also produce lower conductivity and more compliant coatings. Typical industrial hollow spray powders have an assortment of densities resulting in masking potential advantages of the hollow morphology. In this study, we have conducted process mapping strategies using a novel uniform shell thickness hollow powder to control the defect microstructure and properties. Correlations among coating properties, microstructure, and processing reveal feasibility to produce highly compliant and low conductivity TBC through a combination of optimized feedstock and processing conditions. The results are presented through the framework of process maps establishing correlations among process, microstructure, and properties and providing opportunities for optimization of TBCs.

Abatement of global warming gas emissions from semiconductor manufacturing processes by non-thermal plasma-catalyst systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, J-S.; Urashima, K. [McMaster Univ., McIARS and Dept. Eng. Phys., Hamilton, Ontario (Canada)

2009-07-01

Emission of various hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and greenhouse gases including perfluoro-compounds (PFCs) from semiconductor industries may cause significant impact on human health and the global environment, has attracted much public attention. In this paper, an application of nonthermal plasma-adsorbent system for a removal of PFCs emission from semiconductor process flue gases is experimentally investigated. The non-thermal plasma reactor used is the ferro-electric packed-bed type barrier discharge plasma and adsorbent reactor used is Zeolite bed reactor. The results show that for a simulated semiconductor process flue gas with C{sub 2}F{sub 6} (2000ppm)/ CF{sub 4}(1000ppm)/ N{sub 2}O(1000ppm)/ N{sub 2}/ Air mixture, 54% of C{sub 2}F{sub 6} and 32% of CF{sub 4} were decomposed by the plasma reactor and 100% of C{sub 2}F{sub 6} and 98% of CF{sub 4} were removed by plasma reactor/Zeolite adsorbent hybrid system. For a simulated semiconductor process flue gas with NF{sub 3} (2000ppm)/ SiF{sub 4}(1000ppm)/ N{sub 2}O(200ppm)/ N{sub 2}/ Air mixture, 92% of NF{sub 3} and 32% of SiF{sub 4} were decomposed by the plasma reactor and total (100%) removal of the pollutant gases was achieved by plasma reactor/Zeolite adsorbent hybrid system. (author)

Radioactive waste combustion-vitrification under arc plasma: thermal and dynamic modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barthelemy, B.

2003-06-01

This thesis concerns the thermal and dynamic modelling for a combustion/vitrification process of surrogate radioactive waste under transferred arc plasma. The writer presents the confinement processes for radioactive waste using arc plasma and the different software used to model theses processes. This is followed by a description of our experimental equipment including a plasma arc reactor and an inductive system allowing the homogenization of glass temperature. A combustion/vitrification test is described. Thermal and material balances were discussed. The temperature fields of plasma arc and the glass frit conductivity are measured. Finally, the writer describes and clarifies the equations solved for the simulations of the electrically plasma arc and the glass melting including the thin layer of glass frit coating the crucible cold walls. The modelling results are presented in the form of spatial distribution of temperature, velocity and voluminal power... (author)

Radioactive waste combustion / vitrification under arc plasma: thermal and dynamic modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barthelemy, B.

2003-01-01

This thesis concerns the thermal and dynamic modelling for a combustion/vitrification process of surrogate radioactive waste under transferred arc plasma. The writer presents the confinement processes for radioactive waste using arc plasma and the different software used to model theses processes. This is followed by a description of our experimental equipment including a plasma arc reactor and an inductive system allowing the homogenization of glass temperature. A combustion/vitrification test is described. Thermal and material balances were discussed. The temperature fields of plasma arc and the glass frit conductivity are measured. Finally, the writer describes and clarifies the equations solved for the simulations of the electrically plasma arc and the glass melting including the thin layer of glass frit coating the crucible cold walls. The modelling results are presented in the form of spatial distribution of temperature, velocity and volume power... (author)

Monitoring system for thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero G, M.; Vilchis P, A.E.

1999-01-01

In the Thermal plasma applications laboratory it has been the degradation project of oils for isolation in transformers. These are a very hazardous residues and at this time in the country they are stored in metal barrels. It has been the intention to undergo the oils to plasma for degradate them to non-hazardous residues. The system behavior must be monitored to establish the thermal plasma behavior. (Author)

Preliminary degradation process study of infectious biological waste in a 5 k W thermal plasma equipment.; Estudio Preliminar de Proceso de degradacion de residuos biologico-infecciosos en un equipo de plasma termico de 5 kW

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xochihua S M, M C

1998-12-31

This work is a preliminary study of infectious biological waste degradation process by thermal plasma and was made in Thermal Plasma Applications Laboratory of Environmental Studies Department of the National Institute of Nuclear Research (ININ). Infectious biological waste degradation process is realized by using samples such polyethylene, cotton, glass, etc., but the present study scope is to analyze polyethylene degradation process with mass and energy balances involved. Degradation method is realized as follow: a polyethylene sample is put in an appropriated crucible localized inside a pyrolysis reactor chamber, the plasma jet is projected to the sample, by the pyrolysis phenomena the sample is degraded into its constitutive particles: carbon and hydrogen. Air was utilized as a recombination gas in order to obtain the higher percent of CO{sub 2} if amount of O{sub 2} is greater in the recombination gas, the CO generation is reduced. The effluent gases of exhaust pyrolysis reactor through are passed through a heat exchanger to get cooled gases, the temperature water used is 15 Centigrade degrees. Finally the gases was tried into absorption tower with water as an absorbent fluid. Thermal plasma degradation process is a very promising technology, but is necessary to develop engineering process area to avail all advantages of thermal plasma. (Author).

Industrial implementation of plasma deposition using the expanding thermal plasma technique

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanden, van de M.C.M.; Oever, van den P.J.; Creatore, M.; Schaepkens, M.; Miebach, T.; Iacovangelo, C.D.; Bosch, R.C.M.; Bijker, M.D.; Evers, M.F.J.; Schram, D.C.; Kessels, W.M.M.

2004-01-01

Two successful industrial implementations of the expanding thermal plasma setup, a novel plasma source, obtaining high deposition rate are discussed. The Ar/O2/hexamethyldisiloxane and Ar/O2/octamethyl-cyclosiloxane-fed expanding thermal plasma setup is used to deposit scratch resistant silicone

Thermal plasma synthesis of Fe1−xNix alloy nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raut, Suyog A.; Kanhe, Nilesh S.; Bhoraskar, S. V.; Mathe, V. L.; Das, A. K.

2014-01-01

Fe-Ni alloy nanoparticles are of great interest because of diverse practical applications in the fields such as magnetic fluids, high density recording media, catalysis and medicine. We report the synthesis of Fe-Ni nanoparticles via thermal plasma route. Thermal plasma assisted synthesis is a high temperature process and gives high yields of production. Here, we have used direct arc thermal plasma plume of 6kw as a source of energy at operating pressure 500 Torr. The mixture of Fe-Ni powder in required proportion (Fe 1−x Ni x ; x=0.30, 0.32, 0.34, 0.36, 0.38 and 0.40) was made to evaporate simultaneously from the graphite anode in thermal plasma reactor to form Fe-Ni bimetallic nanoparticles. The as synthesized particles were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis/Differential Scanning Calorimtry (TGA/DSC)

Studying the non-thermal plasma jet characteristics and application on bacterial decontamination

Science.gov (United States)

Al-rawaf, Ali F.; Fuliful, Fadhil Khaddam; Khalaf, Mohammed K.; Oudah, Husham. K.

2018-04-01

Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma jet represents an excellent approach for the decontamination of bacteria. In this paper, we want to improve and characterize a non-thermal plasma jet to employ it in processes of sterilization. The electrical characteristics was studied to describe the discharge of the plasma jet and the development of plasma plume has been characterized as a function of helium flow rate. Optical emission spectroscopy was employed to detect the active species inside the plasma plume. The inactivation efficiency of non-thermal plasma jet was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria by measuring the diameter of inhibition zone and the number of surviving cells. The results presented that the plasma plume temperature was lower than 34° C at a flow rate of 4 slm, which will not cause damage to living tissues. The diameter of inhibition zone is directly extended with increased exposure time. We confirmed that the inactivation mechanism was unaffected by UV irradiation. In addition, we concluded that the major reasons for the inactivation process of bacteria is because of the action of the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species which formed from ambient air, while the charged particles played a minor role in the inactivation process.

Advanced oxidation technology for H2S odor gas using non-thermal plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, ZHU; Ruonan, WANG; Wenjing, BIAN; Yang, CHEN; Weidong, JING

2018-05-01

Non-thermal plasma technology is a new type of odor treatment processing. We deal with H2S from waste gas emission using non-thermal plasma generated by dielectric barrier discharge. On the basis of two criteria, removal efficiency and absolute removal amount, we deeply investigate the changes in electrical parameters and process parameters, and the reaction process of the influence of ozone on H2S gas removal. The experimental results show that H2S removal efficiency is proportional to the voltage, frequency, power, residence time and energy efficiency, while it is inversely proportional to the initial concentration of H2S gas, and ozone concentration. This study lays the foundations of non-thermal plasma technology for further commercial application.

Role of thermo-physical properties on design and development of thermal plasma devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghorui, S.

2014-01-01

Thermal plasma devices find wide application in variety of technological areas like cutting, welding, spray coating, waste management, material processing, chemical reduction, nano-synthesis, novel material synthesis etc. Highly non-linear behavior of the plasma properties coupled with inherent instabilities, extremely high temperature, high gradients in thermal, and flow field, presence of thermal and chemical non-equilibrium make design and development of the plasma generating devices a challenging task as power levels of the devices increase

Understanding the growth of micro and nano-crystalline AlN by thermal plasma process

Science.gov (United States)

Kanhe, Nilesh S.; Nawale, Ashok B.; Gawade, Rupesh L.; Puranik, Vedavati G.; Bhoraskar, Sudha V.; Das, Asoka K.; Mathe, Vikas L.

2012-01-01

We report the studies related to the growth of crystalline AlN in a DC thermal plasma reactor, operated by a transferred arc plasma torch. The reactor is capable of producing the nanoparticles of Al and AlN depending on the composition of the reacting gas. Al and AlN micro crystals are formed at the anode placed on the graphite and nano crystalline Al and AlN gets deposited on the inner surface of the plasma reactor. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy analysis, single crystal X-ray diffraction and TGA-DTA techniques are used to infer the purity of post process crystals as a hexagonal AlN. The average particle size using SEM was found to be around 30 μm. The morphology of nanoparticles of Al and AlN, nucleated by gas phase condensation in a homogeneous medium were studied by transmission electron microscopy analysis. The particle ranged in size between 15 and 80 nm in diameter. The possible growth mechanism of crystalline AlN at the anode has been explained on the basis of non-equilibrium processes in the core of the plasma and steep temperature gradient near its periphery. The gas phase species of AlN and various constituent were computed using Murphy code based on minimization of free energy. The process provides 50% yield of microcrystalline AlN and remaining of Al at anode and that of nanocrystalline h-AlN and c-Al collected from the walls of the chamber is about 33% and 67%, respectively.

Thermodynamic analysis of thermal plasma process of composite zirconium carbide and silicon carbide production from zircon concentrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostic, Z.G.; Stefanovic, P.Lj.; Pavlovic; Pavlovic, Z.N.; Zivkovic, N.V.

2000-01-01

Improved zirconium ceramics and composites have been invented in an effort to obtain better resistance to ablation at high temperature. These ceramics are suitable for use as thermal protection materials on the exterior surfaces of spacecraft, and in laboratory and industrial environments that include flows of hot oxidizing gases. Results of thermodynamic consideration of the process for composite zirconium carbide and silicon carbide ultrafine powder production from ZrSiO 4 in argon thermal plasma and propane-butane gas as reactive quenching reagents are presented in the paper. (author)

Optimization of Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment in an In Vivo Model Organism.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda Lee

Full Text Available Non-thermal plasma is increasingly being recognized for a wide range of medical and biological applications. However, the effect of non-thermal plasma on physiological functions is not well characterized in in vivo model systems. Here we use a genetically amenable, widely used model system, Drosophila melanogaster, to develop an in vivo system, and investigate the role of non-thermal plasma in blood cell differentiation. Although the blood system in Drosophila is primitive, it is an efficient system with three types of hemocytes, functioning during different developmental stages and environmental stimuli. Blood cell differentiation in Drosophila plays an essential role in tissue modeling during embryogenesis, morphogenesis and also in innate immunity. In this study, we optimized distance and frequency for a direct non-thermal plasma application, and standardized doses to treat larvae and adult flies so that there is no effect on the viability, fertility or locomotion of the organism. We discovered that at optimal distance, time and frequency, application of plasma induced blood cell differentiation in the Drosophila larval lymph gland. We articulate that the augmented differentiation could be due to an increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS upon non-thermal plasma application. Our studies open avenues to use Drosophila as a model system in plasma medicine to study various genetic disorders and biological processes where non-thermal plasma has a possible therapeutic application.

Application of non-thermal plasmas to pollution control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penetrante, B.M.; Vogtlin, G.E.; Bardsley, J.N.; Vitello, P.A.; Wallman, P.H.

1993-06-01

Non-thermal plasma techniques can be used to destroy many types of hazardous molecules. They are particularly efficient when the toxic materials are present in very small concentrations. This paper discusses three particular applications of non-thermal plasmas: (1) decomposition of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), (2) removal of trichloroethylene (TCE), and (3) removal of nitrogen oxides (NO x ). Emphasis is placed on the energy cost for implementing the decomposition or removal of these pollutants. Some of the factors affecting the energy cost are discussed. The authors discuss in detail their work at LLNL on pulsed plasma processing for the treatment of NO x in diesel engine exhaust. The results suggest that their plasma reactor can remove up to 70% of NO with relatively high initial concentrations (up to 500 ppM) at a power consumption cost of 2.5% for an engine with an output of 14 kW and an exhaust gas flow rate of 1,200 liters per minute

Application of non-thermal plasmas to pollution control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penetrante, B.M.; Vogtlin, G.E.; Bardsley, J.N.; Vitello, P.A.; Wallman, P.H.

1993-01-01

Non-thermal plasma techniques can be used to destroy many types of hazardous molecules. They are particularly efficient when the toxic materials are present in very small concentrations. This paper discusses three particular applications of non-thermal plasmas: (1) decomposition of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), (2) removal of trichloroethylene (TCE), and (3) removal of nitric oxides (NO x ) Emphasis is placed on the energy cost for implementing the decomposition or removal of these pollutants. Some of the factors affecting the energy cost are discussed. We discuss in detail our work at LLNL on pulsed plasma processing for the treatment of NO x in diesel engine exhaust. Our results suggest that our plasma reactor can remove up to 70% of NO x with relatively high initial concentrations (up to 500 ppM) at a power consumption cost of 2.5% for an engine with an output of 14 kill and an exhaust gas flow rate of 1200 liters per minute

Thermal Plasma Synthesis of Crystalline Gallium Nitride Nanopowder from Gallium Nitrate Hydrate and Melamine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae-Hee Kim

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Gallium nitride (GaN nanopowder used as a blue fluorescent material was synthesized by using a direct current (DC non-transferred arc plasma. Gallium nitrate hydrate (Ga(NO33∙xH2O was used as a raw material and NH3 gas was used as a nitridation source. Additionally, melamine (C3H6N6 powder was injected into the plasma flame to prevent the oxidation of gallium to gallium oxide (Ga2O3. Argon thermal plasma was applied to synthesize GaN nanopowder. The synthesized GaN nanopowder by thermal plasma has low crystallinity and purity. It was improved to relatively high crystallinity and purity by annealing. The crystallinity is enhanced by the thermal treatment and the purity was increased by the elimination of residual C3H6N6. The combined process of thermal plasma and annealing was appropriate for synthesizing crystalline GaN nanopowder. The annealing process after the plasma synthesis of GaN nanopowder eliminated residual contamination and enhanced the crystallinity of GaN nanopowder. As a result, crystalline GaN nanopowder which has an average particle size of 30 nm was synthesized by the combination of thermal plasma treatment and annealing.

Understanding plasma spraying process and characteristics of DC-arc plasma gun (PJ-100

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jovana Ružić

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The thermal spray processes are a group of coating processes used to apply metallic or non-metallic coatings. In these processes energy sources are used to heat the coating material (in the form of powder, wire, or rod form to a molten or semi-molten state and accelerated towards a prepared surface by either carrier gases or atomization jets. In plasma spraying process, the spraying material is generally in the form of powder and requires a carrier gas to feed the powder into the plasma jet, which is passing between the hot cathode and the cylindrical nozzle-shaped anode. The design of DC plasma gun (PJ - 100 is designed and manufactured in Serbia. Plasma spaying process, the powder injection with the heat, momentum and mass transfers between particles and plasma jet, and the latest developments related to the production of DC plasma gun are described in this article.

Non-thermal Plasma and Oxidative Stress

Science.gov (United States)

Toyokuni, Shinya

2015-09-01

Thermal plasmas and lasers have been used in medicine to cut and ablate tissues and for coagulation. Non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP; non-thermal plasma) is a recently developed, non-thermal technique with possible biomedical applications. Although NEAPP reportedly generates reactive oxygen/nitrogen species, electrons, positive ions, and ultraviolet radiation, few research projects have been conducted to merge this technique with conventional free radical biology. Recently, Prof. Masaru Hori's group (Plasma Nanotechnology Research Center, Nagoya University) developed a NEAPP device with high electron density. Here electron spin resonance revealed hydroxyl radicals as a major product. To merge non-thermal plasma biology with the preexisting free radical biology, we evaluated lipid peroxidation and DNA modifications in various in vitro and ex vivo experiments. Conjugated dienes increased after exposure to linoleic and alfa-linolenic acids. An increase in 2-thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances was also increased after exposure to phosphatidylcholine, liposomes or liver homogenate. Direct exposure to rat liver in medium produced immunohistochemical evidence of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal- and acrolein-modified proteins. Exposure to plasmid DNA induced dose-dependent single/double strand breaks and increased the amounts of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers. These results indicate that oxidative biomolecular damage by NEAPP is dose-dependent and thus can be controlled in a site-specific manner. Simultaneous oxidative and UV-specific DNA damage may be useful in cancer treatment. Other recent advancements in the related studies of non-thermal plasma in Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine will also be discussed.

Non-thermal plasmas for non-catalytic and catalytic VOC abatement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vandenbroucke, Arne M.; Morent, Rino; De Geyter, Nathalie; Leys, Christophe

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We review the current status of catalytic and non-catalytic VOC abatement based on a vast number of research papers. → The underlying mechanisms of plasma-catalysis for VOC abatement are discussed. → Critical process parameters that determine the influent are discussed and compared. - Abstract: This paper reviews recent achievements and the current status of non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology for the abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Many reactor configurations have been developed to generate a NTP at atmospheric pressure. Therefore in this review article, the principles of generating NTPs are outlined. Further on, this paper is divided in two equally important parts: plasma-alone and plasma-catalytic systems. Combination of NTP with heterogeneous catalysis has attracted increased attention in order to overcome the weaknesses of plasma-alone systems. An overview is given of the present understanding of the mechanisms involved in plasma-catalytic processes. In both parts (plasma-alone systems and plasma-catalysis), literature on the abatement of VOCs is reviewed in close detail. Special attention is given to the influence of critical process parameters on the removal process.

Monitoring system for thermal plasma; Sistema de monitoreo para plasma termico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romero G, M.; Vilchis P, A.E. [Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, A.P. 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

1999-07-01

In the Thermal plasma applications laboratory it has been the degradation project of oils for isolation in transformers. These are a very hazardous residues and at this time in the country they are stored in metal barrels. It has been the intention to undergo the oils to plasma for degradate them to non-hazardous residues. The system behavior must be monitored to establish the thermal plasma behavior. (Author)

Gaseous material capacity of open plasma jet in plasma spray-physical vapor deposition process

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Mei-Jun; Zhang, Meng; Zhang, Qiang; Yang, Guan-Jun; Li, Cheng-Xin; Li, Chang-Jiu

2018-01-01

Plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) process, emerging as a highly efficient hybrid approach, is based on two powerful technologies of both plasma spray and physical vapor deposition. The maximum production rate is affected by the material feed rate apparently, but it is determined by the material vapor capacity of transporting plasma actually and essentially. In order to realize high production rate, the gaseous material capacity of plasma jet must be fundamentally understood. In this study, the thermal characteristics of plasma were measured by optical emission spectrometry. The results show that the open plasma jet is in the local thermal equilibrium due to a typical electron number density from 2.1 × 1015 to 3.1 × 1015 cm-3. In this condition, the temperature of gaseous zirconia can be equal to the plasma temperature. A model was developed to obtain the vapor pressure of gaseous ZrO2 molecules as a two dimensional map of jet axis and radial position corresponding to different average plasma temperatures. The overall gaseous material capacity of open plasma jet, take zirconia for example, was further established. This approach on evaluating material capacity in plasma jet would shed light on the process optimization towards both depositing columnar coating and a high production rate of PS-PVD.

Thermal Conductivity Analysis and Lifetime Testing of Suspension Plasma-Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas Curry

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Suspension plasma spraying (SPS has become an interesting method for the production of thermal barrier coatings for gas turbine components. The development of the SPS process has led to structures with segmented vertical cracks or column-like structures that can imitate strain-tolerant air plasma spraying (APS or electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD coatings. Additionally, SPS coatings can have lower thermal conductivity than EB-PVD coatings, while also being easier to produce. The combination of similar or improved properties with a potential for lower production costs makes SPS of great interest to the gas turbine industry. This study compares a number of SPS thermal barrier coatings (TBCs with vertical cracks or column-like structures with the reference of segmented APS coatings. The primary focus has been on lifetime testing of these new coating systems. Samples were tested in thermo-cyclic fatigue at temperatures of 1100 °C for 1 h cycles. Additional testing was performed to assess thermal shock performance and erosion resistance. Thermal conductivity was also assessed for samples in their as-sprayed state, and the microstructures were investigated using SEM.

Non-thermal Plasma Activates Human Keratinocytes by Stimulation of Antioxidant and Phase II Pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Anke; Dietrich, Stephan; Steuer, Anna; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter; von Woedtke, Thomas; Masur, Kai; Wende, Kristian

2015-01-01

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma provides a novel therapeutic opportunity to control redox-based processes, e.g. wound healing, cancer, and inflammatory diseases. By spatial and time-resolved delivery of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, it allows stimulation or inhibition of cellular processes in biological systems. Our data show that both gene and protein expression is highly affected by non-thermal plasma. Nuclear factor erythroid-related factor 2 (NRF2) and phase II enzyme pathway components were found to act as key controllers orchestrating the cellular response in keratinocytes. Additionally, glutathione metabolism, which is a marker for NRF2-related signaling events, was affected. Among the most robustly increased genes and proteins, heme oxygenase 1, NADPH-quinone oxidoreductase 1, and growth factors were found. The roles of NRF2 targets, investigated by siRNA silencing, revealed that NRF2 acts as an important switch for sensing oxidative stress events. Moreover, the influence of non-thermal plasma on the NRF2 pathway prepares cells against exogenic noxae and increases their resilience against oxidative species. Via paracrine mechanisms, distant cells benefit from cell-cell communication. The finding that non-thermal plasma triggers hormesis-like processes in keratinocytes facilitates the understanding of plasma-tissue interaction and its clinical application. PMID:25589789

Sintering Behavior of Spark Plasma Sintered SiC with Si-SiC Composite Nanoparticles Prepared by Thermal DC Plasma Process

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yeon-Tae; Naik, Gautam Kumar; Lim, Young-Bin; Yoon, Jeong-Mo

2017-11-01

The Si-coated SiC (Si-SiC) composite nanoparticle was prepared by non-transferred arc thermal plasma processing of solid-state synthesized SiC powder and was used as a sintering additive for SiC ceramic formation. Sintered SiC pellet was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) process, and the effect of nano-sized Si-SiC composite particles on the sintering behavior of micron-sized SiC powder was investigated. The mixing ratio of Si-SiC composite nanoparticle to micron-sized SiC was optimized to 10 wt%. Vicker's hardness and relative density was increased with increasing sintering temperature and holding time. The relative density and Vicker's hardness was further increased by reaction bonding using additional activated carbon to the mixture of micron-sized SiC and nano-sized Si-SiC. The maximum relative density (97.1%) and Vicker's hardness (31.4 GPa) were recorded at 1800 °C sintering temperature for 1 min holding time, when 0.2 wt% additional activated carbon was added to the mixture of SiC/Si-SiC.

Numerical study of melted particles crush metallic substrates and the interaction between particles and a plasma beam in the thermal projection process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kriba, Ilhem; Djebaili, A.

2009-01-01

Plasma spray processes have been widely used to produce high performance coatings of a wide range of materials (metallic, non-metallic, and ceramics), offering protection from, e.g. wear, extreme temperature, chemical attack and environmental corrosion. To obtain good quality coatings, spray parameters must be carefully selected. Due to the large variety in process parameters, it is difficult to optimize the process for each specific coating and substrate combinations. Furthermore modelling the spray process allows a better understanding of the process sequences during thermal spraying. The simulation of coating formation to estimate the process parameters is an important tool to develop new coating structures with defined properties. In this work, the process of plasma sprayed coating has been analyzed by numerical simulation. Commercial code is used to predict the plasma jet characteristics, plasma-particle interaction, and coating formation. Using this model we can obtain coating microstructure and characteristics which form a foundation for further improvement of an advanced ceramic coating build up model

Plasma Technologies of Solid Fuels Processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karpenko, E.I.; Messerle, V.E.; Ustimenko, A.

2003-01-01

Use of fuel processing plasma technologies improves ecological and economical indexes of low-grade coal utilization at thermal power plants. This paper presents experimental plasma plant 70 k W of power and 11 kg per hour of coal productivity. On the base of material and heat balances integral indexes of the process of plasma gasification of Podmoskovny brown coal 48% of ash content were found. Synthesis gas with concentration 85.2% was got. Hydrogen concentration in the synthesis gas was higher than carbon monoxide one. Ratio H 2 :CO in synthesis gas was 1.4-1.5. It was shown that steam consumption and temperature of the process increase causes H 2 concentration and coal gasification degree increase. Fulfilled experiments and comparison of their result with theoretical investigations allowed creating pilot experimental plant for plasma processing of low-grade coals. The power of the pilot plant is 1000 k W and coal productivity is 300 kg/h. (author)

Use of residual hydrocarbons treated by Thermal Plasma (recovery of energy by-products)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carreno B, J.A.; Pacheco S, J.O.; Ramos F, F.; Cruz A, A.; Duran G, M.

2001-01-01

The emergence of new technologies is getting greater importance for the control of pollution. One of them is the destruction of hazardous wastes treated by thermal plasma, which is of special interest for the efficient treatment of the hazardous wastes since the heat generated by thermal plasma is able to destroy the molecular bonds generating solids and gaseous products which do not represent danger for the human being and the environment. The thermal plasma is the suitable technology for treating a wide range of hazardous wastes, including the residual hydrocarbons from the refinement process of petroleum, plasma exceeds the barrier of 3000 Centigrade. The efficiency of the degradation of residues is greater than 99.99%. Toxic emissions are not generated to environment as SO 2 , NO x and CO 2 neither dioxins and furans by being a pyrolysis process. The use of hydrogen as fuel does not generate pollution to environment. (Author)

Timescale and magnitude of plasma thermal energy loss before and during disruptions in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riccardo, V.; Loarte, A.

2005-01-01

In this paper we analyse and discuss the thermal energy loss dynamics before and during JET disruptions that occurred between 2002 and 2004 in discharges which reached >4.5 MJ of thermal energy. We observe the slow thermal energy transients with diamagnetic loops and the fast ones with electron cyclotron emission and soft x-ray diagnostics. For most disruption types in JET, the plasma thermal energy at the time of the thermal quench is substantially less than that of the full performance plasma, typically in the range of 10-50% depending on plasma conditions and disruption type. The exceptions to this observation are disruptions in plasmas with a strong internal transport barrier (ITB) and in discharges terminating in a pure vertical displacement event, in which the plasma conserves a very high energy content up to the thermal quench. These disruption types are very sudden, leaving little scope for the combined action of soft plasma landing strategies and intrinsic performance degradation, both requiring >500 ms to be effective, to decrease the available thermal energy. The characteristic time for the loss of energy from the main plasma towards the PFCs in the thermal quench of JET disruptions is in the range 0.05-3.0 ms. The shortest timescales are typical of disruptions caused by excessive pressure peaking in ITB discharges. The available thermal energy fraction and thermal quench duration observed in JET can be processed (with due caution) into estimates for the projected PFC lifetime of the ITER target

Automated Plasma Spray (APS) process feasibility study: Plasma spray process development and evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Fetheroff, C. W.; Derkacs, T.; Matay, I. M.

1979-01-01

An automated plasma spray (APS) process was developed to apply two layer (NiCrAlY and ZrO2-12Y2O3) thermal-barrier coatings to aircraft gas turbine engine blade airfoils. The APS process hardware consists of four subsystems: a mechanical blade positioner incorporating two interlaced six-degree-of-freedom assemblies; a noncoherent optical metrology subsystem; a microprocessor-based adaptive system controller; and commercial plasma spray equipment. Over fifty JT9D first stage turbine blades specimens were coated with the APS process in preliminary checkout and evaluation studies. The best of the preliminary specimens achieved an overall coating thickness uniformity of + or - 53 micrometers, much better than is achievable manually. Factors limiting this performance were identified and process modifications were initiated accordingly. Comparative evaluations of coating thickness uniformity for manually sprayed and APS coated specimens were initiated. One of the preliminary evaluation specimens was subjected to a torch test and metallographic evaluation.

Physical processes in relativistic plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svensson, R.

1984-01-01

The continuum emission in many active galactic nuclei (AGNs) extend to 100 keV and beyond (e.g. Rothschild et al. 1983). In thermal models of the continuum emission this implies temperatures above 10 9 K or kT of order mc 2 . In such a plasma the electrons are at least mildly relativistic and furthermore the particles and the photons are energetic enough to produce electron-positron pairs. The physics of such hot plasmas has only recently been studied in any detail and here we review the results of those studies. Significant electron-positron pair production may also occur in non-thermal models of the continuum emission if the optical depth to photon-photon pair production is greater than unity. We review the few results obtained regarding this interesting but not very well studied possibility. First, however, we briefly discuss the processes taking place in relativistic plasmas and the standard models for the continuum emission from AGNs. We then summarize the effects pair production have on these models and the observational implications of the presence of electron-positron pairs. (orig./WL)

Sintering Behavior of Spark Plasma Sintered SiC with Si-SiC Composite Nanoparticles Prepared by Thermal DC Plasma Process.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yeon-Tae; Naik, Gautam Kumar; Lim, Young-Bin; Yoon, Jeong-Mo

2017-11-25

The Si-coated SiC (Si-SiC) composite nanoparticle was prepared by non-transferred arc thermal plasma processing of solid-state synthesized SiC powder and was used as a sintering additive for SiC ceramic formation. Sintered SiC pellet was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) process, and the effect of nano-sized Si-SiC composite particles on the sintering behavior of micron-sized SiC powder was investigated. The mixing ratio of Si-SiC composite nanoparticle to micron-sized SiC was optimized to 10 wt%. Vicker's hardness and relative density was increased with increasing sintering temperature and holding time. The relative density and Vicker's hardness was further increased by reaction bonding using additional activated carbon to the mixture of micron-sized SiC and nano-sized Si-SiC. The maximum relative density (97.1%) and Vicker's hardness (31.4 GPa) were recorded at 1800 °C sintering temperature for 1 min holding time, when 0.2 wt% additional activated carbon was added to the mixture of SiC/Si-SiC.

Thermal instability in a stratified plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermanns, D.F.M.; Priest, E.R.

1989-01-01

The thermal instability mechansism has been studied in connection to observed coronal features, like, e.g. prominences or cool cores in loops. Although these features show a lot of structure, most studies concern the thermal instability in an uniform medium. In this paper, we investigate the thermal instability and the interaction between thermal modes and the slow magneto-acoustic subspectrum for a stratified plasma slab. We fomulate the relevant system of equations and give some straightforward properties of the linear spectrum of a non-uniform plasma slab, i.e. the existence of continuous parts in the spectrum. We present a numerical scheme with which we can investigate the linear spectrum for equilibrium states with stratification. The slow and thermal subspectra of a crude coronal model are given as a preliminary result. (author). 6 refs.; 1 fig

Fundamental Processes in Plasmas. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Neil, Thomas M.; Driscoll, C. Fred

2009-01-01

This research focuses on fundamental processes in plasmas, and emphasizes problems for which precise experimental tests of theory can be obtained. Experiments are performed on non-neutral plasmas, utilizing three electron traps and one ion trap with a broad range of operating regimes and diagnostics. Theory is focused on fundamental plasma and fluid processes underlying collisional transport and fluid turbulence, using both analytic techniques and medium-scale numerical simulations. The simplicity of these systems allows a depth of understanding and a precision of comparison between theory and experiment which is rarely possible for neutral plasmas in complex geometry. The recent work has focused on three areas in basic plasma physics. First, experiments and theory have probed fundamental characteristics of plasma waves: from the low-amplitude thermal regime, to inviscid damping and fluid echoes, to cold fluid waves in cryogenic ion plasmas. Second, the wide-ranging effects of dissipative separatrices have been studied experimentally and theoretically, finding novel wave damping and coupling effects and important plasma transport effects. Finally, correlated systems have been investigated experimentally and theoretically: UCSD experients have now measured the Salpeter correlation enhancement, and theory work has characterized the 'guiding center atoms of antihydrogen created at CERN

Electron thermal transport in tokamak plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konings, J A

1994-11-30

The process of fusion of small nuclei thereby releasing energy, as it occurs continuously in the sun, is essential for the existence of mankind. The same process applied in a controlled way on earth would provide a clean and an abundant energy source, and be the long term solution of the energy problem. Nuclear fusion requires an extremely hot (10{sup 8} K) ionized gas, a plasma, that can only be maintained if it is kept insulated from any material wall. In the so called `tokamak` this is achieved by using magnetic fields. The termal insulation, which is essential if one wants to keep the plasma at the high `fusion` temperature, can be predicted using basic plasma therory. A comparison with experiments in tokamaks, however, showed that the electron enery losses are ten to hundred times larger than this theory predicts. This `anomalous transport` of thermal energy implies that, to reach the condition for nuclear fusion, a fusion reactor must have very large dimensions. This may put the economic feasibility of fusion power in jeopardy. Therefore, in a worldwide collaboration, physicists study tokamak plasmas in an attempt to understand and control the energy losses. From a scientific point of view, the mechanisms driving anomalous transport are one of the challenges in fudamental plasma physics. In Nieuwegein, a tokamak experiment (the Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project, RTP) is dedicated to the study of anomalous transport, in an international collaboration with other laboratories. (orig./WL).

Plasma hearth process demonstration project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geimer, R.M.; Gillins, R.L.

1995-01-01

The Plasma Hearth Process (PHP) demonstration project is one of the key technology projects in the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Development Mixed Waste Focus Area. The PHP is a high temperature thermal treatment process using a plasma arc torch in a stationary, refractory lined chamber that destroys organics and stabilizes the residuals in a nonleaching, vitrified waste form, greatly improving the disposability of the waste. This paper describes the PHP system and summarizes test results to date, including volume reduction, destruction and removal efficiencies for organic wastes, and emission characteristics. Tests performed so far demonstrate that the PHP adresses DOE mixed waste final waste form requirements and US Environmental Protection Agency Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure requirements

SUPERFAST THERMALIZATION OF PLASMA

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, C.C.

1962-06-12

A method is given for the superfast thermalization of plasma by shock conversion of the kinetic energy stored in rotating plasma rings or plasmoids colliding at near supersonic speeds in a containment field to heat energy in the resultant confined plasma mass. The method includes means for generating rotating plasmoids at the opposite ends of a Pyrotron or Astron containment field. The plasmoids are magnetically accelerated towards each other into the opposite ends of time containment field. During acceleration of the plasmoids toward the center of the containment field, the intensity of the field is sequentially increased to adiabatically compress the plasmoids and increase the plasma energy. The plasmoids hence collide with a violent shock at the eenter of the containment field, causing the substantial kinetic energy stored in the plasmoids to be converted to heat in the resultant plasma mass. (AEC)

Thermal Stir Welding: A New Solid State Welding Process

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, R. Jeffrey

2003-01-01

Thermal stir welding is a new welding process developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Thermal stir welding is similar to friction stir welding in that it joins similar or dissimilar materials without melting the parent material. However, unlike friction stir welding, the heating, stirring and forging elements of the process are all independent of each other and are separately controlled. Furthermore, the heating element of the process can be either a solid-state process (such as a thermal blanket, induction type process, etc), or, a fusion process (YG laser, plasma torch, etc.) The separation of the heating, stirring, forging elements of the process allows more degrees of freedom for greater process control. This paper introduces the mechanics of the thermal stir welding process. In addition, weld mechanical property data is presented for selected alloys as well as metallurgical analysis.

High-Performance Molybdenum Coating by Wire–HVOF Thermal Spray Process

Science.gov (United States)

Tailor, Satish; Modi, Ankur; Modi, S. C.

2018-04-01

Coating deposition on many industrial components with good microstructural, mechanical properties, and better wear resistance is always a challenge for the thermal spray community. A number of thermal spray methods are used to develop such promising coatings for many industrial applications, viz. arc spray, flame spray, plasma, and HVOF. All these processes have their own limitations to achieve porous free, very dense, high-performance wear-resistant coatings. In this work, an attempt has been made to overcome this limitation. Molybdenum coatings were deposited on low-carbon steel substrates using wire-high-velocity oxy-fuel (W-HVOF; WH) thermal spray system (trade name HIJET 9610®). For a comparison, Mo coatings were also fabricated by arc spray, flame spray, plasma spray, and powder-HVOF processes. As-sprayed coatings were analyzed using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy for phase, and microstructural analysis, respectively. Coating microhardness, surface roughness, and porosity were also measured. Adhesion strength and wear tests were conducted to determine the mechanical and wear properties of the as-sprayed coatings. Results show that the coatings deposited by W-HVOF have better performance in terms of microstructural, mechanical, and wear resistance properties, in comparison with available thermal spray process (flame spray and plasma spray).

On thermalization of electron-positron-photon plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siutsou, I. A., E-mail: siutsou@icranet.org [CAPES–ICRANet program, ICRANet–Rio, CBPF 22290-180, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud, 150, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Aksenov, A. G. [Institute for Computer-Aided Design, Russian Academy of Sciences 123056, 2nd Brestskaya st., 19/18, Moscow (Russian Federation); Vereshchagin, G. V. [ICRANet 65122, p.le della Republica, 10, Pescara (Italy)

2015-12-17

Recently a progress has been made in understanding thermalization mechanism of relativistic plasma starting from a non-equilibrium state. Relativistic Boltzmann equations were solved numerically for homogeneous isotropic plasma with collision integrals for two- and three-particle interactions calculated from the first principles by means of QED matrix elements. All particles were assumed to fulfill Boltzmann statistics. In this work we follow plasma thermalization by accounting for Bose enhancement and Pauli blocking in particle interactions. Our results show that particle in equilibrium reach Bose-Einstein distribution for photons, and Fermi-Dirac one for electrons, respectively.

On thermalization of electron-positron-photon plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Siutsou, I. A.; Aksenov, A. G.; Vereshchagin, G. V.

2015-12-01

Recently a progress has been made in understanding thermalization mechanism of relativistic plasma starting from a non-equilibrium state. Relativistic Boltzmann equations were solved numerically for homogeneous isotropic plasma with collision integrals for two- and three-particle interactions calculated from the first principles by means of QED matrix elements. All particles were assumed to fulfill Boltzmann statistics. In this work we follow plasma thermalization by accounting for Bose enhancement and Pauli blocking in particle interactions. Our results show that particle in equilibrium reach Bose-Einstein distribution for photons, and Fermi-Dirac one for electrons, respectively.

Advanced oxide powders processing based on cascade plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solonenko, O P; Smirnov, A V

2014-01-01

Analysis of the potential advantages offered to thermal spraying and powder processing by the implementation of plasma torches with inter-electrode insert (IEI) or, in other words, cascade plasma torches (CPTs) is presented. The paper provides evidence that the modular designed single cathode CPT helps eliminate the following major disadvantages of conventional plasma torches: plasma parameters drifting, 1-5 kHz pulsing of plasma flow, as well as excessive erosion of electrodes. More stable plasma results in higher quality, homogeneity and reproducibility of plasma sprayed coatings and powders treated. In addition, CPT offers an extremely wide operating window, which allows better control of plasma parameters, particle dwell time and, consequently, particle temperature and velocity within a wide range by generating high enthalpy quasi-laminar plasmas, medium enthalpy transient plasmas, as well as relatively low enthalpy turbulent plasmas. Stable operation, flexibility with plasma gases as well as wide operating window of CPT should help significantly improve the existing plasma spraying processes and coatings, and also help develop new advanced technologies

High resolution X-ray spectroscopy of thermal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canizares, C.R.

1990-01-01

This paper concentrates on reviewing highlights of the Focal Plane Crystal Spectrometer (FPCS) results on thermal plasmas, particularly supernova remnants (SNRs) and clusters of galaxies from the Einstein observatory. During Einstein's short but happy life, we made over 400 observations with the FPCS of 40 different objects. Three quarters of these were objects in which the emission was primarily from optically thin thermal plasma, primarily supernova remnants (SNRs) and clusters of galaxies. Thermal plasmas provide an excellent illustration of how spectral data, particularly high resolution spectral data, can be an important tool for probing the physical properties of astrophysical objects. (author)

The conversion of the thermal energy of plasma in the SOL of tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nedospasov, A.V.; Nenova, N.V.

2008-01-01

When the plasma expands across the confining magnetic field, a part of its thermal energy is converted to electrical energy. In the SOL of tokamaks, the motion of the plasma across the field due to turbulent processes is accompanied by its departure along the open lines of the magnetic field. The conversion of thermal energy is taken into account in theoretical studies devoted to the physics of plasma in the SOL; however, this conversion is ignored in numerical models, for example, in B2-SOLPS4.0. This paper deals with thermal-to-electrical energy conversion in the SOL of tokamaks. It is demonstrated that the part of the thermal energy subjected to conversion to electrical energy forms an appreciable part of the total energy flowing in the SOL. In ITER, this fraction may be as high as 20-25%. The electrical energy generated in the SOL volume is liberated in the form of Joule heat in a relatively cold plasma in the vicinity of diverter plates or directly on these plates. (letter)

Non-thermal plasma mills bacteria: Scanning electron microscopy observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lunov, O.; Churpita, O.; Zablotskii, V.; Jäger, A.; Dejneka, A.; Deyneka, I. G.; Meshkovskii, I. K.; Syková, E.; Kubinová, Š.

2015-01-01

Non-thermal plasmas hold great promise for a variety of biomedical applications. To ensure safe clinical application of plasma, a rigorous analysis of plasma-induced effects on cell functions is required. Yet mechanisms of bacteria deactivation by non-thermal plasma remain largely unknown. We therefore analyzed the influence of low-temperature atmospheric plasma on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Using scanning electron microscopy, we demonstrate that both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria strains in a minute were completely destroyed by helium plasma. In contrast, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were not affected by the same treatment. Furthermore, histopathological analysis of hematoxylin and eosin–stained rat skin sections from plasma–treated animals did not reveal any abnormalities in comparison to control ones. We discuss possible physical mechanisms leading to the shred of bacteria under non-thermal plasma irradiation. Our findings disclose how helium plasma destroys bacteria and demonstrates the safe use of plasma treatment for MSCs and skin cells, highlighting the favorability of plasma applications for chronic wound therapy

Synthesis of ZnO nanopowders by DC thermal plasma for dye-sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Soo-Jung; Choi, Jinsub [Department of Chemical Engineering, Inha University, 253 Yonghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Dong-Wha, E-mail: dwpark@inha.ac.kr [Department of Chemical Engineering, Inha University, 253 Yonghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-01

Highlights: ► ZnO nanopowders were synthesized using DC thermal plasma process. ► Type and flow rate of reaction gas were controlled as experimental variables. ► Various morphologies were identified by changing the reaction gas. ► The photovoltaic performances were promoted by removing the unreacted precursors. ► DSSCs based on 1D nanostructure ZnO show the enhanced energy conversion efficiency. -- Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanopowders were synthesized from commercially available micro-sized zinc powders (Aldrich Co., 98%, 10 μm) by a DC thermal plasma process at atmospheric pressure. The micro-sized zinc powders were vaporized in the plasma region, after which the plasma processing equipment was rapidly quenched, resulting in the formation of ZnO nanopowders with a size of less than 300 nm. Two different reaction gases of oxygen and carbon dioxide were used as the oxygen source and each gas flow rate was controlled as a process variable. The obtained ZnO nanopowders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All synthesized ZnO nanopowders showed high crystalline wurtzite structures and the differences in their morphologies were strongly dependent on the operating variables. The photocurrent–voltage (J–V) curve of the ZnO nanopowders with a dye of ruthenium (II) 535 bis-TBA (N719, Solaronix) in redox electrolyte showed an overall energy conversion efficiency (η) of 2.54%, demonstrating that the application of the mass-producible ZnO nanopowders by thermal plasma processing to DSSC was feasible.

Non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma induces angiogenesis through reactive oxygen species.

Science.gov (United States)

Arjunan, Krishna Priya; Friedman, Gary; Fridman, Alexander; Clyne, Alisa Morss

2012-01-07

Vascularization plays a key role in processes such as wound healing and tissue engineering. Non-thermal plasma, which primarily produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), has recently emerged as an efficient tool in medical applications including blood coagulation, sterilization and malignant cell apoptosis. Liquids and porcine aortic endothelial cells were treated with a non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma in vitro. Plasma treatment of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and serum-free medium increased ROS concentration in a dose-dependent manner, with a higher concentration observed in serum-free medium compared with PBS. Species concentration inside cells peaked 1 h after treatment, followed by a decrease 3 h post treatment. Endothelial cells treated with a plasma dose of 4.2 J cm(-2) had 1.7 times more cells than untreated samples 5 days after plasma treatment. The 4.2 J cm(-2) plasma dose increased two-dimensional migration distance by 40 per cent compared with untreated control, while the number of cells that migrated through a three-dimensional collagen gel increased by 15 per cent. Tube formation was also enhanced by plasma treatment, with tube lengths in plasma-treated samples measuring 2.6 times longer than control samples. A fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) neutralizing antibody and ROS scavengers abrogated these angiogenic effects. These data indicate that plasma enhanced proliferation, migration and tube formation is due to FGF-2 release induced by plasma-produced ROS. Non-thermal plasma may be used as a potential tool for applying ROS in precise doses to enhance vascularization.

PREFACE: 13th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference (HTPP-2014)

Science.gov (United States)

2014-11-01

The High-Tech Plasma Processes - 13th European Plasma Conference (HTPP-2014) was held in Toulouse (France) on 22-27 June 2014. The conference series started in 1990 as a thermal plasma conference and has gradually expanded to include other related topics. Now the High-Tech Plasma Processes - European Plasma Conference (HTPP) is an international conference organised in Europe every two years with topics encompassing the whole field of plasma processing science. The aim of the conference is to bring different scientific communities together, to facilitate contacts between science, technology and industry and to provide a platform for the exploration of both the fundamental topics and new applications of plasmas. For this edition of HTPP, as was the case for the last, we have acheived a well balanced participation from the communities of both thermal and non-thermal plasma researchers. 142 people from 17 countries attended the conference with the total number of contributions being 155, consisting of 8 plenary and 8 invited talks plus 51 oral and 88 poster contributions. We have received numerous papers corresponding to the contributions of HTPP-2014 that have been submitted for publication in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Each submitted contribution has been peer reviewed (60 referees with at least two reviewing each paper) and the Editors are very grateful to the referees for their careful support in improving the original manuscripts. In total, 52 manuscripts have been accepted for publication covering a range of topics of plasma processing science from plasma fundamentals to process applications through to experiments, diagnostics and modelling. We have grouped the papers into the following 5 topics: - Arc-Materials Interaction and Metallurgy - Plasma Torches and Spraying - Synthesis of Powders and Nanomaterials - Deposition and Surface Treatment - Non-Equilibrium Plasmas We deeply thank the authors for their enthusiastic and high

Low and intermediate level radioactive waste processing in plasma reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauchyn, V.; Khvedchyn, I.; Van Oost, G.

2013-01-01

Methods of low and intermediate level radioactive waste processing comprise: cementation, bituminization, curing in polymer matrices, combustion and pyrolysis. All these methods are limited in their application in the field of chemical, morphological, and aggregate composition of material to be processed. The thermal plasma method is one of the universal methods of RAW processing. The use of electric-arc plasma with mean temperatures 2000 - 8000 K can effectively carry out the destruction of organic compounds into atoms and ions with very high speeds and high degree of conversion. Destruction of complex substances without oxygen leads to a decrease of the volume of exhaust gases and dimension of gas cleaning system. This paper presents the plasma reactor for thermal processing of low and intermediate level radioactive waste of mixed morphology. The equipment realizes plasma-pyrolytic conversion of wastes and results in a conditioned product in a single stage. As a result, the volume of conditioned waste is significantly reduced (more than 10 times). Waste is converted into an environmentally friendly form that suits long-term storage. The leaching rate of macro-components from the vitrified compound is less than 1.10 -7 g/(cm 2 .day). (authors)

Plasma thermal conversion of bio-oil for hydrogen production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guenadou, David; Lorcet, Helene; Peybernes, Jean; Catoire, Laurent; Osmont, Antoine; Gokalp, Iskender

2012-01-01

Numerous processes exist or are proposed for the energetic conversion of biomass. The use of thermal plasma is proposed in the frame of the GALACSY project for the conversion of bio-oil to hydrogen and carbon monoxide. For this purpose, an experimental apparatus has been built. The feasibility of this conversion at very high temperature, as encountered in thermal plasma, is examined both experimentally and numerically. This zero dimensional study tends to show that a high temperature (around 2500 K or above) is needed to ensure a high yield of hydrogen (about 50 mol%) and about 95 mol% of CO+H 2 . Predicted CO+H 2 yield and CO/H 2 ratio are consistent with measurements. It is also expected that the formation of particles and tars is hampered. Thermodynamic data of selected bio-oil components are provided in the CHEMKINNASA format. (authors)

Destruction studies of hazardous wastes by thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cota S, G.

1998-01-01

Plasma technology appears promising because its high degree of controllability, capability to process waste without the adverse effects of combustion, and a very wide temperature range of operation. The goal of this work was to develop a process for a high throughput system to turn hazardous waste into inert stable products, which can be safely stored and to greatly reduce air pollution relative to incineration. The experiments have shown that the thermal plasma reactor can provide a high degree of decomposition of CCl 4 , C 6 H 6 , C 2 Cl 4 and commercial oil at low gas input speeds, with modest power requirements. Decomposition of 99.9999 % has been obtained in our laboratory and all the organic components are decomposed in base molecules (C, CO, CO 2 , H 2 , HCl). The analysis of exhaust gases was made by using a mass filter quadrupole. The equipment consist of a cylindrical reactor hermetically sealed, double-walled and water-cooled container made of special steel, this container in halt the crucible which serves to receive the waste materials. The whole system is designed for a maximal internal temperature of 2000 Centigrade. The gaseous result components of the material are transferred to a scrubber unit through an exit arranged on the top of reactor. The thermal efficiency evaluation of the plasma torch was also realized, obtaining a reasonable agreement between measurements and predictions in temperature profiles. (Author)

Implosive Thermal Plasma Source for Energy Conversion

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šonský, Jiří; Tesař, Václav; Gruber, Jan; Mašláni, Alan

2017-01-01

Roč. 4, č. 1 (2017), s. 87-90 ISSN 2336-2626 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 ; RVO:61389021 Keywords : implosion * thermal plasma * detonation wave Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics; BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics (UFP-V) OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics); Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics) (UFP-V) https://ppt.fel.cvut.cz/ppt2017.html#number1

Ion Streaming Instabilities in Pair Ion Plasma and Localized Structure with Non-Thermal Electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Nasir Khattak, M.; Mushtaq, A.; Qamar, A.

2015-12-01

Pair ion plasma with a fraction of non-thermal electrons is considered. We investigate the effects of the streaming motion of ions on linear and nonlinear properties of unmagnetized, collisionless plasma by using the fluid model. A dispersion relation is derived, and the growth rate of streaming instabilities with effect of streaming motion of ions and non-thermal electrons is calculated. A qausi-potential approach is adopted to study the characteristics of ion acoustic solitons. An energy integral equation involving Sagdeev potential is derived during this process. The presence of the streaming term in the energy integral equation affects the structure of the solitary waves significantly along with non-thermal electrons. Possible application of the work to the space and laboratory plasmas are highlighted.

Ion streaming instabilities in pair ion plasma and localized structure with non-thermal electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khattak, M. Nasir; Qamar, A., E-mail: mnnasirphysics@gmail.com [Department of Physics, University of Peshawar (Pakistan); Mushtaq, A. [Department of Physics, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, National Center for Physics, Mardan (Pakistan)

2015-12-15

Pair ion plasma with a fraction of non-thermal electrons is considered. We investigate the effects of the streaming motion of ions on linear and nonlinear properties of unmagnetized, collisionless plasma by using the fluid model. A dispersion relation is derived, and the growth rate of streaming instabilities with effect of streaming motion of ions and non-thermal electrons is calculated. A quasi-potential approach is adopted to study the characteristics of ion acoustic solitons. An energy integral equation involving Sagdeev potential is derived during this process. The presence of the streaming term in the energy integral equation affects the structure of the solitary waves significantly along with non-thermal electrons. Possible application of the work to the space and laboratory plasmas are highlighted. (author)

Hydrogen production by thermal water splitting using a thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boudesocque, N.; Lafon, C.; Girold, C.; Vandensteendam, C.; Baronnet, J.M.

2006-01-01

CEA has been working for more than 10 years in plasma technologies devoted to waste treatment: incineration, vitrification, gases and liquid treatment. Based on this experience, CEA experiments since several years an innovative route for hydrogen production by thermal water splitting, using a plasma as heat source. This new approach could be considered as an alternative to electrolysis for massive hydrogen production from water and electricity. This paper presents a brief state of the art of water thermal plasmas, showing the temperatures and quench velocity ranges technologically achievable today. Thermodynamic properties of a water plasma are presented and discussed. A kinetic computational model is presented, describing the behavior of splitted products during the quench in a plasma plume for various parameters, such as the quench rate. The model results are compared to gas analysis in the plasma plume obtained with in-situ sampling probe. The plasma composition measurements are issued from an Optical Emission Spectroscopic method (OES). The prediction of 30 % H 2 recovery with a 108 K.s -1 quench rate has been verified. A second experimentation has been performed: mass gas analysis, flowrate measurement and OES to study the 'behavior' and species in underwater electrical arc stricken between graphite electrodes. With this quench, a synthesis gas was produced with a content 55 % of hydrogen. (authors)

Thermal plasma spheroidization and spray deposition of barium titanate powder and characterization of the plasma sprayable powder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pakseresht, A.H., E-mail: amirh_pak@yahoo.com [Department of Ceramics, Materials and Energy Research Center, P.O. Box 31787-316, Karaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Rahimipour, M.R. [Department of Ceramics, Materials and Energy Research Center, P.O. Box 31787-316, Karaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Vaezi, M.R. [Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Materials and Energy Research Center, P.O. Box 31787-316, Karaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Salehi, M. [Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, P.O. Box 84156-83111, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2016-04-15

In this paper, atmospheric plasma spray method was used to produce dense plasma sprayable powder and thick barium titanate film. In this regard, the commercially feedstock powders were granulated and spheroidized by the organic binder and the thermal spray process, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the microstructure of the produced powders and the final deposits. X-ray diffraction was also implemented to characterize phase of the sprayed powder. The results indicated that spheroidized powder had suitable flowability as well as high density. The micro-hardness of the film produced by the sprayed powders was higher than that of the film deposited by the irregular granules. Additionally, relative permittivity of the films was increased by decreasing the defects from 160 to 293 for film deposited using spheroidized powder. The reduction in the relative permittivity of deposits, in comparison with the bulk material, was due to the existence of common defects in the thermal spray process. - Highlights: • We prepare sprayable BaTiO{sub 3} powder with no or less inside voids for plasma spray application for first time. • The sprayable powder has good flow characteristics and high density. • Powder spheroidization via plasma spray improves the hardness and dielectric properties of the deposited film.

Thermal plasma spheroidization and spray deposition of barium titanate powder and characterization of the plasma sprayable powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pakseresht, A.H.; Rahimipour, M.R.; Vaezi, M.R.; Salehi, M.

2016-01-01

In this paper, atmospheric plasma spray method was used to produce dense plasma sprayable powder and thick barium titanate film. In this regard, the commercially feedstock powders were granulated and spheroidized by the organic binder and the thermal spray process, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the microstructure of the produced powders and the final deposits. X-ray diffraction was also implemented to characterize phase of the sprayed powder. The results indicated that spheroidized powder had suitable flowability as well as high density. The micro-hardness of the film produced by the sprayed powders was higher than that of the film deposited by the irregular granules. Additionally, relative permittivity of the films was increased by decreasing the defects from 160 to 293 for film deposited using spheroidized powder. The reduction in the relative permittivity of deposits, in comparison with the bulk material, was due to the existence of common defects in the thermal spray process. - Highlights: • We prepare sprayable BaTiO_3 powder with no or less inside voids for plasma spray application for first time. • The sprayable powder has good flow characteristics and high density. • Powder spheroidization via plasma spray improves the hardness and dielectric properties of the deposited film.

Deviations from thermal equilibrium in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burm, K.T.A.L.

2004-01-01

A plasma system in local thermal equilibrium can usually be described with only two parameters. To describe deviations from equilibrium two extra parameters are needed. However, it will be shown that deviations from temperature equilibrium and deviations from Saha equilibrium depend on one another. As a result, non-equilibrium plasmas can be described with three parameters. This reduction in parameter space will ease the plasma describing effort enormously

Incineration/vitrification of radioactive wastes and combustion of pyrolysis gases in thermal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girold, Ch.

1997-03-01

Two thermal plasma processes used for incineration of radioactive technological wastes (cellulose, plastics, rubber...) have been investigated. First, the different types of radioactive wastes are presented, with a special attention to those which may benefit from a high temperature thermal treatment. The most significant thermal plasma processes, suitable for this goal, are described. Then, the author deals with the post-combustion, in an oxygen plasma jet reactor, of gases from burnable radioactive waste pyrolysis. An experimental planning method as been used to evaluate the combustion performances in the reactor, with a wide range of gas composition and running parameters such as oxygen excess and electrical power. The results of a modeling of kinetics, based on 116 chemicals reactions between 25 species, are compared with experimental values. Finally, an oxygen plasma reactor where the arc is transferred on a basalt melt is experimented. The efficiency of the combustion and the homogeneity of the glass are discussed. The volatility of some glass elements and tracers added to the wastes is also approached in two different ways: by post-trial material balance and by an optical emission spectroscopic method. The author built a diagnostic method that allows the following versus time of the metallic vapours above the melt. (author)

Higher Temperature Thermal Barrier Coatings with the Combined Use of Yttrium Aluminum Garnet and the Solution Precursor Plasma Spray Process

Science.gov (United States)

Gell, Maurice; Wang, Jiwen; Kumar, Rishi; Roth, Jeffery; Jiang, Chen; Jordan, Eric H.

2018-04-01

Gas-turbine engines are widely used in transportation, energy and defense industries. The increasing demand for more efficient gas turbines requires higher turbine operating temperatures. For more than 40 years, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has been the dominant thermal barrier coating (TBC) due to its outstanding material properties. However, the practical use of YSZ-based TBCs is limited to approximately 1200 °C. Developing new, higher temperature TBCs has proven challenging to satisfy the multiple property requirements of a durable TBC. In this study, an advanced TBC has been developed by using the solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS) process that generates unique engineered microstructures with the higher temperature yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) to produce a TBC that can meet and exceed the major performance standards of state-of-the-art air plasma sprayed YSZ, including: phase stability, sintering resistance, CMAS resistance, thermal cycle durability, thermal conductivity and erosion resistance. The temperature improvement for hot section gas turbine materials (superalloys & TBCs) has been at the rate of about 50 °C per decade over the last 50 years. In contrast, SPPS YAG TBCs offer the near-term potential of a > 200 °C improvement in temperature capability.

Higher Temperature Thermal Barrier Coatings with the Combined Use of Yttrium Aluminum Garnet and the Solution Precursor Plasma Spray Process

Science.gov (United States)

Gell, Maurice; Wang, Jiwen; Kumar, Rishi; Roth, Jeffery; Jiang, Chen; Jordan, Eric H.

2018-02-01

Gas-turbine engines are widely used in transportation, energy and defense industries. The increasing demand for more efficient gas turbines requires higher turbine operating temperatures. For more than 40 years, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has been the dominant thermal barrier coating (TBC) due to its outstanding material properties. However, the practical use of YSZ-based TBCs is limited to approximately 1200 °C. Developing new, higher temperature TBCs has proven challenging to satisfy the multiple property requirements of a durable TBC. In this study, an advanced TBC has been developed by using the solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS) process that generates unique engineered microstructures with the higher temperature yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) to produce a TBC that can meet and exceed the major performance standards of state-of-the-art air plasma sprayed YSZ, including: phase stability, sintering resistance, CMAS resistance, thermal cycle durability, thermal conductivity and erosion resistance. The temperature improvement for hot section gas turbine materials (superalloys & TBCs) has been at the rate of about 50 °C per decade over the last 50 years. In contrast, SPPS YAG TBCs offer the near-term potential of a > 200 °C improvement in temperature capability.

Hydrogen Plasma Processing of Iron Ore

Science.gov (United States)

Sabat, Kali Charan; Murphy, Anthony B.

2017-06-01

Iron is currently produced by carbothermic reduction of oxide ores. This is a multiple-stage process that requires large-scale equipment and high capital investment, and produces large amounts of CO2. An alternative to carbothermic reduction is reduction using a hydrogen plasma, which comprises vibrationally excited molecular, atomic, and ionic states of hydrogen, all of which can reduce iron oxides, even at low temperatures. Besides the thermodynamic and kinetic advantages of a hydrogen plasma, the byproduct of the reaction is water, which does not pose any environmental problems. A review of the theory and practice of iron ore reduction using a hydrogen plasma is presented. The thermodynamic and kinetic aspects are considered, with molecular, atomic and ionic hydrogen considered separately. The importance of vibrationally excited hydrogen molecules in overcoming the activation energy barriers, and in transferring energy to the iron oxide, is emphasized. Both thermal and nonthermal plasmas are considered. The thermophysical properties of hydrogen and argon-hydrogen plasmas are discussed, and their influence on the constriction and flow in the of arc plasmas is considered. The published R&D on hydrogen plasma reduction of iron oxide is reviewed, with both the reduction of molten iron ore and in-flight reduction of iron ore particles being considered. Finally, the technical and economic feasibility of the process are discussed. It is shown that hydrogen plasma processing requires less energy than carbothermic reduction, mainly because pelletization, sintering, and cokemaking are not required. Moreover, the formation of the greenhouse gas CO2 as a byproduct is avoided. In-flight reduction has the potential for a throughput at least equivalent to the blast furnace process. It is concluded that hydrogen plasma reduction of iron ore is a potentially attractive alternative to standard methods.

Electrical and thermal conductivities in dense plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Faussurier, G., E-mail: gerald.faussurier@cea.fr; Blancard, C.; Combis, P.; Videau, L. [CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon (France)

2014-09-15

Expressions for the electrical and thermal conductivities in dense plasmas are derived combining the Chester-Thellung-Kubo-Greenwood approach and the Kramers approximation. The infrared divergence is removed assuming a Drude-like behaviour. An analytical expression is obtained for the Lorenz number that interpolates between the cold solid-state and the hot plasma phases. An expression for the electrical resistivity is proposed using the Ziman-Evans formula, from which the thermal conductivity can be deduced using the analytical expression for the Lorenz number. The present method can be used to estimate electrical and thermal conductivities of mixtures. Comparisons with experiment and quantum molecular dynamics simulations are done.

Microwave Plasma Sources for Gas Processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizeraczyk, J.; Jasinski, M.; Dors, M.; Zakrzewski, Z.

2008-01-01

In this paper atmospheric pressure microwave discharge methods and devices used for producing the non-thermal plasmas for processing of gases are presented. The main part of the paper concerns the microwave plasma sources (MPSs) for environmental protection applications. A few types of the MPSs, i.e. waveguide-based surface wave sustained MPS, coaxial-line-based and waveguide-based nozzle-type MPSs, waveguide-based nozzleless cylinder-type MPS and MPS for microdischarges are presented. Also, results of the laboratory experiments on the plasma processing of several highly-concentrated (up to several tens percent) volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including Freon-type refrigerants, in the moderate (200-400 W) waveguide-based nozzle-type MPS (2.45 GHz) are presented. The results showed that the microwave discharge plasma fully decomposed the VOCs at relatively low energy cost. The energy efficiency of VOCs decomposition reached 1000 g/kWh. This suggests that the microwave discharge plasma can be a useful tool for environmental protection applications. In this paper also results of the use of the waveguide-based nozzleless cylinder-type MPS to methane reforming into hydrogen are presented

Novel fragmentation model for pulverized coal particles gasification in low temperature air thermal plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jovanović Rastko D.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available New system for start-up and flame support based on coal gasification by low temperature air thermal plasma is planned to supplement current heavy oil system in Serbian thermal power plants in order to decrease air pollutions emission and operational costs. Locally introduced plasma thermal energy heats up and ignites entrained coal particles, thus starting chain process which releases heat energy from gasified coal particles inside burner channel. Important stages during particle combustion, such as particle devolatilisation and char combustion, are described with satisfying accuracy in existing commercial CFD codes that are extensively used as powerful tool for pulverized coal combustion and gasification modeling. However, during plasma coal gasification, high plasma temperature induces strong thermal stresses inside interacting coal particles. These stresses lead to “thermal shock” and extensive particle fragmentation during which coal particles with initial size of 50-100 m disintegrate into fragments of at most 5-10 m. This intensifies volatile release by a factor 3-4 and substantially accelerates the oxidation of combustible matter. Particle fragmentation, due to its small size and thus limited influence on combustion process is commonly neglected in modelling. The main focus of this work is to suggest novel approach to pulverized coal gasification under high temperature conditions and to implement it into commercial comprehensive code ANSYS FLUENT 14.0. Proposed model was validated against experimental data obtained in newly built pilot scale D.C plasma burner test facility. Newly developed model showed very good agreement with experimental results with relative error less than 10%, while the standard built-in gasification model had error up to 25%.

Thermal Plasma Generators with Water Stabilized Arc

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hrabovský, Milan

2009-01-01

Roč. 2, č. 1 (2009), s. 99-104 ISSN 1876-5343 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA202/08/1084 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : Thermal plasma * plasma torch * Gerdien arc Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics http://www.bentham.org/open/toppj/openaccess2.htm

Thermal stability of the tokamak plasma edge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stacey, W.M.

1997-01-01

The general linear, fluid, thermal instability theory for the plasma edge has been extended. An analysis of a two-dimensional fluid model of the plasma edge has identified the importance of many previously unappreciated phenomena associated with parallel and gyroviscous forces in the presence of large radial gradients, with large radial or parallel flows, with the temperature dependence of transport coefficients, and with the coupling of temperature, flow and density perturbations. The radiative condensation effect is generalized to include a further destabilizing condensation effect associated with radial heat conduction. Representative plasma edge neutral and impurity densities are found to be capable of driving thermal instabilities in the edge transport barrier and radiative mantle, respectively. (author)

Thermal de-isolation of silicon microstructures in a plasma etching environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong-Seok; Jang, Yun-Ho; Kim, Yong-Kweon; Kim, Jung-Mu

2013-01-01

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental strategy for thermal de-isolation of silicon microstructures during a plasma etching process. Heat sinking blocks and thin metal layers are implemented around a thermally isolated mass to avoid severe spring width losses by a steep temperature rise. Thermal de-isolation significantly reduces the fabrication errors from −51.0% to −9.0% and from −39.5% to −6.7% for spring widths and resonant frequencies, respectively. Thermal de-isolation also reduces the standard deviation of resonant frequencies from 8.7% to 1.5% across a wafer, which clearly demonstrates the proposed method. (paper)

Fiscal 1998 achievement report on regional consortium research and development project. Venture business fostering regional consortium in its 2nd year--Creation of key industries (Development of multi-purpose high-precision plasma process); 1998 nendo tamokuteki koseido netsu plasma process no kaihatsu seika hokokusho. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

Research and development is conducted of a new material process using thermal plasma for manufacturing new ceramics efficiently and for forming a high-quality spray-deposited ceramic coating high in melting point. In the development of devices, addition of an insulation convergence section enables the construction of a plasma jet generator which operates with stability across a range from atmospheric pressure through 10{sup -1} Torr and exhibits high thermal efficiency of approximately 70%. In the study of basic matters, the thermal plasma process is experimented for its optimization and the interaction between thermal plasma and injected materials is elucidated. In the development of a technology for manufacturing high-quality sprayed coatings, optimum plasma spraying conditions are established for each grain size of alumina/titania composite materials, with the rate of one component to the other taken into consideration. The optimum plasma spraying conditions are determined after examining the state of fused powder recovered after plasma spraying, porosity, the rate of coating adhesion, etc. It is found that coatings formed by high-power thermal plasma application are attributable to the vapor-solid process and, thanks to the finding, a crystal orientation control technology is developed for such coatings. (NEDO)

Paracetamol degradation in aqueous solution by non-thermal plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Baloul, Yasmine; Aubry, Olivier; Rabat, Hervé; Colas, Cyril; Maunit, Benoît; Hong, Dunpin

2017-08-01

This study deals with paracetamol degradation in water using a non-thermal plasma (NTP) created by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). The effects of the NTP operating conditions on the degradation were studied, showing that the treatment efficiency of the process was highly dependent on the electrical parameters and working gas composition in the reactor containing the aqueous solution. A conversion rate higher than 99% was reached with an energy yield of 12 g/kWh. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) measurements showed that the main species produced in water during the process were nitrogen compounds, carboxylic acids and aromatic compounds. Contribution to the topical issue "The 15th International Symposium on High Pressure Low Temperature Plasma Chemistry (HAKONE XV)", edited by Nicolas Gherardi and Tomáš Hoder

Toluene degradation by non-thermal plasma combined with a ferroelectric catalyst.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Wen-Jun; Ma, Lin; Liu, Huan; Li, Jian

2013-08-01

Degradation of toluene in a gas by non-thermal plasma with a ferroelectric catalyst was studied at normal temperature and atmospheric pressure. Spontaneous polarization material (BaTiO3) and photocatalyst (TiO2) were added into plasma system simultively. Toluene degradation efficiency and specific energy density during the discharge process were investigated. Furthermore, byproducts and degradation mechanisms of toluene were also investigated. The toluene degradation efficiency increased when non-thermal plasma technology was combined with the catalyst. The toluene degradation efficiencies of the different catalysts tested were in the following order: BaTiO3/TiO2>BaTiO3>TiO2>no catalyst. A mass ratio of 2.38:1 was optimum for the BaTiO3 and TiO2 catalyst. The outlet gas was analyzed by gas chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the main compounds detected were CO2, H2O, O3 and benzene ring derivatives. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PLASMA EMISSION BY WEAK TURBULENCE PROCESSES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ziebell, L. F.; Gaelzer, R. [Instituto de Física, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Yoon, P. H. [Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Pavan, J., E-mail: luiz.ziebell@ufrgs.br, E-mail: rudi.gaelzer@ufrgs.br, E-mail: yoonp@umd.edu, E-mail: joel.pavan@ufpel.edu.br [Instituto de Física e Matemática, UFPel, Pelotas, RS (Brazil)

2014-11-10

The plasma emission is the radiation mechanism responsible for solar type II and type III radio bursts. The first theory of plasma emission was put forth in the 1950s, but the rigorous demonstration of the process based upon first principles had been lacking. The present Letter reports the first complete numerical solution of electromagnetic weak turbulence equations. It is shown that the fundamental emission is dominant and unless the beam speed is substantially higher than the electron thermal speed, the harmonic emission is not likely to be generated. The present findings may be useful for validating reduced models and for interpreting particle-in-cell simulations.

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.

Propagation of sound and thermal waves in an ionizing-recombining hydrogen plasma: Revision of results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Sigalotti, Leonardo G.; Sira, Eloy; Tremola, Ciro

2002-01-01

The propagation of acoustic and thermal waves in a heat conducting, hydrogen plasma, in which photoionization and photorecombination [H + +e - H+hν(χ)] processes are progressing, is re-examined here using linear analysis. The resulting dispersion equation is solved analytically and the results are compared with previous solutions for the same plasma model. In particular, it is found that wave propagation in a slightly and highly ionized hydrogen plasma is affected by crossing between acoustic and thermal modes. At temperatures where the plasma is partially ionized, waves of all frequencies propagate without the occurrence of mode crossing. These results disagree with those reported in previous work, thereby leading to a different physical interpretation of the propagation of small linear disturbances in a conducting, ionizing-recombining, hydrogen plasma

Bridge between fusion plasma and plasma processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Noriyasu; Takamura, Shuichi

2008-01-01

In the present review, relationship between fusion plasma and processing plasma is discussed. From boundary-plasma studies in fusion devices new applications such as high-density plasma sources, erosion of graphite in a hydrogen plasma, formation of helium bubbles in high-melting-point metals and the use of toroidal plasmas for plasma processing are emerging. The authors would like to discuss a possibility of knowledge transfer from fusion plasmas to processing plasmas. (T. Ikehata)

Production of coloured glass-ceramics from incinerator ash using thermal plasma technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, T W; Huang, M Z; Tzeng, C C; Cheng, K B; Ueng, T H

2007-08-01

Incineration is a major treatment process for municipal solid waste in Taiwan. It is estimated that over 1.5 Mt of incinerator ash are produced annually. This study proposes using thermal plasma technology to treat incinerator ash. Sintered glass-ceramics were produced using quenched vitrified slag with colouring agents added. The experimental results showed that the major crystalline phases developed in the sintered glass-ceramics were gehlenite and wollastonite, but many other secondary phases also appeared depending on the colouring agents added. The physical/mechanical properties, chemical resistance and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure of the coloured glass-ceramics were satisfactory. The glass-ceramic products obtained from incinerator ash treated with thermal plasma technology have great potential for building applications.

Radioactive waste combustion / vitrification under arc plasma: thermal and dynamic modelling; Combustion - vitrification de dechets radioactifs par plasma d'arc: modelisation de la thermique et de la dynamique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barthelemy, B

2003-07-01

This thesis concerns the thermal and dynamic modelling for a combustion/vitrification process of surrogate radioactive waste under transferred arc plasma. The writer presents the confinement processes for radioactive waste using arc plasma and the different software used to model theses processes. This is followed by a description of our experimental equipment including a plasma arc reactor and an inductive system allowing the homogenization of glass temperature. A combustion/vitrification test is described. Thermal and material balances were discussed. The temperature fields of plasma arc and the glass frit conductivity are measured. Finally, the writer describes and clarifies the equations solved for the simulations of the electrically plasma arc and the glass melting including the thin layer of glass frit coating the crucible cold walls. The modelling results are presented in the form of spatial distribution of temperature, velocity and volume power... (author)

Radioactive waste combustion-vitrification under arc plasma: thermal and dynamic modelling; Combustion - vitrification de dechets radioactifs par plasma d'arc: modelisation de la thermique et de la dynamique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barthelemy, B

2003-06-01

This thesis concerns the thermal and dynamic modelling for a combustion/vitrification process of surrogate radioactive waste under transferred arc plasma. The writer presents the confinement processes for radioactive waste using arc plasma and the different software used to model theses processes. This is followed by a description of our experimental equipment including a plasma arc reactor and an inductive system allowing the homogenization of glass temperature. A combustion/vitrification test is described. Thermal and material balances were discussed. The temperature fields of plasma arc and the glass frit conductivity are measured. Finally, the writer describes and clarifies the equations solved for the simulations of the electrically plasma arc and the glass melting including the thin layer of glass frit coating the crucible cold walls. The modelling results are presented in the form of spatial distribution of temperature, velocity and voluminal power... (author)

Characteristics of ceramic oxide nanoparticles synthesized using radio frequency produced thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhamale, Gayatri D.; Mathe, V.L.; Bhoraskar, S.V.; Ghorui, S.

2015-01-01

Thermal plasma devices with their unique processing capabilities due to extremely high temperature and steep temperature gradient play an important role in synthesis of ultrafine powders in the range of 100nm or less. High temperature gas phase synthesis in Radio Frequency (RF) thermal plasma reactor is an attractive route for mass production of refractory nanoparticles, especially in the case of rare earth oxides. Here we report synthesis of Yttrium Oxide (Y_2O_3), Neodymium Oxide (Nd_2O_3) and Aluminum Oxide (Al_2O_3) in an inductively coupled radio frequency thermal plasma reactor. Synthesized nanoparticles find wide application in various fields like gate dielectrics, photocatalytic applications, laser devices and photonics. Nano sized Yttrium oxide, Neodymium Oxide and Aluminum oxide powders were separately synthesized in an RF plasma reactor starting with micron sized irregular shaped precursor powders. The system was operated at 3MHz in atmospheric pressure at different power levels. Synthesized powders were scrapped out from different deposition locations inside the reactor and characterized for their phase, morphology, particle size, crystallinity and other characteristic features. Highly crystalline nature of the synthesized particles, narrow size distribution, location dependent phase formation, and distinct variation in the inherent defect states compared to the bulk are some of the important characteristic features observed

Dynamic plasma screening effects on electron capture process in hydrogenic ion fully stripped ion collisions in dense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Y.

1997-01-01

In dense plasmas, dynamic plasma screening effects are investigated on electron capture from hydrogenic ions by past fully stripped ions. The classical Bohr Lindhard model has been applied to obtain the electron capture probability. The interaction potential in dense plasmas is represented in terms of the longitudinal dielectric function. The classical straight-line trajectory approximation is applied to the motion of the projectile ion in order to visualize the electron capture probability as a function of the impact parameter, projectile energy, and plasma parameters. The electron capture probability including the dynamic plasma screening effect is always greater than that including the static plasma screening effect. When the projectile velocity is smaller than the electron thermal velocity, the dynamic polarization screening effect becomes the static plasma screening effect. When the projectile velocity is greater than the plasma electron thermal velocity, the interaction potential is almost unshielded. The difference between the dynamic and static plasma screening effects is more significant for low energy projectiles. It is found that the static screening formula obtained by the Debye Hueckel model overestimates the plasma screening effects on the electron capture processes in dense plasmas. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

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.

PREFACE: 12th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference (HTPP-12)

Science.gov (United States)

Gleizes, Alain; Ghedini, Emanuele; Gherardi, Matteo; Sanibondi, Paolo; Dilecce, Giorgio

2012-12-01

The High-Tech Plasma Processes - 12th European Plasma Conference (HTPP-12) was held in Bologna (Italy) on 24-29 June 2012. The conference series started in 1990 as a thermal plasma conference and gradually expanded to include other topic fields as well. Now the High-Tech Plasma Processes - European Plasma Conference (HTPP) is a bi-annual international conference based in Europe with topics encompassing the whole area of plasma processing science. The aim of the conference is to bring different scientific communities together, facilitate the contacts between science, technology and industry and provide a platform for the exploration of both fundamental topics and new applications of plasmas. Thanks to the efforts of the conference chairman, Professor Vittorio Colombo and of the co-chair, Professor Piero Favia, a well balanced participation from both the communities of thermal and nonthermal plasma researchers was achieved; this resulted in just about 196 attendees from 39 countries, with 8 plenary and 15 invited talks, plus 50 oral and 140 poster contributions. This volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series gathers papers from regular contributions of HTPP-12; each contribution submitted for publication has been peer reviewed and the Editors are very grateful to the referees for their careful support in improving the original manuscripts. In the end, 39 manuscripts were accepted for publication, covering different topics of plasma processing science: from plasma fundamentals and modelling to source design and process diagnostics, from nanomaterial synthesis to surface modification, from waste treatment to plasma applications in a liquid environment. It is an honour to present this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series and we deeply thank the authors for their enthusiastic and high-grade contribution. Finally, we would like to thank the conference chairmen, the members of the steering committee, the international scientific committee, the local

Propagation of thermal and hydromagnetic waves in an ionizing-recombining hydrogen plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Sigalotti, Leonardo G.; Sira, Eloy; Rendon, Otto; Tremola, Ciro; Mendoza-Briceno, Cesar A.

2004-01-01

The propagation of thermal and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in a heat-conducting, hydrogen plasma, threaded by an external uniform magnetic field (B) and in which photoionization and photorecombination [H + +e - H+hν(χ)] processes are progressing, is investigated here using linear analysis. The resulting dispersion equation is solved analytically for varied strength (β<<1 and ∼1) and orientation of the magnetic field, where β denotes the ratio of plasma to magnetic pressures. Application of this model to the interstellar medium shows that heat conduction governs the propagation of thermal waves only at relatively high frequencies regardless of the plasma temperature, strength, and orientation of the magnetic field. When the direction of wave propagation is held perpendicular to B (i.e., k perpendicular B), the magnetosonic phase velocity is closely Alfvenic for β<<1, while for β∼1 both the hydrostatic and magnetic pressures determine the wave velocity. As long as k parallel B, the fast (transverse) magnetosonic wave becomes an Alfven wave for all frequencies independent of the plasma temperature and field strength, while the slow (longitudinal) magnetosonic wave becomes a pure sound wave. Amplification of thermal and MHD waves always occur at low frequencies and preferentially at temperatures for which the plasma is either weakly or partially ionized. Compared to previous analysis for the same hydrogen plasma model with B=0, the presence of the magnetic field makes the functional dependence of the physical quantities span a longer range of frequencies, which becomes progressively longer as the field strength is increased

Realization of thermally durable close-packed 2D gold nanoparticle arrays using self-assembly and plasma etching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivaraman, Sankar K; Santhanam, Venugopal

2012-01-01

Realization of thermally and chemically durable, ordered gold nanostructures using bottom-up self-assembly techniques are essential for applications in a wide range of areas including catalysis, energy generation, and sensing. Herein, we describe a modular process for realizing uniform arrays of gold nanoparticles, with interparticle spacings of 2 nm and above, by using RF plasma etching to remove ligands from self-assembled arrays of ligand-coated gold nanoparticles. Both nanoscale imaging and macroscale spectroscopic characterization techniques were used to determine the optimal conditions for plasma etching, namely RF power, operating pressure, duration of treatment, and type of gas. We then studied the effect of nanoparticle size, interparticle spacing, and type of substrate on the thermal durability of plasma-treated and untreated nanoparticle arrays. Plasma-treated arrays showed enhanced chemical and thermal durability, on account of the removal of ligands. To illustrate the application potential of the developed process, robust SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering) substrates were formed using plasma-treated arrays of silver-coated gold nanoparticles that had a silicon wafer or photopaper as the underlying support. The measured value of the average SERS enhancement factor (2 × 10 5 ) was quantitatively reproducible on both silicon and paper substrates. The silicon substrates gave quantitatively reproducible results even after thermal annealing. The paper-based SERS substrate was also used to swab and detect probe molecules deposited on a solid surface. (paper)

Development of plasma properties along thermal plasma jet generated by hybrid water-argon torch

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kavka, Tetyana; Hrabovský, Milan

2002-01-01

Roč. 52, supplement D (2002), s. 637-642 ISSN 0011-4626. [Symposium on Plasma Physics and Technology/20th./. Prague, 10.06.2002-13.06.2002] Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z2043910 Keywords : thermal plasma, plasma jet, enthalpy probe Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 0.311, year: 2002

Preliminary experiments on wastes degradation by thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cota S, G.; Pacheco S, J.; Segovia R, A.; Pena E, R.; Merlo S, L.

1996-01-01

This work presents the fundamental aspects involved in the installation and start up of an experimental equipment for the hazardous wastes degradation using the thermal plasma technology. It is mentioned about the form in which the thermal plasma is generated and the characteristics that its make to be an appropriate technology for the hazardous wastes degradation. Just as the installed structures for to realize the experiments and results of the first studies on degradation, using nylon as problem sample. (Author)

The Influence of Anode Inner Contour on Atmospheric DC Plasma Spraying Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kui Wen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In thermal plasma spraying process, anode nozzle is one of the most important components of plasma torch. Its inner contour controls the characteristics of plasma arc/jet, determining the motion and heating behaviors of the in-flight particles and hence influencing the coating quality. In this study, the effects of anode inner contour, standard cylindrical nozzle, and cone-shaped Laval nozzle with conical shape diverging exit (CSL nozzle on the arc voltage, net power, thermal efficiency, plasma jet characteristics, in-flight particle behaviors, and coating properties have been systematically investigated under atmospheric plasma spraying conditions. The results show that the cylindrical nozzle has a higher arc voltage, net power, and thermal efficiency, as well as the higher plasma temperature and velocity at the torch exit, while the CSL nozzle has a higher measured temperature of plasma jet. The variation trends of the plasma jet characteristics for the two nozzles are comparable under various spraying parameters. The in-flight particle with smaller velocity of CSL nozzle has a higher measured temperature and melting fraction. As a result, the coating density and adhesive strength of CSL nozzle are lower than those of cylindrical nozzle, but the deposition efficiency is greatly improved.

Thermal Expansion of Vacuum Plasma Sprayed Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Raj, S V.; Palczer, A. R.

2010-01-01

Metallic Cu-8%Cr, Cu-26%Cr, Cu-8%Cr-1%Al, NiAl and NiCrAlY monolithic coatings were fabricated by vacuum plasma spray deposition processes for thermal expansion property measurements between 293 and 1223 K. The corrected thermal expansion, (DL/L(sub 0) varies with the absolute temperature, T, as (DL/L(sub 0) = A(T - 293)(sup 3) + BIT - 293)(sup 2) + C(T - 293) + D, where, A, B, C and D are thermal, regression constants. Excellent reproducibility was observed for all of the coatings except for data obtained on the Cu-8%Cr and Cu-26%Cr coatings in the first heat-up cycle, which deviated from those determined in the subsequent cycles. This deviation is attributed to the presence of residual stresses developed during the spraying of the coatings, which are relieved after the first heat-up cycle. In the cases of Cu-8%Cr and NiAl, the thermal expansion data were observed to be reproducible for three specimens. The linear expansion data for Cu-8% Cr and Cu-26%Cr agree extremely well with rule of mixture (ROM) predictions. Comparison of the data for the Cu-8%Cr coating with literature data for Cr and Cu revealed that the thermal expansion behavior of this alloy is determined by the Cu-rich matrix. The data for NiAl and NiCrAlY are in excellent agreement with published results irrespective of composition and the methods used for processing the materials. The implications of these results on coating GRCop-84 copper alloy combustor liners for reusable launch vehicles are discussed.

Diagnostic methods of thermal dusty plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nefedov, A.P.

1995-01-01

The presence in the high-temperature flows of condensed disperse phase (CDP) particles may lead either to an increase of the electron number density n e if the particles assume a positive charge or to its decrease if the charge is negative. The existence of CDP also may effect on optical parameters of the thermal dusty plasma flows, on heat and radiative transfer in the plasma. The entire range of states, from a Debye plasma to a highly nonideal system of charged particles, is realized in a thermal dusty plasma under standard conditions T=2000-3000 K, n e =10 8 - 10 14 cm -3 . The advanced probe and optical diagnostic instruments are needed to study the optical and electrophysical properties of thermal dusty plasma flows. The diagnostic techniques must give the data about such parameters of gas and dispersed phase as temperatures of gas and particles, number densities of electrons, atoms and ions of alkali metals, sizes, velocities and concentrations of CDP particles. It should be noted that number density of alkali metal atoms and gas temperature may be measured by the well known full absorption and generalized reversal methods. This paper describes the probe and optical techniques for diagnostic of dusty plasma flows developed in High Energy Density Research Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. The Forward Angle Scattering Transmissometer (FAST) allows measurement of the average size (Sauter diameter), mass number density, and refractive index of particles in the 0.5-15.0 gm size range. The basis of the method is a dependence of the measured extinction of radiation upon an angular acceptance aperture of the photo detector. The FAST instrument allows one to determine the mass density and the Sauter diameter of a polydispersion of particles without a priori specification of the particle size distribution model and exact data about the article refractive index

Diagnostic methods of thermal dusty plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nefedov, A.P.

1995-01-01

The presence in the high-temperature flows of condensed disperse phase (CDP) particles may lead either to an increase of the electron number density n e if the particles assume a positive charge or to its decrease if the charge is negative. The existence of CDP also may effect on optical parameters of the thermal dusty plasma flows, on heat and radiative transfer in the plasma. The entire range of states, from a Debye plasma to a highly nonideal system of charged particles, is realized in a thermal dusty plasma under standard conditions T=2000-3000 K, n e =10 8 -10 14 cm -3 . The advanced probe and optical diagnostic instruments are needed to study the optical and electrophysical properties of thermal dusty plasma flows. The diagnostic techniques must give the data about such parameters of gas and dispersed phase as temperatures of gas and particles, number densities of electrons, atoms and ions of alkali metals, sizes, velocities and concentrations of CDP particles. It should be noted that number density of alkali metal atoms and gas temperature may be measured by the well known full absorption and generalized reversal methods. This paper describes the probe and optical techniques for diagnostic of dusty plasma flows developed in High Energy Density Research Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. The Forward Angle Scattering Transmissometer (FAST) allows measurement of the average size (Sauter diameter), mass number density, and refractive index of particles in the 0.5-15.0 μm size range. The basis of the method is a dependence of the measured extinction of radiation upon an angular acceptance aperture of the photo detector. The FAST instrument allows one to determine the mass density and the Sauter diameter of a polydispersion of particles without a priori specification of the particle size distribution model and exact data about the particle refractive index

Thermal radiation properties of PTFE plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiangyang; Wang, Siyu; Zhou, Yang; Wu, Zhiwen; Xie, Kan; Wang, Ningfei

2017-06-01

To illuminate the thermal transfer mechanism of devices adopting polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as ablation materials, the thermal radiation properties of PTFE plasma are calculated and discussed based on local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and optical thin assumptions. It is clarified that line radiation is the dominant mechanism of PTFE plasma. The emission coefficient shows an opposite trend for both wavelength regions divided by 550 nm at a temperature above 15 000 K. The emission coefficient increases with increasing temperature and pressure. Furthermore, it has a good log linear relation with pressure. Equivalent emissivity varies complexly with temperature, and has a critical point between 20 000 K to 25 000 K. The equivalent cross points of the average ionic valence and radiation property are about 10 000 K and 15 000 K for fully single ionization.

Stationary self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in relativistic thermal quantum plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patil, S. D.; Takale, M. V.

2013-01-01

In the present paper, we have employed the quantum dielectric response in thermal quantum plasma to model relativistic self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in a plasma. We have presented an extensive parametric investigation of the dependence of beam-width parameter on distance of propagation in relativistic thermal quantum plasma. We have studied the role of Fermi temperature in the phenomenon of self-focusing. It is found that the quantum effects cause much higher oscillations of beam-width parameter and better relativistic focusing of laser beam in thermal quantum plasma in comparison with that in the relativistic cold quantum plasma and classical relativistic plasma. Our computations show more reliable results in comparison to the previous works

Treatment of mixed wastes by thermal plasma discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz A, L.V.

2007-01-01

The present study has as purpose to apply the technology of thermal plasma in the destruction of certain type of waste generated in the ININ. As first instance, origin, classification and disposition of the radioactive waste generated in the ININ is identified. Once identified the waste, the waste to treat is determined based on: the easiness of treating him with plasma, classification and importance. Later on, a substance or compound settles down (sample model) that serves as indicative of the waste for its physical-chemical characteristics, this is made because in the Thermal Plasma Applications Laboratory is not had the license to work with radioactive material. The sample model and the material to form the vitreous matrix are characterized before and after the treatment in order to evaluating their degradation and vitrification. During the treatment by means of the thermal plasma, the appropriate conditions are determined for the degradation and vitrification of the waste. Also, it is carried out an energy balance in the system to know the capacity to fuse the material depending the transfer of existent heat between the plasma and the material to treat. Obtaining favorable results, it thought about to climb in the project and by this way to help to solve one of the environmental problems in Mexico, as they are it the mixed wastes. (Author)

Influence of pulsed plasma streams processing on wear behavior of steels in different friction conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bandura, A.N.; Byrka, O.V.; Tereshin, V.I.; Bovda, A.M.; Tortika, A.S.

2000-01-01

Pulsed plasma streams processing was applied for surface modification of industrial steel samples. Different types of wear tests (pin-on-disk,flat-on-flat, abrasive,cavitation) were carried out for samples irradiated by pulsed nitrogen plasma streams. There was achieved essential decrease of wear and tear of processed surfaces of all kinds of steels including previously thermally quenched ones. Obtained results are of importance for both determination of optimal regimes of plasma streams processing and the most resulting use of pulsed plasma streams for technology purpose, i.e. for identification of wear modes and optimal friction conditions for steels processed by plasma streams

Removal of dimethyl sulfide by the combination of non-thermal plasma and biological process.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Z S; Li, H Q; He, J C; Ye, Q H; Huang, Q R; Luo, Y W

2013-10-01

A bench scale system integrated with a non-thermal plasma (NTP) and a biotricking filtration (BTF) unit for the treatment of gases containing dimethyl sulfide (DMS) was investigated. DMS removal efficiency in the integrated system was up to 96%. Bacterial communities in the BTF were assessed by PCR-DGGE, which play the dominant role in the biological processes of metabolism, sulfur oxidation, sulfate-reducing and carbon oxidation. The addition of ozone from NTP made microbial community in BTF more complicated and active for DMS removal. The NTP oxidize DMS to simple compounds such as methanol and carbonyl sulfide; the intermediate organic products and DMS are further oxidized to sulfate, carbon dioxide, water vapors by biological degradation. These results show that NTP-BTF is achievable and open new possibilities for applying the integrated with NTP and BTF to odour gas treatment. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

DC Thermal Plasma Design and Utilization for the Low Density Polyethylene to Diesel Oil Pyrolysis Reaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossam A. Gabbar

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The exponential increase of plastic production produces 100 million tonnes of waste plastics annually which could be converted into hydrocarbon fuels in a thermal cracking process called pyrolysis. In this research work, a direct current (DC thermal plasma circuit is designed and used for conversion of low density polyethylene (LDPE into diesel oil in a laboratory scale pyrolysis reactor. The experimental setup uses a 270 W DC thermal plasma at operating temperatures in the range of 625 °C to 860 °C for a low density polyethylene (LDPE pyrolysis reaction at pressure = −0.95, temperature = 550 °C with τ = 30 min at a constant heating rate of 7.8 °C/min. The experimental setup consists of a vacuum pump, closed system vessel, direct current (DC plasma circuit, and a k-type thermocouple placed a few millimeters from the reactant sample. The hydrocarbon products are condensed to diesel oil and analyzed using flame ionization detector (FID gas chromatography. The analysis shows 87.5% diesel oil, 1,4-dichlorobenzene (Surr, benzene, ethylbenzene and traces of toluene and xylene. The direct current (DC thermal plasma achieves 56.9 wt. % of diesel range oil (DRO, 37.8 wt. % gaseous products and minimal tar production. The direct current (DC thermal plasma shows reliability, better temperature control, and high thermal performance as well as the ability to work for long operation periods.

Performance of plasma facing materials under intense thermal loads in tokamaks and stellarators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linke, J.; Hirai, T.; Roedig, M.; Singheiser, L. [Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, EURATOM Association, Juelich (Germany)

2003-07-01

Beside quasi-stationary plasma operation, short transient thermal pulses with deposited energy densities in the order of several ten MJm{sup -2} are a serious concern for next step devices, in particular for tokamak devices such as ITER. The most serious of these transient events are plasma disruptions. Here a considerable fraction of the plasma energy is deposited on a localized surface area in the divertor strike zone region; the time scale of these events is typically in the order of 1 ms. In spite of the fact that a dense cloud of ablation vapour will form above the strike zone, only partial shielding of the divertor armour from incident plasma particles will occur. As a consequence, thermal shock induced crack formation, vaporization, surface melting, melt layer ejection, and particle emission induced by brittle destruction processes will limit the lifetime of the components. In addition, dust particles (neutron activated metals or tritium enriched carbon) are a serious concern form a safety point of view. Other transient heat loads which occasionally occur in magnetic confinement experiments such as instabilities in the plasma positioning (vertical displacement events) also may cause irreversible damage to plasma facing components (PFC), particularly to metals such as beryllium and tungsten. Another serious damage to PFCs is due to intense fluxes of 14 MeV neutrons in D-T-burning plasma devices. Integrated neutron fluence of several ten dpa in future thermonuclear fusion reactors will degrade essential physical properties of the components (e.g. thermal conductivity); another serious concern is the embrittlement of the heat sink and the plasma facing materials (PFM). (orig.)

Synthesis of {gamma}-aluminium oxynitride spinel using thermal plasma technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Panda, Pravuram; Singh, S. K.; Sinha, S. P. [School of Applied Science (Physics), KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024 (India); Advanced Materials Technology Department, IMMT (CSIR), Bhubaneswar 751013 (India); School of Applied Science (Physics), KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024 (India)

2012-07-23

The synthesis technique of {gamma}-AlON in NH{sub 3} plasma using extended arc thermal plasma reactor have been reported. Dense cubic AlON spinel was synthesized in liquid state by fusion of mixture of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and AlN powder under thermal plasma. The density of the fused AlON was found to be 3.64 g/cc which is 98.11% of theoretical value. The formation of AlON was confirmed from XRD and Raman studies. Well faceted structure of plasma fused AlON was observed in FE-SEM micrograph.

Cytocompatibility of Plasma and Thermally Treated Biopolymers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Slepička

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is focused on the surface characterization of plasma and consequently thermally treated biocompatible polymers. PLLA (poly(L-lactide acid and PMP (poly-4-methyl-1-pentene are studied. The influence of Ar plasma treatment on the surface polarity of substrate measured immediately after treatment and during the polymer surface aging is studied. Surface roughness, morphology, wettability, and surface chemistry were determined. Plasma treatment leads to significant changes in PLLA surface morphology and chemistry, with the PMP being slightly affected. The higher resistance to plasma fluence results in smaller ablation of PMP than that of PLLA. The plasma treatment improves cell adhesion and proliferation on the PMP. Plasma treatment of PLLA influences mostly the homogeneity of adhered and proliferated VSMC.

An investigation of non-equilibrium effects in thermal argon plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosado, R.J.

1981-01-01

This thesis deals with the study of the validity of the assumption of Local Thermal Equilibrium (LTE) in the description of the parameters of a thermal argon plasma. The aim is twofold. As the studied plasma is close to, but not completely in equilibrium, the author first attempts to obtain a simple description of the plasma in terms of an LTE model in which suitable corrections for the deviations of the plasma parameters from their LTE values is introduced. To this end the plasma parameters are studied by means of a diagnostic method in which the assumption of LTE is not made. The evaluation of the usefulness of this method is the second aim of this thesis. (Auth.)

Formation of hydrophobic coating on glass surface using atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma in ambient air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, Z; Qiu, Y; Kuffel, E

2004-01-01

Non-thermal plasmas under atmospheric pressure are of great interest in material surface processing because of their convenience, effectiveness and low cost. In this paper, the treatment of a glass surface for improving hydrophobicity using a non-thermal plasma generated by a dielectric barrier corona discharge (DBCD) with a needle array-to-plane electrode arrangement in atmospheric air is conducted, and the surface properties of the glass before and after the DBCD treatment are studied using contact angle measurement, surface resistance measurement and the wet flashover voltage test. The effects of the plasma dose (the product of average discharge power and treatment time) of DBCD on the surface modification are studied, and the mechanism of interaction between the plasma and glass surface is discussed. It is found that a layer of hydrophobic coating is formed on the glass surface through DBCD treatment, and the improvement of hydrophobicity depends on the plasma dose of the DBCD. It seems that there is an optimum plasma dose for the surface treatment. The test results of thermal ageing and chemical ageing show that the hydrophobic layer has quite stable characteristics

Thermal Plasma Decomposition Of Nickel And Cobalt Compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Woch M.

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the study on manufacturing of nickel and cobalt powders by thermal plasma decomposition of the carbonates of these metals. It was shown the dependence of process parameters and grain size of initial powder on the composition of final product which was ether metal powder, collected in the container as well as the nanopowder with crystallite size of 70 - 90 nm, collected on the inner wall of the reaction chamber. The occurrence of metal oxides in the final products was confirmed and discussed.

What makes a thermal plasma suitable for hazardous waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benocci, R.; Florio, R.; Galassi, A.; Paolicchio, M.; Sindoni, E.

1997-01-01

The basic transport and thermodynamic characteristic of a thermal plasma are analysed in order to emphasize those properties that make a high-temperature source profitable and suitable over the conventional devices for hazardous waste treatment. In addition a survey of the basic reaction sequence and apparatus units is made together with the different approaches to thermal plasma waste treatments

Transition Region Emission and the Energy Input to Thermal Plasma in Solar Flares

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, Gordon D.; Holman, Gordon D.; Dennis, Brian R.; Haga, Leah; Raymond, John C.; Panasyuk, Alexander

2005-01-01

Understanding the energetics of solar flares depends on obtaining reliable determinations of the energy input to flare plasma. X-ray observations of the thermal bremsstrahlung from hot flare plasma provide temperatures and emission measures which, along with estimates of the plasma volume, allow the energy content of this hot plasma to be computed. However, if thermal energy losses are significant or if significant energy goes directly into cooler plasma, this is only a lower limit on the total energy injected into thermal plasma during the flare. We use SOHO UVCS observations of O VI flare emission scattered by coronal O VI ions to deduce the flare emission at transition region temperatures between 100,000 K and 1 MK for the 2002 July 23 and other flares. We find that the radiated energy at these temperatures significantly increases the deduced energy input to the thermal plasma, but by an amount that is less than the uncertainty in the computed energies. Comparisons of computed thermal and nonthermal electron energies deduced from RHESSI, GOES, and UVCS are shown.

Numerical Modelling of Wood Gasification in Thermal Plasma Reactor

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hirka, Ivan; Živný, Oldřich; Hrabovský, Milan

2017-01-01

Roč. 37, č. 4 (2017), s. 947-965 ISSN 0272-4324 Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : Plasma modelling * CFD * Thermal plasma reactor * Biomass * Gasification * Syngas Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics) Impact factor: 2.355, year: 2016 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11090-017-9812-z

The thermal evolution of targets under plasma focus pulsed ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, G.; Feugeas, J.

1997-01-01

Pulsed ion beam implantation with plasma focus has proved to be an effective method of metal surface treatment for tribological purposes. Nevertheless, the pulsed nature and the continuous energy spectrum of the ion beams differ from those of the standard ion implantation processes. In this paper a model of the thermal evolution of the surface layers of stainless steel, titanium and copper, during and after nitrogen and argon ion beam incidence, is presented using the finite-difference method. In the calculations, the geometry and physical characteristics of the ion beams, the single-ion-solid interaction process and the thermal properties of the materials were used. The results showed a strong thermal effect consisting in the generation of transitory heating slopes and heating speeds as high as ∼3600 K μm -1 and ∼40 K ns -1 respectively, with maximum temperatures that can reach even the material evaporation point at the surface layers. The cooling down process, through the thermal conduction mechanism at the target bulk, turns out to be fast enough to produce the complete thermal relaxation of the target in only a few microseconds after the end of the ion beam incidence. The results presented are contrasted with experiments performed in similar conditions to those used in the numerical model. (Author)

Development of plasma cutting process at observation of environmental requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czech, J.; Matusiak, J.; Pasek-Siurek, H.

1997-01-01

Plasma cutting is one of the basic methods for thermal cutting of metals. It is characterized by high productivity and quality of the cut surface. However, the plasma cutting process is one of the most harmful processes for environment and human health. It results from many agents being a potential environmental risk The large amount of dust and gases emitted during the process as well as an intensive radiation of electric arc and excessive noise are considered as the most harmful hazards. The existing ventilation and filtration systems are not able to solve all problems resulting from the process. Plasma cutting under water is worthy of notice, especially during an advancement of plasma cutting process, because of human safety and environment protection. Such a solution allows to reduce considerably the emission of dust and gases, as well as to decrease the noise level and ultraviolet radiation. An additional advantage of underwater plasma cutting is a reduction in the width of material heating zone and a decrease in strains of elements being cut. However, the productivity of this process is a little lower what results in an increase in cutting cost. In the paper, it has been presented the results of the investigations made at the Institute of Welding in Gliwice on the area of plasma cutting equipment with energy-saving inverter power supplies used in automated processes of underwater plasma cutting as well as the results of testing of welding environment contamination and safety hazards. (author)

Endogenous magnetic reconnection and associated high energy plasma processes

Science.gov (United States)

Coppi, B.; Basu, B.

2018-02-01

An endogenous reconnection process involves a driving factor that lays inside the layer where a drastic change of magnetic field topology occurs. A process of this kind is shown to take place when an electron temperature gradient is present in a magnetically confined plasma and the evolving electron temperature fluctuations are anisotropic. The width of the reconnecting layer remains significant even when large macroscopic distances are considered. In view of the fact that there are plasmas in the Universe with considerable electron thermal energy contents this feature can be relied upon in order to produce generation or conversion of magnetic energy, high energy particle populations and momentum and angular momentum transport.

Dynamics and structure of ignition process in plasma. Ignition dynamics and structure of laboratory plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagasaki, Kazunobu; Takamura, Shuichi; Razzak, Md. Abdur; Uesugi, Yoshihiko; Yoshimura, Yasuo; Cappa, Alvaro

2008-01-01

The dynamics and structure of plasma production are stated by the results of two experiments such as the radio frequency thermal plasmas produced by inductively coupled plasma technique at atmospheric pressure and the second harmonic ECH. The first experiment results explained transition from the electrostatic discharge mode of forming streamer to the induced discharge mode after forming the discharge channel that the streamer connected to in the azimuth direction. The other experiment explained the dynamics which the initial plasma produced at the ECH resonance point spread in the direction of radius. The divergence and transition related to the nonlinear process were observed independently existing the magnetic field or incident power. The experiment devices, conditions, results, and modeling are reported. (S.Y.)

Development of Process for Plasma Spray:Case Study for Molybdenum

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Sampath, S.; Jiang, X.; Kulkarni, A.; Matějíček, Jiří; Gilmore, D. L.; Neiser, R. A.

2003-01-01

Roč. 348, 1-2 (2003), s. 54-66 ISSN 0921-5093 Grant - others:NSF(US) DMR9632570 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z2043910 Keywords : process maps, plasma spray, thermal spray Subject RIV: JG - Metallurgy Impact factor: 1.365, year: 2003

14th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference (HTPP 14)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-01

Preface The High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference (HTPP) is a bi-annual international conference based in Europe with topics encompassing the whole area of plasma processing science. This conference is open to all the international community in the world involved in plasma science and plasma technology. The aim of the conference is to bring different scientific communities together, facilitate the contacts between science, technology and industry and provide a platform for the exploration of both fundamental topics and new applications of plasmas. For this edition of HTPP, as was the case for the last, we have achieved a well balanced participation from the communities of both thermal and non-thermal plasma researchers. 75 people from 17 countries attended the conference with the total number of contributions being 74, consisting of 19 invited talks and 55 poster contributions. As a HTPP tradition a poster competition has been carried out during the conference. The winner of the poster competition was Fabrice Mavier from Université de Limoges, France with his paper “Pulsed arc plasma jet synchronized with drop-on-demand dispenser” All the participants also ejoyed the social program including an “unconventional” tour of the city, the visit to the famous Hofbräuhaus and the dinner at the Blutenburg, a beautiful inner-city castle. We have received papers corresponding to the contributions of HTPP-2014 that have been submitted for publication in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Each submitted contribution has been peer reviewed and the Editors are very grateful to the referees for their careful support in improving the original manuscripts. In total, 18 manuscripts have been accepted for publication covering a range of topics of plasma processing science from plasma fundamentals to process applications through to experiments, diagnostics and modelling. We deeply thank the authors for their enthusiastic and high-grade contributions and we

Vision-aided Monitoring and Control of Thermal Spray, Spray Forming, and Welding Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Agapakis, John E.; Bolstad, Jon

1993-01-01

Vision is one of the most powerful forms of non-contact sensing for monitoring and control of manufacturing processes. However, processes involving an arc plasma or flame such as welding or thermal spraying pose particularly challenging problems to conventional vision sensing and processing techniques. The arc or plasma is not typically limited to a single spectral region and thus cannot be easily filtered out optically. This paper presents an innovative vision sensing system that uses intense stroboscopic illumination to overpower the arc light and produce a video image that is free of arc light or glare and dedicated image processing and analysis schemes that can enhance the video images or extract features of interest and produce quantitative process measures which can be used for process monitoring and control. Results of two SBIR programs sponsored by NASA and DOE and focusing on the application of this innovative vision sensing and processing technology to thermal spraying and welding process monitoring and control are discussed.

Thermal efficiency of a non-transferred thermal plasma cannon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mercado, A.; Cota, G.; Merlo, L.; Pacheco, J.; Pena, R.; Cruz, A.

1997-01-01

This work shows a thermal efficiency research (ν) for a plasma torch in d.c. which was carried out through the realization of an energy balance around the system under consideration. The plasma torch is manufactured in copper with a tungsten incrustations in cathode. The gas used was argon and the gas fluxes were at the rank of 10 and 40 lt/min to the total pressure of 1.2 bar (1.1 atm). With these conditions it was worked with electric currents at the rank of 40 and 180 A. The data were collected through a data acquisition card which was programmed in Windows environment. (Author)

Destruction studies of hazardous wastes by thermal plasma; Estudios de degradacion de residuos peligrosos mediante plasma termico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cota S, G

1998-11-01

Plasma technology appears promising because its high degree of controllability, capability to process waste without the adverse effects of combustion, and a very wide temperature range of operation. The goal of this work was to develop a process for a high throughput system to turn hazardous waste into inert stable products, which can be safely stored and to greatly reduce air pollution relative to incineration. The experiments have shown that the thermal plasma reactor can provide a high degree of decomposition of CCl{sub 4} , C{sub 6} H{sub 6}, C{sub 2} Cl{sub 4} and commercial oil at low gas input speeds, with modest power requirements. Decomposition of 99.9999 % has been obtained in our laboratory and all the organic components are decomposed in base molecules (C, CO, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, HCl). The analysis of exhaust gases was made by using a mass filter quadrupole. The equipment consist of a cylindrical reactor hermetically sealed, double-walled and water-cooled container made of special steel, this container in halt the crucible which serves to receive the waste materials. The whole system is designed for a maximal internal temperature of 2000 Centigrade. The gaseous result components of the material are transferred to a scrubber unit through an exit arranged on the top of reactor. The thermal efficiency evaluation of the plasma torch was also realized, obtaining a reasonable agreement between measurements and predictions in temperature profiles. (Author)

The thermalization of soft modes in non-expanding isotropic quark gluon plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blaizot, Jean-Paul, E-mail: jean-paul.blaizot@cea.fr [Institut de Physique Théorique, CNRS/UMR 3681, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Liao, Jinfeng [Physics Department and Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter, Indiana University, 2401 N Milo B. Sampson Lane, Bloomington, IN 47408 (United States); RIKEN BNL Research Center, Bldg. 510A, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 (United States); Mehtar-Tani, Yacine [Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1550 (United States)

2017-05-15

We discuss the role of elastic and inelastic collisions and their interplay in the thermalization of the quark–gluon plasma. We consider a simplified situation of a static plasma, spatially uniform and isotropic in momentum space. We focus on the small momentum region, which equilibrates first, and on a short time scale. We obtain a simple kinetic equation that allows for an analytic description of the most important regimes. The present analysis suggests that the formation of a Bose condensate, expected when only elastic collisions are present, is strongly hindered by the inelastic, radiative, processes.

Degradation of energy confinement or degradation of plasma-heating. What is the main definite process for Plasma transport in stellarator?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fedynin, O.I.; Andryuklina, E.D.

1995-01-01

The analysis of plasma energy balance in stellarators and tokamaks depends on the different assumptions made and may give different and even contradictory results. When assuming full power absorption by thermal plasmas, paradoxical results can be obtained: degradation of the energy confinement time with heating power as well as degradation of plasma thermal conductivity in very short times (t<< tau:E) during power modulation experiments are deduced. On the other hand, assuming that plasma transport characteristics do not change while pain plasma parameters (density and temperature, their gradients, etc.) are kept constant, leads to conclude that heating efficiency is not unity and that it depends on both, plasma parameters and heating power. In this case no contradiction is found when analyzing plasma energy balances. In this paper the results of ECRH experiments on L-2M will be presented. The experiments were aimed to try to answer this important question. Analyses of the fast processes occurring during the switch off phase of the ECR heating, modulation of the heating power, and specific plasma decay phase, have lead to the conclusion that plasma transport characteristics remaining unchanged during fast variations of the heating power is the correct assumption. 2 refs

Thermal cycling characteristics of plasma synthesized mullite films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monteiro, O.R.; Hou, P.Y.; Brown, I.G. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA (United States)

1997-12-01

The authors have developed a plasma-based technique for the synthesis of mullite and mullite-like films on silicon carbide substrate material. The method, which they refer to as MePIIID (for Metal Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation and Deposition), uses two vacuum arc plasma sources and simultaneous pulse biasing of the substrate in a low pressure oxygen atmosphere. The Al:Si ratio can be controlled via the separate plasma guns, and the film adhesion, structure and morphology can be controlled via the ion energy which in turn is controlled by the pulse bias voltage. The films are amorphous as-deposited, and crystalline mullite is formed by subsequent annealing at 1000 C for 2 hours in air. Adhesion between the aluminum-silicon oxide film and the substrate increases after this first annealing. They have tested the behavior of films when subjected to repetitive thermal cycling between room temperature and 1100 C, and found that the films retain their adhesion and quality. Here they review the plasma synthesis technique and the characteristics of the mullite films prepared in this way, and summarize the status of the thermal cycling experiments.

Inductive thermal plasma generation applied for the materials coating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacheco, J.; Pena, R.; Cota, G.; Segovia, A.; Cruz, A.

1996-01-01

The coatings by thermal plasma are carried out introducing particles into a plasma system where they are accelerated and melted (total or partially) before striking the substrate to which they adhere and are suddenly cooled down. The nature of consolidation and solidification of the particles allows to have control upon the microstructure of the deposit. This technique is able to deposit any kind of material that is suitable to be merged (metal, alloy, ceramic, glass) upon any type of substrate (metal, graphite, ceramic, wood) with an adjustable thickness ranging from a few microns up to several millimeters. The applications are particularly focused to the coating of materials in order to improve their properties of resistance to corrosion, thermal and mechanical efforts as well as to preserve the properties of the so formed compound. In this work the electromagnetic induction phenomenon in an ionized medium by means of electric conductivity, is described. Emphasis is made on the devices and control systems employed in order to generate the thermal plasma and in carrying out the coatings of surfaces by the projection of particles based on plasma

Multi-Directional Optical Diagnostics of Thermal Plasma Jets

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hlína, Jan; Chvála, František; Šonský, Jiří; Gruber, Jan

2008-01-01

Roč. 19, č. 1 (2008), s. 1-6 ISSN 0957-0233 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA202/05/0728 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509 Keywords : thermal plasma jet * optical diagnostics * Radon transform Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.493, year: 2008

EDITORIAL: Special issue featuring articles arising from the 11th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference Special issue featuring articles arising from the 11th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference

Science.gov (United States)

Bruggeman, Peter; Degrez, Gérard; Delplancke, Marie-Paule; Gleizes, Alain

2011-05-01

The 11th High-Tech Plasma Processes Conference (HTPP) was held in Brussels, Belgium, 27 June-2 July, 2010. HTPP started as a thermal plasma conference and gradually expanded to include low-temperature plasmas. The conference was founded by Jacques Amouroux and Pierre Fauchais, and aims to bring together different scientific communities to facilitate contacts between science, technology and industry, providing a platform for the exploration of elementary processes and applications in and by plasmas. The first HTPP was held in Odeillo, France, in 1990. Since then it has been held every other year in different European cities: Paris, Aachen, Athens, Strasbourg, Saint-Petersburg, Patras and Brussels. The 11th HTPP conference was attended by 125 participants from 19 countries. The program involved 14 invited talks, 34 contributed talks, 72 posters and a software demonstration and hands-on session for plasma modelling. The 12th HTPP conference will be held 24-28 June 2012, in Bologna, Italy. A larger part of the contributions to the 11th HTPP has been published in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS) volume 275, 2011. All invited speakers and other contributors, as selected by the Steering, Scientific and Organizing Committee, were invited to submit a paper based on their contributions for this special issue which is peer reviewed by the journal. Both this special issue and the JPCS volume aim to bring the 11th HTPP to a wider audience. The publications are a nice example of the broad topic range of the conference. The JPCS volume contains papers covering fundamental aspects on radiative processes of thermal plasmas, modelling of thermal arcs and non-thermal RF plasma jets, plasma diagnostics including flow and heat flux measurements of thermal plasmas, radical density measurements and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. The applications-oriented contributions of the JPCS volume include plasma spraying, synthesis of (nano-sized) materials, surface

Numerical modeling of disperse material evaporation in axisymmetric thermal plasma reactor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefanović Predrag Lj.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available A numerical 3D Euler-Lagrangian stochastic-deterministic (LSD model of two-phase flow laden with solid particles was developed. The model includes the relevant physical effects, namely phase interaction, panicle dispersion by turbulence, lift forces, particle-particle collisions, particle-wall collisions, heat and mass transfer between phases, melting and evaporation of particles, vapour diffusion in the gas flow. It was applied to simulate the processes in thermal plasma reactors, designed for the production of the ceramic powders. Paper presents results of extensive numerical simulation provided (a to determine critical mechanism of interphase heat and mass transfer in plasma flows, (b to show relative influence of some plasma reactor parameters on solid precursor evaporation efficiency: 1 - inlet plasma temperature, 2 - inlet plasma velocity, 3 - particle initial diameter, 4 - particle injection angle a, and 5 - reactor wall temperature, (c to analyze the possibilities for high evaporation efficiency of different starting solid precursors (Si, Al, Ti, and B2O3 powder, and (d to compare different plasma reactor configurations in conjunction with disperse material evaporation efficiency.

The Role of Higher-Order Modes on the Electromagnetic Whistler-Cyclotron Wave Fluctuations of Thermal and Non-Thermal Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Vinas, Adolfo F.; Moya, Pablo S.; Navarro, Roberto; Araneda, Jamie A.

2014-01-01

Two fundamental challenging problems of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas are the understanding of the relaxation of a collisionless plasmas with nearly isotropic velocity distribution functions and the resultant state of nearly equipartition energy density with electromagnetic plasma turbulence. Here, we present the results of a study which shows the role that higher-order-modes play in limiting the electromagnetic whistler-like fluctuations in a thermal and non-thermal plasma. Our main results show that for a thermal plasma the magnetic fluctuations are confined by regions that are bounded by the least-damped higher order modes. We further show that the zone where the whistler-cyclotron normal modes merges the electromagnetic fluctuations shifts to longer wavelengths as the beta(sub e) increases. This merging zone has been interpreted as the beginning of the region where the whistler-cyclotron waves losses their identity and become heavily damped while merging with the fluctuations. Our results further indicate that in the case of nonthermal plasmas, the higher-order modes do not confine the fluctuations due to the effective higher-temperature effects and the excess of suprathermal plasma particles. The analysis presented here considers the second-order theory of fluctuations and the dispersion relation of weakly transverse fluctuations, with wave vectors parallel to the uniform background magnetic field, in a finite temperature isotropic bi-Maxwellian and Tsallis-kappa-like magnetized electron-proton plasma. Our results indicate that the spontaneously emitted electromagnetic fluctuations are in fact enhanced over these quasi modes suggesting that such modes play an important role in the emission and absorption of electromagnetic fluctuations in thermal or quasi-thermal plasmas.

Non-thermal plasma-induced photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol in water.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Xiao Long; Zhou, Ming Hua; Lei, Le Cheng

2007-03-22

TiO(2) photocatalyst (P-25) (50mgL(-1)) was tentatively introduced into pulsed high-voltage discharge process for non-thermal plasma-induced photocatalytic degradation of the representative mode organic pollutant parachlorophenol (4-CP), including other compounds phenol and methyl red in water. The experimental results showed that rate constant of 4-CP degradation, energy efficiency for 4-CP removal and TOC removal with TiO(2) were obviously increased. Pulsed high-voltage discharge process with TiO(2) had a promoted effect for the degradation of these pollutants under a broad range of liquid conductivity. Furthermore, the apparent formation rates of chemically active species (e.g., ozone and hydrogen peroxide) were increased, the hydrogen peroxide formation rate from 1.10x10(-6) to 1.50x10(-6)Ms(-1), the ozone formation rate from 1.99x10(-8) to 2.35x10(-8)Ms(-1), respectively. In addition, this process had no influence on the photocatalytic properties of TiO(2). The introduction of TiO(2) photocatalyst into pulsed discharge plasma process in the utilizing of ultraviolet radiation and electric field in pulsed discharge plasma process enhanced the yields of chemically active species, which were available for highly efficient removal and mineralization of organic pollutants.

Non-thermal plasma-induced photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Xiaolong; Zhou Ming Hua; Lei Lecheng

2007-01-01

TiO 2 photocatalyst (P-25) (50 mg L -1 ) was tentatively introduced into pulsed high-voltage discharge process for non-thermal plasma-induced photocatalytic degradation of the representative mode organic pollutant parachlorophenol (4-CP), including other compounds phenol and methyl red in water. The experimental results showed that rate constant of 4-CP degradation, energy efficiency for 4-CP removal and TOC removal with TiO 2 were obviously increased. Pulsed high-voltage discharge process with TiO 2 had a promoted effect for the degradation of these pollutants under a broad range of liquid conductivity. Furthermore, the apparent formation rates of chemically active species (e.g., ozone and hydrogen peroxide) were increased, the hydrogen peroxide formation rate from 1.10 x 10 -6 to 1.50 x 10 -6 M s -1 , the ozone formation rate from 1.99 x 10 -8 to 2.35 x 10 -8 M s -1 , respectively. In addition, this process had no influence on the photocatalytic properties of TiO 2 . The introduction of TiO 2 photocatalyst into pulsed discharge plasma process in the utilizing of ultraviolet radiation and electric field in pulsed discharge plasma process enhanced the yields of chemically active species, which were available for highly efficient removal and mineralization of organic pollutants

Plasma exhaust purification by thermal swing adsorption: Experimental results and modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ricapito, I.; Malara, R.C.

1996-01-01

For several years at the Joint Research Centre-Ispra laboratories, cyclic adsorption processes have been developed for the purification of the plasma exhaust stream of a deuterium-tritium fusion reactor. A purification process consisting of two coupled thermal swing adsorption systems seemed to be the most convenient process. In this context, a screening study was carried out to select the most suitable adsorbent materials and appropriate working temperatures. This was mainly done by experimental measurements of adsorption isotherms of the single components of the plasma exhaust stream and by a careful evaluation of the multicomponent adsorption equilibria. Experiments on adsorption dynamics were carried out in a pilot plant to demonstrate the feasibility and to evaluate the performance of the process. The experimental apparatus was designed to treat gas mixture flow rates up to 20 to 30 standard temperature and pressure l/h. A mathematical model was developed and tested against the experimental results to describe the adsorption process and, in particular, to evaluate and to optimize the process cycle time. 27 refs., 4 figs., 9 tabs

Effects of plasma jet parameters, ionization, thermal conduction, and radiation on stagnation conditions of an imploding plasma liner

Science.gov (United States)

Stanic, Milos

The disciplines of High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) are characterized by hypervelocity implosions and strong shocks. The Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) is focused on reaching HEDP and/or ICF relevant regimes in excess of 1 Mbar peak pressure by the merging and implosion of discrete plasma jets, as a potentially efficient path towards these extreme conditions in a laboratory. In this work we have presented the first 3D simulations of plasma liner, formation, and implosion by the merging of discrete plasma jets in which ionization, thermal conduction, and radiation are all included in the physics model. The study was conducted by utilizing a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code (SPHC) and was a part of the plasma liner experiment (PLX). The salient physics processes of liner formation and implosion are studied, namely vacuum propagation of plasma jets, merging of the jets (liner forming), implosion (liner collapsing), stagnation (peak pressure), and expansion (rarefaction wave disassembling the target). Radiative transport was found to significantly reduce the temperature of the liner during implosion, thus reducing the thermal expansion rates and leaving more pronounced gradients in the plasma liner during the implosion compared with ideal hydrodynamic simulations. These pronounced gradients lead to a greater sensitivity of initial jet geometry and symmetry on peak pressures obtained. Accounting for ionization and transport, many cases gave higher peak pressures than the ideal hydrodynamic simulations. Scaling laws were developed accordingly, creating a non-dimensional parameter space in which performance of an imploding plasma jet liner can be estimated. It is shown that HEDP regimes could be reached with ≈ 5 MJ of liner energy, which would translate to roughly 10 to 20 MJ of stored (capacitor) energy. This is a potentially significant improvement over the currently available means via ICF of achieving HEDP and nuclear

Non-thermal plasma destruction of allyl alcohol in waste gas: kinetics and modelling

Science.gov (United States)

DeVisscher, A.; Dewulf, J.; Van Durme, J.; Leys, C.; Morent, R.; Van Langenhove, H.

2008-02-01

Non-thermal plasma treatment is a promising technique for the destruction of volatile organic compounds in waste gas. A relatively unexplored technique is the atmospheric negative dc multi-pin-to-plate glow discharge. This paper reports experimental results of allyl alcohol degradation and ozone production in this type of plasma. A new model was developed to describe these processes quantitatively. The model contains a detailed chemical degradation scheme, and describes the physics of the plasma by assuming that the fraction of electrons that takes part in chemical reactions is an exponential function of the reduced field. The model captured the experimental kinetic data to less than 2 ppm standard deviation.

Non-thermal plasma destruction of allyl alcohol in waste gas: kinetics and modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Visscher, A de; Dewulf, J; Durme, J van; Leys, C; Morent, R; Langenhove, H Van

2008-01-01

Non-thermal plasma treatment is a promising technique for the destruction of volatile organic compounds in waste gas. A relatively unexplored technique is the atmospheric negative dc multi-pin-to-plate glow discharge. This paper reports experimental results of allyl alcohol degradation and ozone production in this type of plasma. A new model was developed to describe these processes quantitatively. The model contains a detailed chemical degradation scheme, and describes the physics of the plasma by assuming that the fraction of electrons that takes part in chemical reactions is an exponential function of the reduced field. The model captured the experimental kinetic data to less than 2 ppm standard deviation

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)

Using plasma-fuel systems at Eurasian coal-fired thermal power stations

Science.gov (United States)

Karpenko, E. I.; Karpenko, Yu. E.; Messerle, V. E.; Ustimenko, A. B.

2009-06-01

The development of plasma technology for igniting solid fuels at coal-fired thermal power stations in Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and other Eurasian countries is briefly reviewed. Basic layouts and technical and economic characteristics of plasma-fuel systems installed in different coal-fired boiles are considered together with some results from using these systems at coal-fired thermal power stations.

Treatment of mixed wastes by thermal plasma discharges; Tratamiento de desechos mixtos por descargas de plasma termico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diaz A, L.V.; Pacheco S, J.O.; Pacheco P, M.; Monroy G, F.; Emeterio H, M. [ININ, 52750 La Marquesa, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)]. e-mail: lauradiazarch@yahoo.com.mx

2007-07-01

The National Institute of Nuclear Research (ININ) uses an ion exchange resin: IRN 150 (copolymer styrene Divynilbencene) in the TRIGA Mark III reactor to absorb polluted particles with heavy metals and radioactive particles of low level. Once the capacity of filtrate of the resin is exceeded, it is replaced and considered with a mixed waste. This work is based on taking advantage of the advantages of the technique of the thermal plasma in a unique process: (high energy density 105W/cm{sup 3} high enthalpy, high reactivity chemical, high operation temperatures 6000-11500K and quick quenching 106K/s) for the degradation and vitrification of the resin IRN 150. The reactor of plasma is compact and it works to atmospheric pressure and reduced thermal inertia. Therefore, the main parameters involved during the degradation tests and vitrification are: plasma current, voltage, gas flow and distance among the electrodes. The used vitreous matrix, is obtained from a ceramic clay composed by an oxides mixture which are characterized by their good resistance to mechanical impacts and erosion caused by the water. The ceramic clay and the resin IRN 150 were analyzed before the treatment by Scanning Electron Microscopy (MEB), X-ray Diffraction (DRX), Thermal gravimetry (TGA) once vitrified the materials were also analyzed by MEB and DRX. It is obtained as a result that the material more appropriate to be used as vitreous matrix it is a ceramic clay formed by several oxides, being operated the plasma system with a current of 115A, voltage of 25V, flow of the argon gas of 5 l/m and a distance among electrodes of 10mm. With the development of the proposed technology and the material for the vitreous matrix, be rotted to try in a future a great variety of mixed waste. (Author)

Observed and modelled effects of auroral precipitation on the thermal ionospheric plasma: comparing the MICA and Cascades2 sounding rocket events

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, K. A.; Gayetsky, L.; Fernandes, P. A.; Zettergren, M. D.; Lessard, M.; Cohen, I. J.; Hampton, D. L.; Ahrns, J.; Hysell, D. L.; Powell, S.; Miceli, R. J.; Moen, J. I.; Bekkeng, T.

2012-12-01

Auroral precipitation can modify the ionospheric thermal plasma through a variety of processes. We examine and compare the events seen by two recent auroral sounding rockets carrying in situ thermal plasma instrumentation. The Cascades2 sounding rocket (March 2009, Poker Flat Research Range) traversed a pre-midnight poleward boundary intensification (PBI) event distinguished by a stationary Alfvenic curtain of field-aligned precipitation. The MICA sounding rocket (February 2012, Poker Flat Research Range) traveled through irregular precipitation following the passage of a strong westward-travelling surge. Previous modelling of the ionospheric effects of auroral precipitation used a one-dimensional model, TRANSCAR, which had a simplified treatment of electric fields and did not have the benefit of in situ thermal plasma data. This new study uses a new two-dimensional model which self-consistently calculates electric fields to explore both spatial and temporal effects, and compares to thermal plasma observations. A rigorous understanding of the ambient thermal plasma parameters and their effects on the local spacecraft sheath and charging, is required for quantitative interpretation of in situ thermal plasma observations. To complement this TRANSCAR analysis we therefore require a reliable means of interpreting in situ thermal plasma observation. This interpretation depends upon a rigorous plasma sheath model since the ambient ion energy is on the order of the spacecraft's sheath energy. A self-consistent PIC model is used to model the spacecraft sheath, and a test-particle approach then predicts the detector response for a given plasma environment. The model parameters are then modified until agreement is found with the in situ data. We find that for some situations, the thermal plasma parameters are strongly driven by the precipitation at the observation time. For other situations, the previous history of the precipitation at that position can have a stronger

A simple spectroscopic method for determining the temperature in H2O-Ar thermal plasma jet

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Sember, Viktor; Mašláni, Alan

2009-01-01

Roč. 13, č. 2 (2009), s. 217-228 ISSN 1093-3611. [European High Temperature Plasma Processes (HTPP)/10th./. Patras (Patras University), 07.07.2008-11.07.2008] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA202/08/1084; GA MPO FT-TA4/050 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : Thermal plasma jets * spectroscopic diagnostics * mole-fraction gradients Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 0.333, year: 2009

Low temperature synthesis of silicon quantum dots with plasma chemistry control in dual frequency non-thermal plasmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahu, Bibhuti Bhusan; Yin, Yongyi; Han, Jeon Geon; Shiratani, Masaharu

2016-06-21

The advanced materials process by non-thermal plasmas with a high plasma density allows the synthesis of small-to-big sized Si quantum dots by combining low-temperature deposition with superior crystalline quality in the background of an amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride matrix. Here, we make quantum dot thin films in a reactive mixture of ammonia/silane/hydrogen utilizing dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas with high atomic hydrogen and nitrogen radical densities. Systematic data analysis using different film and plasma characterization tools reveals that the quantum dots with different sizes exhibit size dependent film properties, which are sensitively dependent on plasma characteristics. These films exhibit intense photoluminescence in the visible range with violet to orange colors and with narrow to broad widths (∼0.3-0.9 eV). The observed luminescence behavior can come from the quantum confinement effect, quasi-direct band-to-band recombination, and variation of atomic hydrogen and nitrogen radicals in the film growth network. The high luminescence yields in the visible range of the spectrum and size-tunable low-temperature synthesis with plasma and radical control make these quantum dot films good candidates for light emitting applications.

Thermal plasma spraying for SOFCs: Applications, potential advantages, and challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hui, Rob; Wang, Zhenwei; Jankovic, Jasna; Yick, Sing; Maric, Radenka; Ghosh, Dave [National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, 4250 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5 (Canada); Kesler, Olivera [National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, 4250 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5 (Canada); Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2054-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Rose, Lars [National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, 4250 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5 (Canada); Department of Materials Engineering, University of British Columbia, 309-6350 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada)

2007-07-10

In this article, the applications, potential advantages, and challenges of thermal plasma spray (PS) processing for nanopowder production and cell fabrication of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are reviewed. PS processing creates sufficiently high temperatures to melt all materials fed into the plasma. The heated material can either be quenched into oxide powders or deposited as coatings. This technique has been applied to directly deposit functional layers as well as nanopowder for SOFCs application. In particularly, low melting point and highly active electrodes can be directly fabricated on zirconia-based electrolytes. This is a simple processing technique that does not require the use of organic solvents, offering the opportunity for flexible adjustment of process parameters, and significant time saving in production of the cell and cost reduction compared with tape casting, screen printing and sintering processing steps. Most importantly, PS processing shows strong potential to enable the deposition of metal-supported SOFCs through the integrated fabrication of membrane-electrode assemblies (MEA) on porous metallic substrates with consecutive deposition steps. On the other hand, the application of PS processing to produce SOFCs faces some challenges, such as insufficient porosity of the electrodes, the difficulty of obtaining a thin (<10 {mu}m) and dense electrolyte layer. Fed with H{sub 2} as the fuel gas and oxygen as the oxidant gas, the plasma sprayed cell reached high power densities of 770 mW cm{sup -2} at 900 C and 430 mW cm{sup -2} at 800 C at a cell voltage of 0.7 V. (author)

Plasma fluorination of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes: functionalization and thermal stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Struzzi, Claudia; Scardamaglia, Mattia; Hemberg, Axel; Petaccia, Luca; Colomer, Jean-François; Snyders, Rony; Bittencourt, Carla

2015-01-01

Grafting of fluorine species on carbon nanostructures has attracted interest due to the effective modification of physical and chemical properties of the starting materials. Various techniques have been employed to achieve a controlled fluorination yield; however, the effect of contaminants is rarely discussed, although they are often present. In the present work, the fluorination of vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes was performed using plasma treatment in a magnetron sputtering chamber with fluorine diluted in an argon atmosphere with an Ar/F2 ratio of 95:5. The effect of heavily diluted fluorine in the precursor gas mixture is investigated by evaluating the modifications in the nanotube structure and the electronic properties upon plasma treatment. The existence of oxygen-based grafted species is associated with background oxygen species present in the plasma chamber in addition to fluorine. The thermal stability and desorption process of the fluorine species grafted on the carbon nanotubes during the fluorine plasma treatment were evaluated by combining different spectroscopic techniques.

Plasma fluorination of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes: functionalization and thermal stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Struzzi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Grafting of fluorine species on carbon nanostructures has attracted interest due to the effective modification of physical and chemical properties of the starting materials. Various techniques have been employed to achieve a controlled fluorination yield; however, the effect of contaminants is rarely discussed, although they are often present. In the present work, the fluorination of vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes was performed using plasma treatment in a magnetron sputtering chamber with fluorine diluted in an argon atmosphere with an Ar/F2 ratio of 95:5. The effect of heavily diluted fluorine in the precursor gas mixture is investigated by evaluating the modifications in the nanotube structure and the electronic properties upon plasma treatment. The existence of oxygen-based grafted species is associated with background oxygen species present in the plasma chamber in addition to fluorine. The thermal stability and desorption process of the fluorine species grafted on the carbon nanotubes during the fluorine plasma treatment were evaluated by combining different spectroscopic techniques.

Analytical method for thermal stress analysis of plasma facing materials

Science.gov (United States)

You, J. H.; Bolt, H.

2001-10-01

The thermo-mechanical response of plasma facing materials (PFMs) to heat loads from the fusion plasma is one of the crucial issues in fusion technology. In this work, a fully analytical description of the thermal stress distribution in armour tiles of plasma facing components is presented which is expected to occur under typical high heat flux (HHF) loads. The method of stress superposition is applied considering the temperature gradient and thermal expansion mismatch. Several combinations of PFMs and heat sink metals are analysed and compared. In the framework of the present theoretical model, plastic flow and the effect of residual stress can be quantitatively assessed. Possible failure features are discussed.

Analytical method for thermal stress analysis of plasma facing materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

You, J.H.; Bolt, H.

2001-01-01

The thermo-mechanical response of plasma facing materials (PFMs) to heat loads from the fusion plasma is one of the crucial issues in fusion technology. In this work, a fully analytical description of the thermal stress distribution in armour tiles of plasma facing components is presented which is expected to occur under typical high heat flux (HHF) loads. The method of stress superposition is applied considering the temperature gradient and thermal expansion mismatch. Several combinations of PFMs and heat sink metals are analysed and compared. In the framework of the present theoretical model, plastic flow and the effect of residual stress can be quantitatively assessed. Possible failure features are discussed

Operational features and air plasma characteristics of a thermal plasma torch with hollow electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hur, Min; Kim, Keun Su; Hong, Sang Hee

2003-01-01

The operational features and thermal plasma characteristics of a plasma torch with hollow electrodes are investigated based on their dependence on input current, gas flow rate and electrode diameter when air is used as a plasma gas. A plasma torch with a hollow cathode and anode has been designed and fabricated, and the arc voltages and thermal efficiencies are measured from its discharge. The newly modified similarity criteria are derived from the measured data related to torch performances. From the fact that these criteria successfully describe both the arc voltage and thermal efficiency behaviour of the torch, depending on its operating and geometrical parameters, it is proved that they can be usefully applied to the design and operation of high power torches. For the numerical modelling of the interior region of the torch, a cold flow analysis is employed along with a simplified balance equation of the Lorentz and gas dynamic drag forces in order to determine a cathode spot position on the cathode surface. The validity of this method is confirmed by comparison of the calculated and measured net powers. As a practically useful result of this analysis, carried out through this numerical and experimental work, it is suggested that low input current, high gas flow rate and relatively large electrode diameter are more favourable as appropriate operating conditions of the torch for the efficient treatment of hazardous organic wastes

Experimental and numerical investigations of a plasma reactor for the thermal destruction of medical waste using a model substance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiedler, J; Lietz, E; Bendix, D; Hebecker, D

2004-01-01

A demonstration plant for the thermal destruction of medical waste using dc plasma torches as the energy source has been developed and tested in several set-ups and under different conditions. Three-dimensional CFD modelling of the gaseous phase in the thermal plasma reactor has been carried out to investigate the experimentally observed phenomena, with the objective of improving the process with respect to conversion rate and power consumption per unit weight. Several models for energy release, and additional parameter studies required to approach the real process as closely as possible, will be discussed. Results for velocity, temperature, and residence time distribution are presented and qualitatively compared with images taken from the running process

Plasma diagnostic techniques in thermal-barrier tandem-mirror fusion experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silver, E.H.; Clauser, J.F.; Carter, M.R.; Failor, B.H.; Foote, J.H.; Hornady, R.S.; James, R.A.; Lasnier, C.J.; Perkins, D.E.

1986-01-01

We review two classes of plasma diagnostic techniques used in thermal-barrier tandem-mirror fusion experiments. The emphasis of the first class is to study mirror-trapped electrons at the thermal-barrier location. The focus of the second class is to measure the spatial and temporal behavior of the plasma space potential at various axial locations. The design and operation of the instruments in these two categories are discussed and data that are representative of their performance is presented

Thermal Fatigue Behavior of Air-Plasma Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coating with Bond Coat Species in Cyclic Thermal Exposure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ungyu Paik

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The effects of the bond coat species on the delamination or fracture behavior in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs was investigated using the yclic thermal fatigue and thermal-shock tests. The interface microstructures of each TBC showed a good condition without cracking or delamination after flame thermal fatigue (FTF for 1429 cycles. The TBC with the bond coat prepared by the air-plasma spray (APS method showed a good condition at the interface between the top and bond coats after cyclic furnace thermal fatigue (CFTF for 1429 cycles, whereas the TBCs with the bond coats prepared by the high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF and low-pressure plasma spray (LPPS methods showed a partial cracking (and/or delamination and a delamination after 780 cycles, respectively. The TBCs with the bond coats prepared by the APS, HVOF and LPPS methods were fully delaminated (>50% after 159, 36, and 46 cycles, respectively, during the thermal-shock tests. The TGO thickness in the TBCs was strongly dependent on the both exposure time and temperature difference tested. The hardness values were found to be increased only after the CFTF, and the TBC with the bond coat prepared by the APS showed the highest adhesive strength before and after the FTF.

Development and evaluation of suspension plasma sprayed yttria stabilized zirconia coatings as thermal barriers

Science.gov (United States)

van Every, Kent J.

The insulating effects from thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) in gas turbine engines allow for increased operational efficiencies and longer service lifetimes. Consequently, improving TBCs can lead to enhanced gas turbine engine performance. This study was conducted to investigate if yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings, the standard industrial choice for TBCs, produced from nano-sized powder could provide better thermal insulation than current commericial YSZ coatings generated using micron-sized powders. The coatings for this research were made via the recently developed suspension plasma spraying (SPS) process. With SPS, powders are suspended in a solvent containing dispersing agents; the suspension is then injected directly into a plasma flow that evaporates the solvent and melts the powder while transporting it to the substrate. Although related to the industrial TBC production method of air plasma spraying (APS), SPS has two important differences---the ability to spray sub-micron diameter ceramic particles, and the ability to alloy the particles with chemicals dissolved in the solvent. These aspects of SPS were employed to generate a series of coatings from suspensions containing ˜100 nm diameter YSZ powder particles, some of which were alloyed with neodymium and ytterbium ions from the solvent. The SPS coatings contained columnar structures not observed in APS TBCs; thus, a theory was developed to explain the formation of these features. The thermal conductivity of the coatings was tested to evaluate the effects of these unique microstructures and the effects of the alloying process. The results for samples in the as-sprayed and heat-treated conditions were compared to conventional YSZ TBCs. This comparison showed that, relative to APS YSZ coatings, the unalloyed SPS samples typically exhibited higher as-sprayed and lower heat-treated thermal conductivities. All thermal conductivity values for the alloyed samples were lower than conventional YSZ TBCs

Mueller matrix polarimetry on plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings for porosity measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, David A; Barraza, Enrique T; Kudenov, Michael W

2017-12-10

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is the most widely used material for thermal plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) used to protect gas turbine engine parts in demanding operation environments. The superior material properties of YSZ coatings are related to their internal porosity level. By quantifying the porosity level, tighter control on the spraying process can be achieved to produce reliable coatings. Currently, destructive measurement methods are widely used to measure the porosity level. In this paper, we describe a novel nondestructive approach that is applicable to classify the porosity level of plasma sprayed YSZ TBCs via Mueller matrix polarimetry. A rotating retarder Mueller matrix polarimeter was used to measure the polarization properties of the plasma sprayed YSZ coatings with different porosity levels. From these measurements, it was determined that a sample's measured depolarization ratio is dependent on the sample's surface roughness and porosity level. To this end, we correlate the depolarization ratio with the samples' surface roughness, as measured by a contact profilometer, as well as the total porosity level, in percentage measured using a micrograph and stereological analysis. With the use of this technique, a full-field and rapid measurement of porosity level can be achieved.

Non-thermal plasma-induced photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol in water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao Xiaolong [Institute of Environmental Pollution Control Technologies, Xixi Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, Zhejiang (China); Zhou Ming Hua [Institute of Environmental Pollution Control Technologies, Xixi Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, Zhejiang (China); Lei Lecheng [Institute of Environmental Pollution Control Technologies, Xixi Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, Zhejiang (China)]. E-mail: lclei@zju.edu.cn

2007-03-22

TiO{sub 2} photocatalyst (P-25) (50 mg L{sup -1}) was tentatively introduced into pulsed high-voltage discharge process for non-thermal plasma-induced photocatalytic degradation of the representative mode organic pollutant parachlorophenol (4-CP), including other compounds phenol and methyl red in water. The experimental results showed that rate constant of 4-CP degradation, energy efficiency for 4-CP removal and TOC removal with TiO{sub 2} were obviously increased. Pulsed high-voltage discharge process with TiO{sub 2} had a promoted effect for the degradation of these pollutants under a broad range of liquid conductivity. Furthermore, the apparent formation rates of chemically active species (e.g., ozone and hydrogen peroxide) were increased, the hydrogen peroxide formation rate from 1.10 x 10{sup -6} to 1.50 x 10{sup -6} M s{sup -1}, the ozone formation rate from 1.99 x 10{sup -8} to 2.35 x 10{sup -8} M s{sup -1}, respectively. In addition, this process had no influence on the photocatalytic properties of TiO{sub 2}. The introduction of TiO{sub 2} photocatalyst into pulsed discharge plasma process in the utilizing of ultraviolet radiation and electric field in pulsed discharge plasma process enhanced the yields of chemically active species, which were available for highly efficient removal and mineralization of organic pollutants.

High throughput deposition of hydrogenated amorphous carbon coatings on rubber with expanding thermal plasma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pei, Y.T.; Eivani, A.R.; Zaharia, T.; Kazantis, A.V.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.; De Hosson, J.T.M.

2014-01-01

Flexible hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin film coated on rubbers has shown outstanding protection of rubber seals from friction and wear. This work concentrates on the potential advances of expanding thermal plasma (ETP) process for a high throughput deposition of a-C:H thin films in

Incineration/vitrification of radioactive wastes and combustion of pyrolysis gases in thermal plasmas; Incineration/vitrification de dechets radioactifs et combustion de gaz de pyrolyse en plasma d`arc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Girold, Ch. [CEA de la Vallee du Rhone, Departement de Retraitement des Dechets et du Demantelemnet, 30 - Marcoule (France)]|[Limoges Univ., 87 (France)

1997-03-01

Two thermal plasma processes used for incineration of radioactive technological wastes (cellulose, plastics, rubber...) have been investigated. First, the different types of radioactive wastes are presented, with a special attention to those which may benefit from a high temperature thermal treatment. The most significant thermal plasma processes, suitable for this goal, are described. Then, the author deals with the post-combustion, in an oxygen plasma jet reactor, of gases from burnable radioactive waste pyrolysis. An experimental planning method as been used to evaluate the combustion performances in the reactor, with a wide range of gas composition and running parameters such as oxygen excess and electrical power. The results of a modeling of kinetics, based on 116 chemicals reactions between 25 species, are compared with experimental values. Finally, an oxygen plasma reactor where the arc is transferred on a basalt melt is experimented. The efficiency of the combustion and the homogeneity of the glass are discussed. The volatility of some glass elements and tracers added to the wastes is also approached in two different ways: by post-trial material balance and by an optical emission spectroscopic method. The author built a diagnostic method that allows the following versus time of the metallic vapours above the melt. (author) 51 refs.

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.

Properties of thermal air plasma with admixing of copper and carbon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fesenko, S; Veklich, A; Boretskij, V; Cressault, Y; Gleizes, A; Teulet, Ph

2014-01-01

This paper deals with investigations of air plasma with admixing of copper and carbon. Model plasma source unit with real breaking arc was used for the simulation of real discharges, which can be occurred during sliding of Cu-C composite electrodes on copper wire at electromotive vehicles. The complex technique of plasma property studies is developed. From one hand, the radial profiles of temperature and electron density in plasma of electric arc discharge in air between Cu-C composite and copper electrodes in air flow were measured by optical spectroscopy techniques. From another hand, the radial profiles of electric conductivity of plasma mixture were calculated by solution of energy balance equation. It was assumed that the thermal conductivity of air plasma is not depending on copper or carbon vapor admixtures. The electron density is obtained from electric conductivity profiles by calculation in assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium in plasma. Computed in such way radial profiles of electron density in plasma of electric arc discharge in air between copper electrodes were compared with experimentally measured profiles. It is concluded that developed techniques of plasma diagnostics can be reasonably used in investigations of thermal plasma with copper and carbon vapors

Plasma processing for VLSI

CERN Document Server

Einspruch, Norman G

1984-01-01

VLSI Electronics: Microstructure Science, Volume 8: Plasma Processing for VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) discusses the utilization of plasmas for general semiconductor processing. It also includes expositions on advanced deposition of materials for metallization, lithographic methods that use plasmas as exposure sources and for multiple resist patterning, and device structures made possible by anisotropic etching.This volume is divided into four sections. It begins with the history of plasma processing, a discussion of some of the early developments and trends for VLSI. The second section

Thermalization of mini-jets in a quark–gluon plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iancu, Edmond, E-mail: edmond.iancu@cea.fr; Wu, Bin, E-mail: bin.wu.phys@gmail.com [Institut de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay, CNRS UMR 3681, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)

2016-12-15

We present the complete physical picture for the evolution of a high-energy jet propagating through a weakly-coupled quark-gluon plasma (QGP) by analytical and numerical investigation of thermalization of the soft components of the jet. Our results support the following physical picture: the leading particle emits a significant number of mini-jets which promptly evolve via multiple branching and thus degrade into a myriad of soft gluons, with energies of the order of the medium temperature T. Via elastic collisions with the medium constituents, these soft gluons relax to local thermal equilibrium with the plasma over a time scale which is considerably shorter than the typical lifetime of the mini-jet. The thermalized gluons form a tail which lags behind the hard components of the jet. Together with the background QGP, they behave hydrodynamically.

Studies of the influence of nonequilibrium plasma thermal exposure on the characteristics of the capillary-porous polymer material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makhotkina, L Yu; Khristoliubova, V I

2017-01-01

Capillary-porous materials, which include natural macromolecular tanning material, are exposed to a number of factors during the treatment by a nonequilibrium plasma. Plasma particles exchange the charge and energy with the atoms of the material during the interaction of the plasma with the surface. The results of treatment are desorption of atoms and molecules from the body surface, sputtering and evaporation of material’s particles, changes of the structure and phase state. In real terms during the modification of solids by nonequilibrium low-temperature plasma thermal effect influences the process. The energy supplied from the discharge during the process with low pressure, which is converted into heat, is significantly less than during the atmospheric pressure, but the thermal stability of high-molecular compounds used in the manufacture of materials and products of the tanning industry, is very limited and depends on the duration of the effect of temperature. Even short heating of hydrophilic polymers (proteins) (100-180 °C) causes a change in their properties. It decreases the collagen ability to absorb water vapor, to swell in water, acids, alkalis, and thus decreases their durability. Prolonged heating leads to a deterioration of the physical and mechanical properties. Higher heating temperatures it leads to the polymer degradation. The natural leather temperature during plasma exposure does not rise to a temperature of collagen degradation and does not result in changes of physical phase of the dermis. However, the thermal plasma exposure must be considered, since the high temperatures influence on physical and mechanical properties. (paper)

Treatment of hazardous wastes by DC thermal plasma arc discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toru, Iwao; Yafang, Liu; Furuta, N.; Tsuginori, Inaba

2001-01-01

The temperature of the DC thermal plasma arc discharge is discussed, and examples of the waste treatment for the inorganic compounds such as fly ash, asbestos, and for the organic compounds such as the toxic dioxines and TBT by using the DC plasma arc discharge are shown. In addition, the plasma treatment by using a radiant power emitted from the DC plasma arc discharge is also shown as another new kind of ones. (authors)

Development of twin cannons of thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pena E, R.

1996-01-01

Today several service and transformation industries that generate hazardous wastes must implement programs in order to fulfill with requirements established by the present standardization. This problem is solved here for proposing the design and construction of a thermal plasma transferred torch with double cannon which is generated by an electric arc with a capacity of 50 k W, a regulable gas flow from 0-50 lt./min and thermal yield higher than 85 %. This equipment would be capable for degradating industrial and hospital wastes. (Author)

Formation of thermal eddies during rf heating of plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Motley, R.W.; Hooke, W.M.; Anania, G.

1979-07-01

Moderate power (approx.1 kW) excitation of lower hybrid waves in a linear plasma column is found to increase the reflectivity of the phased waveguide exciter and to change the vertical position of the resonance cone. Probing of the plasma near the mouth of the waveguide reveals that the increased reflection results from an undulation in the plasma surface. We present evidence that this surface distortion is driven by thermal eddies associated with asymmetrical electron heating

Thermal analysis of the in-vessel components of the ITER plasma-position reflectometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quental, P. B., E-mail: pquental@ipfn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt; Policarpo, H.; Luís, R.; Varela, P. [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2016-11-15

The ITER plasma position reflectometry system measures the edge electron density profile of the plasma, providing real-time supplementary contribution to the magnetic measurements of the plasma-wall distance. Some of the system components will be in direct sight of the plasma and therefore subject to plasma and stray radiation, which may cause excessive temperatures and stresses. In this work, thermal finite element analysis of the antenna and adjacent waveguides is conducted with ANSYS V17 (ANSYS® Academic Research, Release 17.0, 2016). Results allow the identification of critical temperature points, and solutions are proposed to improve the thermal behavior of the system.

Advanced research and development for plasma processing of polymers with combinatorial plasma-process analyzer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Setsuhara, Yuichi; Cho, Ken; Takenaka, Kosuke; Shiratani, Masaharu; Sekine, Makoto; Hori, Masaru

2010-01-01

A plasma-process analyzer has been developed on the basis of combinatorial method, in which process examinations with continuous variations of plasma-process conditions can be carried out on a substrate holder with an inclined distribution of process parameters. Combinatorial plasma-process analyses have been demonstrated for examinations of plasma-polymer interactions in terms of etching characteristics and surface morphologies in order to show feasibility and effectiveness of the methodology as advanced research and development for next-generation plasma nano processes. The etching properties and surface morphologies have been investigated for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films exposed to argon-oxygen mixture plasmas. The etching depth data obtained from three independent batches of the experiments showed universal and almost linear dependence with increasing product of (ion saturation current) x (exposure time); i.e. ion dose. Surface roughness of the polymer slightly increased with increasing ion dose, while the mean spacing after plasma exposure was found to decrease monotonically with increasing ion dose but was saturated at the level of approximately 250 nm.

Reflection of oblique electron thermal modes in an inhomogeneous plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohnuma, T.; Watanabe, T.; Sanuki, H.

1980-04-01

In an inhomogeneous magnetoplasma, reflection of an oblique electron thermal mode radiated from a local source is investigated experimentally and theoretically near the electron plasma frequency layer. The experimental observation of reflection in the lower plasma density region than the f sub(p)-layer is found to be in qualitative accord with the theoretical reflection, which is obtained from a kinetic theory in an inhomogeneous magnetoplasma. The reflection of the thermal mode is also compared with that of an electromagnetic mode at the f sub(p)-layer. (author)

Statistics of turbulent structures in a thermal plasma jet

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hlína, Jan; Šonský, Jiří; Něnička, Václav; Zachar, Andrej

2005-01-01

Roč. 38, - (2005), s. 1760-1768 ISSN 0022-3727 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA1057202; GA ČR(CZ) GA202/05/0728 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509 Keywords : turbulent structures * thermal plasma jet Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.957, year: 2005

Ion turbulence and thermal transport in laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barr, H.C.; Boyd, T.J.M.

1982-01-01

In the interaction of high-intensity lasers with target plasmas the transport of thermal energy from the region in which the radiation is absorbed, to the cold dense plasma in the interior of the target, is an issue of central importance. The role of ion turbulence as a flux limiter is addressed with particular regard to recent experiments in which target plasmas were irradiated by 1.06 μm neodymium laser light at irradiances of 10 15 W cm - 2 and greater. Saturation levels of the ion-acoustic turbulence driven by a combination of a suprathermal electron current and a heat flux are calculated on the basis of perturbed orbit theory. The levels of turbulence are found to be markedly lower than those commonly estimated from simple trapping arguments and too low to explain the thermal flux inhibition observed in the experiments used as a basis for the model. (author)

The plasma wake field excitation: Recent developments from thermal to quantum regime

Science.gov (United States)

Fedele, Renato; Tanjia, Fatema; de Nicola, Sergio; Jovanović, Dušan; Jovanović

2013-12-01

To describe the transverse nonlinear and collective self-consistent interaction of a long relativistic electron or positron beam with an unmagnetized plasma, a pair of coupled nonlinear differential equations were proposed by Fedele and Shukla in 1992 (Fedele, R. and Shukla, P. K. 1992a Phys. Rev. A 45, 4045). They were obtained within the quantum-like description provided by the thermal wave model and the theory of plasma wake field excitation. The pair of equations comprises a 2D Schrödinger-like equation for a complex wave function (whose squared modulus is proportional to beam density) and a Poisson-like equation for the plasma wake potential. The dispersion coefficient of the Schrödinger-like equation is proportional to the beam thermal emittance. More recently, Fedele-Shukla equations have been further applied to magnetized plasmas, and solutions were found in the form of nonlinear vortex states and ring solitons. They have been also applied to plasma focusing problems and extended from thermal to quantum regimes. We present here a review of the original approach, and subsequent developments.

Direct synthesis of nano-sized glass powders with spherical shape by RF (radio frequency) thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, J.H.; Kim, J.S.; Lee, M.Y.; Ju, W.T.; Nam, I.T.

2011-01-01

A new route for obtaining very small, spheroid glass powders is demonstrated using an RF (radio frequency) thermal plasma system. During the process, four kinds of chemicals, here SiO 2 , B 2 O 3 , BaCO 3 , and K 2 CO 3 , were mixed at pre-set weight ratios, spray-dried, calcined at 250 deg. C for 3 h, and crushed into fragments. Then, they were successfully reformed into nano-sized amorphous powders (< 200 nm) with spherical shape by injecting them along the centerline of an RF thermal plasma reactor at ∼ 24 kW. The as-synthesized powders show negligible (< 1%) composition changes when compared with the injected precursors of raw material compounds.

Pre-treating water with non-thermal plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Young I.; Fridman, Alexander; Rabinovich, Alexander; Cho, Daniel J.

2017-07-04

The present invention consists of a method of pre-treatment of adulterated water for distillation, including adulterated water produced during hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") of shale rock during natural gas drilling. In particular, the invention is directed to a method of treating adulterated water, said adulterated water having an initial level of bicarbonate ion in a range of about 250 ppm to about 5000 ppm and an initial level of calcium ion in a range of about 500 ppm to about 50,000 ppm, said method comprising contacting the adulterated water with a non-thermal arc discharge plasma to produce plasma treated water having a level of bicarbonate ion of less than about 100 ppm. Optionally, the plasma treated water may be further distilled.

Thermal fatigue behavior of thermal barrier coatings by air plasma spray

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Han Sang; Kim, Eui Hyun [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jung Hyuk [Korea Plant Service and Engineering Co. Ltd., Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-06-15

Effects of top coat morphology and thickness on thermal fatigue behavior of Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) were investigated in this study. Thermal fatigue tests were conducted on three coating specimens with different top coat morphology and thickness, and then the test data were compared via microstructures, cycles to failure, and fracture surfaces. In the air plasma spray specimens (APS1, APS2), top coat were 200 and 300 {mu}m respectively. The thickness of top coat was about 700 {mu}m in the Perpendicular Cracked Specimen (PCS). Under thermal fatigue condition at 1,100 .deg. C, the cycles to top coat failure of APS1, APS2, and PCS were 350, 560 and 480 cycles, respectively. The cracks were initiated at the interface of top coat and Thermally Grown Oxide (TGO) and propagated into TGO or top coat as the number of thermal fatigue cycles increased. For the PCS specimen, additive cracks were initiated and propagated at the starting points of perpendicular cracks in the top coat. Also, the thickness of TGO and the decrease of aluminium concentration in bond coat do not affect the cycles to failure.

Influence of Microstructure on Thermal Properties of Axial Suspension Plasma-Sprayed YSZ Thermal Barrier Coatings

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ganvir, A.; Curry, N.; Markocsan, N.; Nylen, P.; Joshi, S.; Vilémová, Monika; Pala, Zdeněk

2016-01-01

Roč. 25, 1-2 (2016), s. 202-212 ISSN 1059-9630. [ITSC 2015: International Thermal Spray Conference and Exposition. Long Beach, California, 11.05.2015-14.05.2015] Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : axial injection * column ar microstructure * porosity * suspension plasma spraying * thermal conductivity * thermal diffusivity Subject RIV: JK - Corrosion ; Surface Treatment of Materials Impact factor: 1.488, year: 2016 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11666-015-0355-7

Plasma technology in metallurgical processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haile, O.

1995-12-31

This literature work is mainly focusing on the mechanisms of plasma technology and telling about metallurgical processing, particularly iron and steelmaking as well as the advantage of the unique properties of plasma. The main advantages of plasma technology in metallurgical operations is to direct utilization of naturally available raw materials and fuels without costly upgrading andlor beneficiation, improved environmental impact, improve process control, significant amplification of reactor and process equipment utilization and increased efficiency of raw materials, energy and man power. This literature survey is based on the publication `plasma technology in metallurgical processing` presents a comprehensive account of the physical, electrical, and mechanical aspects of plasma production and practical processing. The applications of plasma technology in metallurgical processing are covered in depth with special emphasis on developments in promising early stages. Plasma technology of today is mature in the metallurgical process applications. A few dramatic improvements are expected in the near future this giving an impetus to the technologists for the long range planning. (18 refs.) (author)

The structure and thermal properties of plasma-sprayed beryllium for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.G.; Bartlett, A.; Elliott, K.E.; Hollis, K.J.

1996-01-01

Plasma spraying is being studied for in situ repair of damaged Be and W plasma facing surfaces for ITER, the next generation magnetic fusion energy device, and is also being considered for fabricating Be and W plasma-facing components for the first wall of ITER. Investigators at LANL's Beryllium Atomization and Thermal Spray Facility have concentrated on investigating the structure-property relation between as-deposited microstructures of plasma sprayed Be coatings and resulting thermal properties. In this study, the effect of initial substrate temperature on resulting thermal diffusivity of Be coatings and the thermal diffusivity at the coating/Be substrate interface (interface thermal resistance) was investigated. Results show that initial Be substrate temperatures above 600 C can improve the thermal diffusivity of the Be coatings and minimize any thermal resistance at the interface between the Be coating and Be substrate

Analysis of the expanding thermal argon-oxygen plasma gas phase

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hest, van M.F.A.M.; Haartsen, J.R.; Weert, van M.H.M.; Schram, D.C.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.

2003-01-01

An expanding thermal argon plasma into which oxygen is injected has been analyzed by means of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements. Information is obtained on the ion d. profile and the flow pattern in the downstream plasma. A combination of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements provide information

Non-thermal plasma technology for the development of antimicrobial surfaces: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Nikiforov, Anton; Deng, Xiaolong; Xiong, Qing; Cvelbar, U.; DeGeyter, N.; Morent, R.; Leys, Christophe

2016-05-01

Antimicrobial coatings are in high demand in many fields including the biomaterials and healthcare sectors. Within recent progress in nanoscience and engineering at the nanoscale, preparation of nanocomposite films containing metal nanoparticles (such as silver nanoparticles, copper nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles) is becoming an important step in manufacturing biomaterials with high antimicrobial activity. Controlled release of antibiotic agents and eliminating free nanoparticles are of equal importance for engineering antimicrobial nanocomposite materials. Compared to traditional chemical ‘wet’ methods, plasma deposition and plasma polymerization are promising approaches for the fabrication of nanocomposite films with the advantages of gas phase dry processes, effective use of chemicals and applicability to various substrates. In this article, we present a short overview of state-of-the-art engineering of antimicrobial materials based on the use of non-thermal plasmas at low and atmospheric pressure.

Revisiting the thermal effect on shock wave propagation in weakly ionized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Qianhong; Dong, Zhiwei; Yang, Wei

2016-01-01

Many researchers have investigated shock propagation in weakly ionized plasmas and observed the following anomalous effects: shock acceleration, shock recovery, shock weakening, shock spreading, and splitting. It was generally accepted that the thermal effect can explain most of the experimental results. However, little attention was paid to the shock recovery. In this paper, the shock wave propagation in weakly ionized plasmas is studied by fluid simulation. It is found that the shock acceleration, weakening, and splitting appear after it enters the plasma (thermal) region. The shock splits into two parts right after it leaves the thermal region. The distance between the splitted shocks keeps decreasing until they recover to one. This paper can explain a whole set of features of the shock wave propagation in weakly ionized plasmas. It is also found that both the shock curvature and the splitting present the same photoacoustic deflection (PAD) signals, so they cannot be distinguished by the PAD experiments.

Investigation of non-thermal plasma effects on lung cancer cells within 3D collagen matrices

Science.gov (United States)

Karki, Surya B.; Thapa Gupta, Tripti; Yildirim-Ayan, Eda; Eisenmann, Kathryn M.; Ayan, Halim

2017-08-01

Recent breakthroughs in plasma medicine have identified a potential application for the non-thermal plasma in cancer therapy. Most studies on the effects of non-thermal plasma on cancer cells have used traditional two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture. However, very few studies are conducted employing non-thermal plasma in animal models. Two dimensional models do not fully mimic the three-dimensional (3D) tumor microenvironment and animal models are expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, we used 3D collagen matrices that closely resemble the native geometry of cancer tissues and provide more physiologically relevant results than 2D models, while providing a more cost effective and efficient precursor to animal studies. We previously demonstrated a role for non-thermal plasma application in promoting apoptotic cell death and reducing the viability of A549 lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells cultured upon 2D matrices. In this study, we wished to determine the efficacy of non-thermal plasma application in driving apoptotic cell death of A549 lung cancer cells encapsulated within a 3D collagen matrix. The percentage of apoptosis increased as treatment time increased and was time dependent. In addition, the anti-viability effect of plasma was demonstrated. Twenty-four hours post-plasma treatment, 38% and 99% of cell death occurred with shortest (15 s) and longest treatment time (120 s) respectively at the plasma-treated region. We found that plasma has a greater effect on the viability of A549 lung cancer cells on the superficial surface of 3D matrices and has diminishing effects as it penetrates the 3D matrix. We also identified the nitrogen and oxygen species generated by plasma and characterized their penetration in vertical and lateral directions within the 3D matrix from the center of the plasma-treated region. Therefore, the utility of non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma in driving apoptosis and reducing the viability of lung cancer cells

Investigation of non-thermal plasma effects on lung cancer cells within 3D collagen matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karki, Surya B; Gupta, Tripti Thapa; Yildirim-Ayan, Eda; Ayan, Halim; Eisenmann, Kathryn M

2017-01-01

Recent breakthroughs in plasma medicine have identified a potential application for the non-thermal plasma in cancer therapy. Most studies on the effects of non-thermal plasma on cancer cells have used traditional two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture. However, very few studies are conducted employing non-thermal plasma in animal models. Two dimensional models do not fully mimic the three-dimensional (3D) tumor microenvironment and animal models are expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, we used 3D collagen matrices that closely resemble the native geometry of cancer tissues and provide more physiologically relevant results than 2D models, while providing a more cost effective and efficient precursor to animal studies. We previously demonstrated a role for non-thermal plasma application in promoting apoptotic cell death and reducing the viability of A549 lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells cultured upon 2D matrices. In this study, we wished to determine the efficacy of non-thermal plasma application in driving apoptotic cell death of A549 lung cancer cells encapsulated within a 3D collagen matrix. The percentage of apoptosis increased as treatment time increased and was time dependent. In addition, the anti-viability effect of plasma was demonstrated. Twenty-four hours post-plasma treatment, 38% and 99% of cell death occurred with shortest (15 s) and longest treatment time (120 s) respectively at the plasma-treated region. We found that plasma has a greater effect on the viability of A549 lung cancer cells on the superficial surface of 3D matrices and has diminishing effects as it penetrates the 3D matrix. We also identified the nitrogen and oxygen species generated by plasma and characterized their penetration in vertical and lateral directions within the 3D matrix from the center of the plasma-treated region. Therefore, the utility of non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma in driving apoptosis and reducing the viability of lung cancer cells

RACLETTE: a model for evaluating the thermal response of plasma facing components to slow high power plasma transients. Part I: Theory and description of model capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Raffray, A. René; Federici, Gianfranco

1997-04-01

RACLETTE (Rate Analysis Code for pLasma Energy Transfer Transient Evaluation), a comprehensive but relatively simple and versatile model, was developed to help in the design analysis of plasma facing components (PFCs) under 'slow' high power transients, such as those associated with plasma vertical displacement events. The model includes all the key surface heat transfer processes such as evaporation, melting, and radiation, and their interaction with the PFC block thermal response and the coolant behaviour. This paper represents part I of two sister and complementary papers. It covers the model description, calibration and validation, and presents a number of parametric analyses shedding light on and identifying trends in the PFC armour block response to high plasma energy deposition transients. Parameters investigated include the plasma energy density and deposition time, the armour thickness and the presence of vapour shielding effects. Part II of the paper focuses on specific design analyses of ITER plasma facing components (divertor, limiter, primary first wall and baffle), including improvements in the thermal-hydraulic modeling required for better understanding the consequences of high energy deposition transients in particular for the ITER limiter case.

RACLETTE: a model for evaluating the thermal response of plasma facing components to slow high power plasma transients. Pt. I. Theory and description of model capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raffray, A.R.; Federici, G.

1997-01-01

For pt.II see ibid., p.101-30, 1997. RACLETTE (Rate Analysis Code for pLasma Energy Transfer Transient Evaluation), a comprehensive but relatively simple and versatile model, was developed to help in the design analysis of plasma facing components (PFCs) under 'slow' high power transients, such as those associated with plasma vertical displacement events. The model includes all the key surface heat transfer processes such as evaporation, melting, and radiation, and their interaction with the PFC block thermal response and the coolant behaviour. This paper represents part I of two sister and complementary papers. It covers the model description, calibration and validation, and presents a number of parametric analyses shedding light on and identifying trends in the PFC armour block response to high plasma energy deposition transients. Parameters investigated include the plasma energy density and deposition time, the armour thickness and the presence of vapour shielding effects. Part II of the paper focuses on specific design analyses of ITER plasma facing components (divertor, limiter, primary first wall and baffle), including improvements in the thermal-hydraulic modeling required for better understanding the consequences of high energy deposition transients in particular for the ITER limiter case. (orig.)

Thermal equilibrium of pure electron plasmas across a central region of magnetic surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Michael; Pedersen, Thomas Sunn

2009-06-01

Measurements of the equilibria of plasmas created by emission from a biased filament located off the magnetic axis in the Columbia Non-neutral Torus (CNT) [T. S. Pedersen, J. P. Kremer, R. G. Lefrancois et al., Fusion Sci. Technol. 50, 372 (2006)] show that such plasmas have equilibrium properties consistent with the inner surfaces being in a state of cross-surface thermal equilibrium. Numerical solutions to the equilibrium equation were used to fit the experimental data and demonstrate consistency with cross-surface thermal equilibrium. Previous experiments in CNT showed that constant temperatures across magnetic surfaces are characteristic of CNT plasmas, implying thermal confinement times much less than particle confinement times. These results show that when emitting off axis there is a volume of inner surfaces where diffusion into that region is balanced by outward transport, producing a Boltzmann distribution of electrons. When combined with the low thermal energy confinement time this is a cross-surface thermal equilibrium.

Thermal equilibrium of pure electron plasmas across a central region of magnetic surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, Michael; Pedersen, Thomas Sunn

2009-01-01

Measurements of the equilibria of plasmas created by emission from a biased filament located off the magnetic axis in the Columbia Non-neutral Torus (CNT) [T. S. Pedersen, J. P. Kremer, R. G. Lefrancois et al., Fusion Sci. Technol. 50, 372 (2006)] show that such plasmas have equilibrium properties consistent with the inner surfaces being in a state of cross-surface thermal equilibrium. Numerical solutions to the equilibrium equation were used to fit the experimental data and demonstrate consistency with cross-surface thermal equilibrium. Previous experiments in CNT showed that constant temperatures across magnetic surfaces are characteristic of CNT plasmas, implying thermal confinement times much less than particle confinement times. These results show that when emitting off axis there is a volume of inner surfaces where diffusion into that region is balanced by outward transport, producing a Boltzmann distribution of electrons. When combined with the low thermal energy confinement time this is a cross-surface thermal equilibrium.

Thermal conductivity reduction of tungsten plasma facing material due to helium plasma irradiation in PISCES using the improved 3-omega method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cui, Shuang [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Simmonds, Michael [Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Center for Energy Research, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Qin, Wenjing; Ren, Feng [School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072 (China); Tynan, George R. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Center for Energy Research, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Doerner, Russell P. [Center for Energy Research, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Chen, Renkun, E-mail: rkchen@ucsd.edu [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States); Center for Energy Research, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States)

2017-04-01

The near-surface region of plasma facing material (PFM) plays an important role in thermal management of fusion reactors. In this work, we measured thermal conductivity of tungsten (W) surface layers damaged by He plasma in PISCES at UCSD. We studied the damage effect on both bulk, and thin film, W. We observed that the surface morphology of both bulk and thin film was altered after exposure to He plasma with the fluence of 1 × 10{sup 26} m{sup −2} (bulk) and 2 × 10{sup 24} m{sup −2} (thin film). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis reveals that the depth of the irradiation damaged layer was approximately 20 nm on the bulk W exposed to He plasma at 773 K for 2000 s. In order to measure the thermal conductivity of this exceedingly thin damaged layer in the bulk W, we adopted the well-established ‘3-omega’ method and employed novel nanofabrication techniques to improve the measurement sensitivity. For the damaged W thin film sample, we measured the reduction in electrical conductivity and used the Wiedemann-Franz (W-F) law to extract the thermal conductivity. Results from both measurements show that thermal conductivity in the damaged layers was reduced by at least ∼80% compared to that of undamaged W. This large reduction in thermal conductivity can be attributed to the scattering of electrons, the dominant heat carriers in W, caused by defects introduced by He plasma irradiation.

Oscillatory processes in plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallin, E.

1980-01-01

The oscillatory process play an important part in plasma evolution, In hot plasma in particular, the interactions between the oscillation modes are preponderant in relation to the binary collisions between particles. The nonlineary interactions between collective plasma oscillations can generate, in this case, a non-balanced steady state of plasma (steady turbulence). The paper elucidates some aspects of the oscillatory phenomena which contribute to the plasma state evolution, especially of hot plasma. A major part of the paper is devoted to the study of parametric instabilities in plasma and their role in increasing the temperature of plasma components (electrons, ions). Both parametric instabilities in plasma in the vicinity of thermodynamic balance and parametric processes is steady turbulent plasma are analysed - in relation to additional heating of hot plasma. An important result of the thesis refers to the drowing-up of a non-lineary interaction model between the oscillation modes in turbulent plasma, being responsible for the electromagnetic radiation in hot plasma. On the basis of the model suggested in the paper the existence of a low frequency radiative mode in hot plasma in a turbulent state, can be demonstrated. Its frequency could be even lower than plasma frequency in the field of long waves be even lower than plasma frequency in the field of long waves. Such a radiative mode was detected experimentally in focussed plasma installations. (author)

Modification of vacuum plasma sprayed tungsten coating on reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels by friction stir processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanigawa, Hiroyasu; Ozawa, Kazumi; Morisada, Yoshiaki; Noh, Sanghoon; Fujii, Hidetoshi

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Friction stir processing (FSP) was applied on vacuum plasma spray (VPS) W to improve its low thermal conductivity and weakness due to high porosity. • FSP can achieve significant improvement both in mechanical and thermal properties of VPS-W coating. • It was indicated that the double pass FSP at 600 rpm/50 mm/min/2 ton on VPS-W show the most dense microstructure and hardest mechanical property. • Hardness test over FSPed VPS-W layer revealed that the hardness of W becomes higher than that of bulk W. • The thermal conductivity of double pass FSPed VPS-W was about 80% of bulk W at 200 °C, and it becomes equivalent to that of bulk W over 800 °C. - Abstract: Tungsten (W) is the primary candidate material as a plasma facing material in fusion devices, as for its high melting temperature, good thermal conductivity and low sputtering rate, and vacuum plasma spray (VPS) technique is preferred as it is applicable for large area without brittle interlayer, but the thermal conductivity of W layer is very poor, and easy to detach, mainly caused by its porous structure. W Friction stir processing (FSP) was applied on VPS-W to improve these poor properties, and it was suggested that FSP can contribute to significant improvement in both mechanical and thermal properties of the VPS-W coating.

Plasma processing: Technologies and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naddaf, M.; Saloum, S.

2005-01-01

This study aims to present the fundamentals of physics of plasmas, methods of generation, diagnostics, and applications for processing of materials. The first chapter defines plasma in general as well as its main parameters, the most important differential equations in plasma physics, and classifies the types of plasmas. the various methods and techniques to create and sustain plasma are presented in the second chapter. Chapter 3 focuses on plasma diagnostic methods and tools. While chapter 4 deals with applications of plasma processing such as; surface modification of materials, plasma ashing and etching, plasma cutting, and the environmental applications of plasma. Plasma polymerization and its various applications have been presented in more details in the last chapter. (Author)

Simulations of planar non-thermal plasma assisted ignition at atmospheric pressure

KAUST Repository

Casey, Tiernan A.; Han, Jie; Belhi, Memdouh; Arias, Paul G.; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Im, Hong G.; Chen, Jyh Yuan

2016-01-01

neutrals and ions to the non-thermal electrons. A two-temperature plasma mechanism describing gas phase combustion, excitation of neutral species, and high-energy electron kinetics is employed to account for non-thermal effects. Charged species transported

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.

Waste cell phone recycling by thermal plasma techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inaba, T.; Kunimoto, N.; Abe, S. [Chuo Univ., Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo (Japan). Dept. of Electrical, Electronics, and Communication Engineering; Li, O.L.; Chang, J.S.; Ruj, B. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). Faculty of Engineering

2010-07-01

Due to the cost-effective nature of wireless networks, the number of cell phones used around the world has increased significantly. However, a major problem of this technology is the generation of a great deal of complex electronics wastes, such as cell phones. The typical average life of a cell phone is around 2 years. Therefore, inexpensive recycling techniques must be developed for valuable resources such as real metals and plastics used in cell phones. Thermal plasma has been used for many different waste treatments since it has the capability to detoxify waste by-products. This paper presented a preliminary investigation for cell phone recycling by a thermal plasma technology. Recyclable resource material was identified by neutron activation analyses. Then, the cell phone waste was first crashed and treated by Ar twin torch plasmas to remove the majority of organic materials. The paper described the experimental apparatus and results. It was concluded that styrene (C{sub 8}H{sub 8}) and benzene (C{sub 6}H{sub 6}O) may be two major by-products in on-line by-products gas. The molecule becomes a much heavier by-product gas after cooling down. 6 refs., 6 figs.

Non-thermal Plasma Exposure Rapidly Attenuates Bacterial AHL-Dependent Quorum Sensing and Virulence

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Padrig B.; Busetti, Alessandro; Wielogorska, Ewa; Chevallier, Olivier P.; Elliott, Christopher T.; Laverty, Garry; Gorman, Sean P.; Graham, William G.; Gilmore, Brendan F.

2016-01-01

The antimicrobial activity of atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma has been exhaustively characterised, however elucidation of the interactions between biomolecules produced and utilised by bacteria and short plasma exposures are required for optimisation and clinical translation of cold plasma technology. This study characterizes the effects of non-thermal plasma exposure on acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-dependent quorum sensing (QS). Plasma exposure of AHLs reduced the ability of such molecules to elicit a QS response in bacterial reporter strains in a dose-dependent manner. Short exposures (30–60 s) produce of a series of secondary compounds capable of eliciting a QS response, followed by the complete loss of AHL-dependent signalling following longer exposures. UPLC-MS analysis confirmed the time-dependent degradation of AHL molecules and their conversion into a series of by-products. FT-IR analysis of plasma-exposed AHLs highlighted the appearance of an OH group. In vivo assessment of the exposure of AHLs to plasma was examined using a standard in vivo model. Lettuce leaves injected with the rhlI/lasI mutant PAO-MW1 alongside plasma treated N-butyryl-homoserine lactone and n-(3-oxo-dodecanoyl)-homoserine lactone, exhibited marked attenuation of virulence. This study highlights the capacity of atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma to modify and degrade AHL autoinducers thereby attenuating QS-dependent virulence in P. aeruginosa. PMID:27242335

Collisional processes in supersymmetric plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czajka, Alina; Mrowczynski, Stanislaw

2011-01-01

Collisional processes in ultrarelativistic N=1 supersymmetric QED plasma are studied and compared to those in an electromagnetic plasma of electrons, positrons and photons. Cross sections of all binary interactions which occur in the supersymmetric plasma at the order of e 4 are computed. Some processes, in particular, the Compton scattering on selectrons, appear to be independent of momentum transfer and thus they are qualitatively different from processes in an electromagnetic plasma. It suggests that the transport properties of the supersymmetric plasma are different than those of its nonsupersymmetric counterpart. Energy loss and momentum broadening of a particle traversing the supersymmetric plasma are discussed in detail and the characteristics are shown to be surprisingly similar to those of QED plasma.

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...

Investigations of a thermal plasma jet structure by generalized correlation dimension

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gruber, Jan; Hlína, Jan; Šonský, Jiří

2013-01-01

Roč. 46, č. 1 (2013), s. 1-8 ISSN 0022-3727 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509 Keywords : correlation dimension * turbulence * thermal plasma Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.521, year: 2013

Comparative analysis of turbulent effects on thermal plasma characteristics inside the plasma torches with rod- and well-type cathodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hur, Min; Hong, Sang Hee

2002-01-01

The thermal plasma characteristics inside the two non-transferred plasma torches with rod-type cathode (RTC) and well-type cathode (WTC) are analysed in conjunction with turbulent effects on them in the atmospheric-pressure conditions. A control volume method and a modified semi-implicit pressure linked equations revised algorithm are used for solving the governing equations, i.e. conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy together with a current continuity equation for arc discharge. A cold flow analysis is introduced to find the cathode spot position in the WTC torch, and both the laminar and turbulent models are employed to gain a physical insight into the turbulent effects on the thermal plasma characteristics produced inside the two torches. The numerical analysis for an RTC torch shows that slightly different values of plasma temperature and velocity between the laminar and turbulent calculations occur and the radial temperature profiles are constricted at the axis with increasing the gas flow rate, and that the large turbulent viscosities appear mostly near the anode wall. These calculated results indicate that the turbulent effects on the thermal plasma characteristics are very weak in the whole discharge region inside the RTC torch. On the other hand, the calculated results of the two numerical simulations for a WTC torch present that the significantly different values of plasma characteristics between the two models appear in the whole torch region and the plasma temperatures decrease with increasing the gas flow rate because the relatively strong turbulent effects are prevailing in the entire interior region of the WTC torch. From the comparisons of plasma net powers calculated and measured in this work, the turbulent modelling turns out to provide the more accurately calculated results close to the measured ones compared with the laminar one, especially for the torch with WTC. This is because the turbulent effects are considerably strong in

Plasma processes including electron beam for off-gases purification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chmielewski, A.G.; Witman, S.; Licki, J.

2011-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Non-thermal plasma technologies based on different methods of plasma generation are being applied for ozone generation for different applications, waste water and off-gases treatment. Plasmas create reactive species, in particular ions, radicals or other reactive compounds, which can decompose pollutant molecules, organic particulate matter or soot. Electron beam flue gas treatment is another plasma-based technology which has been successfully demonstrated on industrial scale coal fired power plants. High efficiency of SO 2 (> 95%) and NO x (> 70%) has been obtained and industrial plant applying this process has been built in Poland. The further investigations carried out all over the world have illustrated that the process can be applied for poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) destruction as well, and just recently research laboratories in the US and South Korea have reported in the feasibility of the process for mercury removal from the flue gas. The recent studies concern a new type of accelerators implementation in the industrial scale, application of the process in the high sulfur oil fired boilers and Diesel off - gases purification. The treatment of the flue gases with the high NOx concentration is a special challenge for the technology since the main energy consumption (and applied accelerators power) is related to this pollutant content in the processed off gases. The pulse beams and scavenger application can be a solution to reduce investment and operational costs. The further development of the technology is directly connected with high power accelerators development. Acknowledgement: The R and D activities are supported by the European Regional Development Found in the frame of the project PlasTEP 'Dissemination and fostering of plasma based technological innovation for environment protection in the Baltic Sea Region'.

Electrical conductivity of the thermal dusty plasma under the conditions of a hybrid plasma environment simulation facility

Science.gov (United States)

Zhukhovitskii, Dmitry I.; Petrov, Oleg F.; Hyde, Truell W.; Herdrich, Georg; Laufer, Rene; Dropmann, Michael; Matthews, Lorin S.

2015-05-01

We discuss the inductively heated plasma generator (IPG) facility in application to the generation of the thermal dusty plasma formed by the positively charged dust particles and the electrons emitted by them. We develop a theoretical model for the calculation of plasma electrical conductivity under typical conditions of the IPG. We show that the electrical conductivity of dusty plasma is defined by collisions with the neutral gas molecules and by the electron number density. The latter is calculated in the approximations of an ideal and strongly coupled particle system and in the regime of weak and strong screening of the particle charge. The maximum attainable electron number density and corresponding maximum plasma electrical conductivity prove to be independent of the particle emissivity. Analysis of available experiments is performed, in particular, of our recent experiment with plasma formed by the combustion products of a propane-air mixture and the CeO2 particles injected into it. A good correlation between the theory and experimental data points to the adequacy of our approach. Our main conclusion is that a level of the electrical conductivity due to the thermal ionization of the dust particles is sufficiently high to compete with that of the potassium-doped plasmas.

Yttria-stabilized zirkonia / gadolinium zirconate double-layer plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coating systems (TBCs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakan, Emine

2015-01-01

Thermal barrier coating (TBC) research and development is driven by the desirability of further increasing the maximum inlet temperature in a gas turbine engine. A number of new top coat ceramic materials have been proposed during the last decades due to limited temperature capability (1200 C) of the state-of-the-art yttria-stabilized zirconia (7 wt. % Y 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 , YSZ) at long term operation. Zirconate pyrochlores of the large lanthanides((Gd → La) 2 Zr 2 O 7 ) have been particularly attractive due to their higher temperature phase stability than that of the YSZ. Nonetheless, the issues related with the implementation of pyrochlores such as low fracture toughness and formation of deleterious interphases with thermally grown oxide (TGO, Al 2 O 3 ) were reported. The implication was the requirement of an interlayer between the pyrochlores and TGO, which introduced double-layer systems to the TBC literature. Furthermore, processability issues of pyrochlores associated with the different evaporation rates of lanthanide oxides and zirconia resulting in unfavorable composition variations in the coatings were addressed in different studies. After all, although the material properties are available, there is a paucity of data in the literature concerning the properties of the coatings made of pyrochlores. From the processability point of view the most reported pyrochlore is La 2 Zr 2 O 7 . Hence, the goal of this research was to investigate plasma-sprayed Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 (GZO) coatings and YSZ/GZO double-layer TBC systems. Three main topics were examined based on processing, performance and properties: (i) the plasma spray processing of the GZO and its impact on the microstructural and compositional properties of the GZO coatings; (ii) the cycling lifetime of the YSZ/GZO double-layer systems under thermal gradient at a surface temperature of 1400 C; (iii) the properties of the GZO and YSZ coatings such as thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion as well

Analysis of the flow structure of a turbulent thermal plasma jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spores, R.A.

1989-01-01

The goal of this research project is to attain a better understanding of the fluid mechanics associated with the high temperature jet of a thermal plasma torch. The analysis of a plasma, which has the ability to vaporize anything placed inside it without proper cooling, presents a unique research challenge. Several types of non-intrusive diagnostic techniques has been used to examine the jet from different perspectives. To actually map out the mean gas velocities and turbulence intensities throughout the jet, laser Doppler anemometry has been employed. The plasma gas and entrained air him been seeded separately in order to conditionally sample the two fluids and attain information about the gas mixing process. Both radial and axial turbulence levels have been measured in order to analyze the non-isotropic nature of the jet. A parabolic numerical code has been modified and compared with the obtained experimental results. A new diagnostic technique for plasma torches, which involves the spectral analysis of voltage, optical (temperature), and acoustical (pressure) fluctuations, has been implemented. The acoustical spectrum can provide information about the existence of coherent structures in the flow while the cross correlation of the acoustical signal with the voltage fluctuations can tell one to what extent perturbations of the internal arc affect the external flow. Since temperature is a scalar that is dependent on the flow field, observing temperature fluctuations can likewise help one to understand the mechanics of the flow. Flow visualization of the plasma jet using a high speed video camera has also been undertaken in order to better understand the entrainment process

Development of process maps for plasma spray: case study for molybdenum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sampath, S.; Jiang, X.; Kulkarni, A.; Matejicek, J.; Gilmore, D.L.; Neiser, R.A.

2003-01-01

A schematic representation referred to as 'process maps' examines the role of process variables on the properties of plasma-sprayed coatings. Process maps have been developed for air plasma spraying of molybdenum. Experimental work was done to investigate the importance of such spray parameters as gun current, primary gas flow, auxiliary gas flow, and powder carrier gas flow. In-flight particle temperatures and velocities were measured and diameters estimated in various areas of the spray plume. Empirical models were developed relating the input parameters to the in-flight particle characteristics. Molybdenum splats and coatings were produced at three distinct process conditions identified from the first-order process map experiments. In addition, substrate surface temperature during deposition was treated as a variable. Within the tested range, modulus, hardness and thermal conductivity increases with particle velocity, while oxygen content and porosity decreases. Increasing substrate deposition temperature resulted in dramatic improvement in coating thermal conductivity and modulus, while simultaneously increasing coating oxide content. Indentation reveals improved fracture resistance for the coatings prepared at higher substrate temperature. Residual stress was significantly affected by substrate temperature, although not to a great extent by particle conditions within the investigated parameter range. Coatings prepared at high substrate temperature with high-energy particles suffered considerably less damage in a wear test. The mechanisms behind these changes are discussed within the context relational maps, which have been proposed

Time-resolved tomographic measurements of temperatures in a thermal plasma jet

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hlína, Jan; Šonský, Jiří

2010-01-01

Roč. 43, č. 5 (2010), s. 1-9 ISSN 0022-3727 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509 Keywords : thermal plasma jet * optical diagnostics * temperature distribution Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.105, year: 2010

Evaluation of thermal and non-thermal processing effect on non-prebiotic and prebiotic acerola juices using 1H qNMR and GC-MS coupled to chemometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves Filho, Elenilson G; Silva, Lorena Mara A; de Brito, Edy S; Wurlitzer, Nedio Jair; Fernandes, Fabiano A N; Rabelo, Maria Cristiane; Fonteles, Thatyane V; Rodrigues, Sueli

2018-11-01

The effects of thermal (pasteurization and sterilization) and non-thermal (ultrasound and plasma) processing on the composition of prebiotic and non-prebiotic acerola juices were evaluated using NMR and GC-MS coupled to chemometrics. The increase in the amount of Vitamin C was the main feature observed after thermal processing, followed by malic acid, choline, trigonelline, and acetaldehyde. On the other hand, thermal processing increased the amount of 2-furoic acid, a degradation product from ascorbic acid, as well as influenced the decrease in the amount of esters and alcohols. In general, the non-thermal processing did not present relevant effect on juices composition. The addition of prebiotics (inulin and gluco-oligosaccharides) decreased the effect of processing on juices composition, which suggested a protective effect by microencapsulation. Therefore, chemometric evaluation of the 1 H qNMR and GC-MS dataset was suitable to follow changes in acerola juice under different processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial Dynamics of Coherent Structures in a Thermal Plasma Jet

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hlína, Jan; Sekerešová, Zuzana; Šonský, Jiří

2008-01-01

Roč. 36, č. 4 (2008), s. 1066-1067 ISSN 0093-3813 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA202/05/0728 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509 Keywords : charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera * coherent structure * thermal plasma jet * turbulence Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.447, year: 2008

Production of Sn/SnO2/MWCNT composites by plasma oxidation after thermal evaporation from pure Sn targets onto buckypapers.

Science.gov (United States)

Alaf, M; Gultekin, D; Akbulut, H

2012-12-01

In this study, tin/tinoxide/multi oxide/multi walled carbon nano tube (Sn/SnO2/MWCNT) composites were produced by thermal evaporation and then subsequent plasma oxidation. Buckypapers having controlled porosity were prepared by vacuum filtration from functionalized MWCNTs. Pure metallic tin was thermally evaporated on the buckypapers in argon atmosphere with different thicknesses. It was determined that the evaporated pure tin nano crystals were mechanically penetrated into pores of buckypaper to form a nanocomposite. The tin/MWCNT composites were subjected to plasma oxidation process at oxygen/argon gas mixture. Three different plasma oxidation times (30, 45 and 60 minutes) were used to investigate oxidation and physical and microstructural properties. The effect of coating thickness and oxidation time was investigated to understand the effect of process parameters on the Sn and SnO2 phases after plasma oxidation. Quantitative phase analysis was performed in order to determine the relative phase amounts. The structural properties were studied by field-emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

Atmospheric non-thermal argon-oxygen plasma for sunflower seedling growth improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Matra, Khanit

2018-01-01

Seedling growth enhancement of sunflower seeds by DC atmospheric non-thermal Ar-O2 plasma has been proposed. The plasma reactor was simply designed by the composition of multi-pin electrodes bonded on a solderable printed circuit board (PCB) anode. A stable plasma was exhibited in the non-periodical self-pulsing discharge mode during the seed treatment. The experimental results showed that non-thermal plasma treatment had a significant positive effect on the sunflower seeds. Ar-O2 mixed gas ratio, treatment time and power source voltage are the important parameters affecting growth stimulation of sunflower sprouts. In this research, the sunflower seeds treated with 3:3 liters per minute (LPM) of Ar-O2 plasma at a source voltage of 8 kV for 1 min showed the best results in stimulating the seedling growth. The results in this case showed that the dry weight and average shoot length of the sunflower sprouts were 1.79 and 2.69 times higher and heavier than those of the untreated seeds, respectively.

Spark Plasma Sintering constrained process parameters of sintered silver paste for connection in power electronic modules: Microstructure, mechanical and thermal properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alayli, N. [Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Propre de Recherche 3407, 99 avenue Jean Baptiste Clément, F-93430 Villetaneuse (France); Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris 06, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/INSU, Laboratoire Atmosphères Milieux Observations Spatiales-IPSL, Quartier des Garennes, 11 Boulevard d' Alembert, F-78280 Guyancourt (France); Schoenstein, F., E-mail: frederic.schoenstein@univ-paris13.fr [Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Propre de Recherche 3407, 99 avenue Jean Baptiste Clément, F-93430 Villetaneuse (France); Girard, A. [Office National d' Étude et de Recherches Aérospatiales, Laboratoire d' Étude des Microstructures, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 104, 29 avenue de la Division Leclerc, F-92322 Châtillon (France); and others

2014-11-14

Processing parameters of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique were constrained to process nano sized silver particles bound in a paste for interconnection in power electronic devices. A novel strategy combining debinding step and consolidation processes (SPS) in order to elaborate nano-structured silver bulk material is investigated. Optimum parameters were sought for industrial power electronics packaging from the microstructural and morphological properties of the sintered material. The latter was studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) to determine the density and the grain size of crystallites. Two types of samples, termed S1 (bulk) and S2 (multilayer) were elaborated and characterized. They are homogeneous with a low degree of porosity and a good adhesion to the substrate and the process parameters are compatible with industrial constraints. As the experimental results show, the mean crystallite size is between 60 nm and 790 nm with a density between 50% and 92% resulting in mechanical and thermal properties that are better than that of lead free solder. The best SPS sintering parameters, the applied pressure, the temperature and the processing time were determined as being 3 MPa, 300 °C and 1 min respectively when the desizing time of the preprocessing step was kept below 5 min at 150 °C. Using these processing parameters, acceptable for automotive packaging industry, a semi-conductor power chip was successfully connected to a metalized substrate by sintered silver with thermal and electrical properties better than those of current solders and with thermomechanical properties allowing absorption of thermoplastic stresses. - Highlights: • The sintered silver joints have nanometric structure. • The grain growth was controlled by the SPS sintering parameters. • New connection material improve thermal and electrical properties of current solders. • Interconnection's plastic strain can absorb thermo

A secondary fuel removal process: plasma processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Min, J Y; Kim, Y S [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Bae, K K; Yang, M S [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1997-07-01

Plasma etching process of UO{sub 2} by using fluorine containing gas plasma is studied as a secondary fuel removal process for DUPIC (Direct Use of PWR spent fuel Into Candu) process which is taken into consideration for potential future fuel cycle in Korea. CF{sub 4}/O{sub 2} gas mixture is chosen for reactant gas and the etching rates of UO{sub 2} by the gas plasma are investigated as functions of CF{sub 4}/O{sub 2} ratio, plasma power, substrate temperature, and plasma gas pressure. It is found that the optimum CF{sub 4}/O{sub 2} ratio is around 4:1 at all temperatures up to 400 deg C and the etching rate increases with increasing r.f. power and substrate temperature. Under 150W r.f. power the etching rate reaches 1100 monolayers/min at 400 deg C, which is equivalent to about 0.5mm/min. (author).

Influence of non-thermal plasma on structural and electrical properties of globular and nanostructured conductive polymer polypyrrole in water suspension.

Science.gov (United States)

Galář, Pavel; Khun, Josef; Kopecký, Dušan; Scholtz, Vladimír; Trchová, Miroslava; Fučíková, Anna; Jirešová, Jana; Fišer, Ladislav

2017-11-08

Non-thermal plasma has proved its benefits in medicine, plasma assisted polymerization, food industry and many other fields. Even though, the ability of non-thermal plasma to modify surface properties of various materials is generally known, only limited attention has been given to exploitations of this treatment on conductive polymers. Here, we show study of non-thermal plasma treatment on properties of globular and nanostructured polypyrrole in the distilled water. We observe that plasma presence over the suspension level doesn't change morphology of the polymer (shape), but significantly influences its elemental composition and physical properties. After 60 min of treatment, the relative concentration of chloride counter ions decreased approximately 3 and 4 times for nanostructured and globular form, respectively and concentration of oxygen increased approximately 3 times for both forms. Simultaneously, conductivity decrease (14 times for globular and 2 times for nanostructured one) and changes in zeta potential characteristics of both samples were observed. The modification evolution was dominated by multi-exponential function with time constants having values approximately 1 and 10 min for both samples. It is expected that these time constants are related to two modification processes connected to direct presence of the spark and to long-lived species generated by the plasma.

Thermal efficiency of a non-transferred thermal plasma cannon; Eficiencia termica de un canon de plasma termico no-transferido

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mercado, A; Cota, G; Merlo, L; Pacheco, J; Pena, R; Cruz, A [Instituto nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, A.P. 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

1997-07-01

This work shows a thermal efficiency research ({nu}) for a plasma torch in d.c. which was carried out through the realization of an energy balance around the system under consideration. The plasma torch is manufactured in copper with a tungsten incrustations in cathode. The gas used was argon and the gas fluxes were at the rank of 10 and 40 lt/min to the total pressure of 1.2 bar (1.1 atm). With these conditions it was worked with electric currents at the rank of 40 and 180 A. The data were collected through a data acquisition card which was programmed in Windows environment. (Author)

Thermal plasma treatment of stormwater sediments: comparison between DC non-transferred and partially transferred arc plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, O L; Guo, Y; Chang, J S; Saito, N

2015-01-01

The disposal of enormous amount of stormwater sediments becomes an emerging worldwide problem. Stormwater sediments are contaminated by heavy metals, phosphorus, trace organic and hydrocarbons, and cannot be disposed without treatment. Thermal plasma decontamination technology offers a high decomposition rate in a wide range of toxic organic compound and immobilization of heavy metal. In this study, we compared the treatment results between two different modes of thermal plasma: (1) a non-transferred direct current (DC) mode and (2) a partial DC-transferred mode. The reductions of total organic carbon (TOC) were, respectively, 25% and 80% for non-transferred and partially transferred plasma, respectively. Most of the toxic organic compounds were converted majorly to CxHy. In the gaseous emission, the accumulated CxHy, CO, NO and H2S were significantly higher in partially transferred mode than in non-transferred mode. The solid analysis demonstrated that the concentrations of Ca and Fe were enriched by 500% and 40%, respectively. New chemical compositions such as KAlSi3O8, Fe3O4, NaCl and CaSO4 were formed after treatment in partially DC-transferred mode. The power inputs were 1 and 10 kW, respectively, for non-transferred DC mode and a partially DC-transferred mode. With a lower energy input, non-transferred plasma treatment can be used for decontamination of sediments with low TOC and metal concentration. Meanwhile, partially transferred thermal plasma with higher energy input is suitable for treating sediments with high TOC percentage and volatile metal concentration. The organic compounds are converted into valuable gaseous products which can be recycled as an energy source.

The plasma physics of plasma processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shohet, L.

1991-01-01

Plasma processing is used for producing new materials with unusual and superior properties, for developing new chemical compounds and processes, for machining, and for altering and refining materials and surfaces. It has direct applications to semiconductor fabrication, materials synthesis, welding, lighting, polymers, anti-corrosion coatings, machine tools, metallurgy, electrical and electronics devices, hazardous waste removal, high performance ceramics, and many other items in both high-technology and the more traditional industries. Plasma processing takes on a wide variety of apparently different forms in industry, but the techniques share many common characteristics and problems. Control of the generation and flux of ions, electrons and free radicals in the plasma and their incidence on a surface is vital. Diagnostics, sensors, modeling techniques, and associated statistical methods are needed. However, without an in-depth understanding of the variety of phenomena taking place and their application to the industrial environment, advances in this technology, and its efficient use, will occur at a diminishing rate

Non-thermal plasma mills bacteria: scanning electron microscopy observations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lunov, Oleg; Churpita, Olexandr; Zablotskyy, Vitaliy A.; Deyneka, I.G.; Meshkovskii, I.K.; Jäger, Aleš; Syková, Eva; Kubinová, Šárka; Dejneka, Alexandr

2015-01-01

Roč. 106, č. 5 (2015), "053703-1"-"053703-5" ISSN 0003-6951 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LM2011029; GA MŠk(CZ) LM2011026; GA MŠk LO1309 Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) M100101219; SAFMAT(XE) CZ.2.16/3.1.00/22132 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 ; RVO:68378041 Keywords : non-thermal plasma * plasma medicine * bacteria * cells Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 3.142, year: 2015

Numerical study of divertor plasma transport with thermal force due to temperature gradient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohtsu, Shigeki; Tanaka, Satoru; Yamawaki, Michio

1992-01-01

A one-dimensional, steady state divertor plasma model is developed in order to study the carbon impurity transport phenomena considering thermal force. The divertor plasma is composed of four regions in terms of momentum transport between hydrogen and carbon impurity: Momentum transferring region, equilibrium region, hydrogen recycling region and carbon recycling region. In the equilibrium region where the friction force is counterbalanced by the thermal force, the localization of carbon impurity occurs. The sufficient condition to avoid the reverse of carbon velocity due to the thermal force is evaluated. (orig.)

Plasma processing and chemistry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schram, D.C.; Mullen, van der J.J.A.M.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.

1994-01-01

The growing field of applications of plasma as deposition, etching, surface modification and chemical conversion has stimulated a renewed interest in plasma science in the atomic physical chemistry regime. The necessity to optimize the various plasma processing techniques in terms of rates, and

Synthesis of cobalt boride nanoparticles using radio frequency thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lapitan, Jr. Lorico DS.; Ying Ying Chen; Seesoek Choe; Watanabe, Takayuki

2012-01-01

Nano size cobalt boride particles were synthesized from vapor phase using a 30 kw-4 MHz radio frequency (RF) thermal plasma. Cobalt and boron powder mixtures used as precursors in different composition and feed rate were evaporated immediately in the high temperature plasma and cobalt boride nanoparticles were produced through the quenching process. The x-ray diffractometry (XRD) patterns of cobalt boride nanoparticles prepared from the feed powder ratio of 1:2 and 1:3 for Co: B showed peaks that are associated with the Co 2 B and CoB crystal phases of cobalt boride. The XRD analysis revealed that increasing the powder feed rate results in a higher mass fraction and a larger crystalline diameter of cobalt boride nanoparticles. The images obtained by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) revealed that cobalt boride nanoparticles have a spherical morphology. The crystallite size of the particles estimated with XRD was found to be 18-22 nm. (author)

Fabrication of spherical high-nitrogen stainless steel powder alloys by mechanical alloying and thermal plasma spheroidization

Science.gov (United States)

Razumov, Nikolay G.; Wang, Qing Sheng; Popovich, Anatoly A.; Shamshurin, Aleksey I.

2018-04-01

This paper describes the results of experimental studies on the treatment of Fe-23Cr-11Mn-1N high-nitrogen stainless steel powder alloys, synthesized by the mechanical alloying (MA) of elemental powders in the flow of a radio frequency thermal plasma. The as-milled powder with irregular particles were successfully converted into spherical high-nitrogen stainless steel powder alloy. Measurement of the residual nitrogen content in the obtained powder, shown that during the plasma spheroidization process, part of the nitrogen escapes from the alloy.

Generation of Suprathermal Electrons by Collective Processes in Collisional Plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Tigik, S. F.; Ziebell, L. F.; Yoon, P. H.

2017-11-01

The ubiquity of high-energy tails in the charged particle velocity distribution functions (VDFs) observed in space plasmas suggests the existence of an underlying process responsible for taking a fraction of the charged particle population out of thermal equilibrium and redistributing it to suprathermal velocity and energy ranges. The present Letter focuses on a new and fundamental physical explanation for the origin of suprathermal electron velocity distribution function (EVDF) in a collisional plasma. This process involves a newly discovered electrostatic bremsstrahlung (EB) emission that is effective in a plasma in which binary collisions are present. The steady-state EVDF dictated by such a process corresponds to a Maxwellian core plus a quasi-inverse power-law tail, which is a feature commonly observed in many space plasma environments. In order to demonstrate this, the system of self-consistent particle- and wave-kinetic equations are numerically solved with an initially Maxwellian EVDF and Langmuir wave spectral intensity, which is a state that does not reflect the presence of EB process, and hence not in force balance. The EB term subsequently drives the system to a new force-balanced steady state. After a long integration period it is demonstrated that the initial Langmuir fluctuation spectrum is modified, which in turn distorts the initial Maxwellian EVDF into a VDF that resembles the said core-suprathermal VDF. Such a mechanism may thus be operative at the coronal source region, which is characterized by high collisionality.

Initial damage processes for diamond film exposure to hydrogen plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deslandes, A.; Guenette, M.C.; Samuell, C.M.; Karatchevtseva, I.; Ionescu, M.; Cohen, D.D.; Blackwell, B.; Corr, C.; Riley, D.P.

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: • Exposing chemical vapour deposited (CVD) diamond films in a recently constructed device, MAGPIE, specially commissioned to simulate fusion plasma conditions. • Non-diamond material is etched from the diamond. • There is no hydrogen retention observed, which suggests diamond is an excellent candidate for plasma facing materials. • Final structure of the surface is dependent on synergistic effects of etching and ion-induced structural change. -- Abstract: Diamond is considered to be a possible alternative to other carbon based materials as a plasma facing material in nuclear fusion devices due to its high thermal conductivity and resistance to chemical erosion. In this work CVD diamond films were exposed to hydrogen plasma in the MAGnetized Plasma Interaction Experiment (MAGPIE): a linear plasma device at the Australian National University which simulates plasma conditions relevant to nuclear fusion. Various negative sample stage biases of magnitude less than 500 V were applied to control the energies of impinging ions. Characterisation results from SEM, Raman spectroscopy and ERDA are presented. No measureable quantity of hydrogen retention was observed, this is either due to no incorporation of hydrogen into the diamond structure or due to initial incorporation as a hydrocarbon followed by subsequent etching back into the plasma. A model is presented for the initial stages of diamond erosion in fusion relevant hydrogen plasma that involves chemical erosion of non-diamond material from the surface by hydrogen radicals and damage to the subsurface region from energetic hydrogen ions. These results show that the initial damage processes in this plasma regime are comparable to previous studies of the fundamental processes as reported for less extreme plasma such as in the development of diamond films

Formation of polyhedral ceria nanoparticles with enhanced catalytic CO oxidation activity in thermal plasma via a hydrogen mediated shape control mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Jie; Zhang Yaohua; Song Xubo; Li Xingguo

2011-01-01

Ceria nanoparticles with well defined facets are prepared in argon–hydrogen thermal plasma followed by controlled oxidation. With increasing hydrogen fraction in the plasma, a clear sphere-to-polyhedron shape transition is observed. The heat released during the hydrogenation of cerium, which significantly enhances the species mobility on the surface, favors the growth of well defined facets. The polyhedron ceria nanoparticles, though lower in specific surface area, exhibit superior catalytic performance for CO oxidation over the round particles, which is attributed to the higher density of the reactive {200} and {220} facets on the surface. The hydrogen mediated shape control mechanism provides new insights into the shape control of nanoparticles during thermal plasma processing.

Plasma effects on the passive external thermal control coating of Space Station Freedom

Science.gov (United States)

Carruth, Ralph, Jr.; Vaughn, Jason A.; Holt, James M.; Werp, Richard; Sudduth, Richard D.

1992-01-01

The current baseline chromic acid anodized thermal control coating on 6061-T6 aluminum meteoroid debris (M/D) shields for SSF has been evaluated. The degradation of the solar absorptance, alpha, and the thermal emittance, epsilon, of chromic acid anodized aluminum due to dielectric breakdown in plasma was measured to predict the on-orbit lifetime of the SSF M/D shields. The lifetime of the thermal control coating was based on the surface temperatures achieved with degradation of the thermal control properties, alpha and epsilon. The temperatures of each M/D shield from first element launch (FEL) through FEL+15 years were analyzed. It is shown that the baseline thermal control coating cannot withstand the -140 V potential between the conductive structure of the SSF and the current plasma environment.

Process maps for plasma spray. Part II: Deposition and properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

XIANGYANG, JIANG; MATEJICEK, JIRI; KULKARNI, ANAND; HERMAN, HERBERT; SAMPATH, SANJAY; GILMORE, DELWYN L.; NEISER A, RICHARD Jr.

2000-01-01

This is the second paper of a two part series based on an integrated study carried out at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Sandia National Laboratories. The goal of the study is the fundamental understanding of the plasma-particle interaction, droplet/substrate interaction, deposit formation dynamics and microstructure development as well as the deposit property. The outcome is science-based relationships, which can be used to link processing to performance. Molybdenum splats and coatings produced at 3 plasma conditions and three substrate temperatures were characterized. It was found that there is a strong mechanical/thermal interaction between droplet and substrate, which builds up the coatings/substrate adhesion. Hardness, thermal conductivity, and modulus increase, while oxygen content and porosity decrease with increasing particle velocity. Increasing deposition temperature resulted in dramatic improvement in coating thermal conductivity and hardness as well as increase in coating oxygen content. Indentation reveals improved fracture resistance for the coatings prepared at higher deposition temperature. Residual stress was significantly affected by deposition temperature, although not significant by particle energy within the investigated parameter range. Coatings prepared at high deposition temperature with high-energy particles suffered considerably less damage in wear tests. Possible mechanisms behind these changes are discussed within the context of relational maps which are under development

Recent progress in the modelling of thermal plasma systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xi Chen

2002-01-01

Plasma flow and heat transfer in thermal plasma systems are often of three-dimensional (3-D) features and cannot be well studied by use of a two-dimensional modelling approach. 3-D modelling studies are recently performed in our group. It is found that appreciable 3-D effects exist within non-transferred DC arc plasma torches even for the case with axisymmetrical external conditions. The key for the successful 3-D modelling of the non-transferred arc plasma torch is that the anode-nozzle wall is included in the computational domain. The predicted results are favorably compared with experimental observation. 3-D modelling of the plasma jets with lateral injection of particulate matter and its carrier gas also reveals distinct 3-D effects with the injection velocity and the distance between the carrier-gas injection-tube tip and the jet edge as critical parameters. The 3-D effects appreciably influence the trajectories and heating histories of particles injected into the plasma jet. (author)

Role of process conditions on the microstructure, stoichiometry and functional performance of atmospheric plasma sprayed La(Sr)MnO3 coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Su Jung; Chen, Yikai; Sampath, Sanjay

2014-08-01

Strontium doped lanthanum manganite (LSM) perovskite coatings were produced via atmospheric plasma spray technique to examine their applicability as electrically conductive coatings to protect chromium-poisoning of cathode side metallic interconnects in solid oxide fuel cells. Various plasma spray process conditions were manipulated including plasma power, total gas flow and content of H2 in the plasma gas in order to understand their effects on coating properties as well as efficacy as a protectant against Cr-poisoning. In-flight temperatures and velocities of spray particles were monitored for the various plasma spray conditions enabling assessment of thermal and kinetic energies of LSM particles. As anticipated, coating density improves with increasing thermal and/or kinetic energies of the LSM particles. However, the LSM particles also experienced significant phase decomposition at higher thermal exposure and longer residence time conditions. Due to preferential loss of oxygen and manganese, La2O3 phase is also formed under certain processing regimes. The resultant mixed-phase coating is ineffective both from electrical transport and as a protective coating for the metallic interconnect. Concomitantly, coatings with limited decomposition show excellent conductivity and protection characteristics demonstrating the need for mechanism driven process optimization for these functional oxide coatings.

Practical Aspects of Suspension Plasma Spray for Thermal Barrier Coatings on Potential Gas Turbine Components

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, X.; Ruggiero, P.

2018-04-01

Suspension plasma spray (SPS) process has attracted extensive efforts and interests to produce fine-structured and functional coatings. In particular, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) applied by SPS process gain increasing interest due to its potential for superior thermal protection of gas turbine hot sections as compared to conventional TBCs. Unique columnar architectures and nano- and submicrometric grains in the SPS-TBC demonstrated some advantages of thermal shock durability, low thermal conductivity, erosion resistance and strain-tolerant microstructure. This work aimed to look into some practical aspects of SPS processing for TBC applications before it becomes a reliable industry method. The spray capability and applicability of SPS process to achieve uniformity thickness and microstructure on curved substrates were emphasized in designed spray trials to simulate the coating fabrication onto industrial turbine parts with complex configurations. The performances of the SPS-TBCs were tested in erosion, falling ballistic impact and indentational loading tests as to evaluate SPS-TBC performances in simulated turbine service conditions. Finally, a turbine blade was coated and sectioned to verify SPS sprayability in multiple critical sections. The SPS trials and test results demonstrated that SPS process is promising for innovative TBCs, but some challenges need to be addressed and resolved before it becomes an economic and capable industrial process, especially for complex turbine components.

Yttria-stabilized zirkonia / gadolinium zirconate double-layer plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coating systems (TBCs)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bakan, Emine

2015-07-01

Thermal barrier coating (TBC) research and development is driven by the desirability of further increasing the maximum inlet temperature in a gas turbine engine. A number of new top coat ceramic materials have been proposed during the last decades due to limited temperature capability (1200 C) of the state-of-the-art yttria-stabilized zirconia (7 wt. % Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}-ZrO{sub 2}, YSZ) at long term operation. Zirconate pyrochlores of the large lanthanides((Gd → La){sub 2}Zr{sub 2}O{sub 7}) have been particularly attractive due to their higher temperature phase stability than that of the YSZ. Nonetheless, the issues related with the implementation of pyrochlores such as low fracture toughness and formation of deleterious interphases with thermally grown oxide (TGO, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) were reported. The implication was the requirement of an interlayer between the pyrochlores and TGO, which introduced double-layer systems to the TBC literature. Furthermore, processability issues of pyrochlores associated with the different evaporation rates of lanthanide oxides and zirconia resulting in unfavorable composition variations in the coatings were addressed in different studies. After all, although the material properties are available, there is a paucity of data in the literature concerning the properties of the coatings made of pyrochlores. From the processability point of view the most reported pyrochlore is La{sub 2}Zr{sub 2}O{sub 7}. Hence, the goal of this research was to investigate plasma-sprayed Gd{sub 2}Zr{sub 2}O{sub 7} (GZO) coatings and YSZ/GZO double-layer TBC systems. Three main topics were examined based on processing, performance and properties: (i) the plasma spray processing of the GZO and its impact on the microstructural and compositional properties of the GZO coatings; (ii) the cycling lifetime of the YSZ/GZO double-layer systems under thermal gradient at a surface temperature of 1400 C; (iii) the properties of the GZO and YSZ coatings such as

Suitability of thermal plasmas for large-area bacteria inactivation on temperature-sensitive surfaces – first results with Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szulc, M; Schein, S; Schaup, J; Zimmermann, S; Schein, J

2017-01-01

The application of thermal plasma for large-area bacteria inactivation on temperature-sensitive surfaces is not a common one. Nonetheless, there are thermal plasma generators which offer a high sheath homogeneity and have proven to be suitable for treatment of thermally sensitive materials in the past. To investigate the suitability of such plasmas, agar dishes plated with endospores of Geobacillus stearothermophilus have been treated with a long arc plasma generator called LARGE. The achieved results have been compared with a commercially available non-thermal plasma generator. A significant inactivation of the endospores could be observed only after 60 s of treatment with the thermal plasma source. This was not possible with the non-thermal generator. Moreover, no temperature damage or increase of the specimen could be detected. An attempt to determine the main agents responsible for the microbicidal effects have been made – the influence of plasma gas composition, discharge current and treatment time has been investigated. Significant improvements in the disinfection rates after adding small amounts of nitrogen to the plasma gas could be observed. A first discussion regarding the suitability of thermal plasmas for bacteria inactivation has been given. (paper)

Rocket-borne thermal plasma instrument "MIPEX" for the ionosphere D, E layer in-situ measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, H. K.; Chen, A. B. C.; Lin, C. C. H.; Wu, T. J.; Liu, K. S.; Chuang, C. W.

2017-12-01

In this presentation, the design concepts, performances and status of a thermal plasma particle instrument package "Mesosphere and Ionosphere Plasma Exploration complex (MIPEX)", which is going to be installed onboard a NSPO-funded hybrid rocket, to investigate the electrodynamic processes in ionosphere D, E layers above Taiwan are reported. MIPEX is capable of measuring plasma characteristics including ion temperature, ion composition, ion drift, electron temperature and plasma density at densities as low as 1-10 cm-1. This instrument package consists of an improved retarding potential analyzer with a channel electron multiplier (CEM), a simplified ion drift meter and a planar Langmuir probe. To achieve the working atmospheric pressure of CEM at the height of lower D layer ( 70km), a portable vacuum pump is also placed in the package. A prototype set of the MIPEX has been developed and tested in the Space Plasma Operation Chamber (SPOC) at NCKU, where in ionospheric plasma is generated by back-diffusion plasma sources. A plasma density of 10-106 cm-1, ion temperature of 300-1500 K and electron temperature of 1000-3000K is measured and verified. Limited by the flight platform and the performance of the instruments, the in-situ plasma measurements at the Mesosphere and lower Thermosphere is very challenging and rare. MIPEX is capable of extending the altitude of the effective plasma measurement down to 70 km height and this experiment can provide unique high-quality data of the plasma environment to explore the ion distribution and the electrodynamic processes in the Ionosphere D, E layers at dusk.

Application of pulsed power and power modulation to the non-thermal plasma treatment of hazardous gaseous wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penetrante, B.M.

1992-10-01

Acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion, and smog are preeminent environmental problems facing the world today. Non-thermal plasma techniques offer an innovative approach to the cost-effective solution of these problems. Many potential applications of non-thermal plasmas to air pollution control have already been demonstrated. The use of pulsed power and power modulation is essential to the successful implementation of non-thermal plasma techniques. This paper provides an overview of the most recent developments in non-thermal plasma systems that have been applied to gaseous waste treatment. In the non-thermal plasma approach, the nonequilibrium properties of the plasma are fully exploited. These plasmas are characterized by high electron temperatures, while the gas remains at near ambient temperature and pressure. The energy is directed preferentially to the undesirable components, which are often present in very small concentrations. These techniques utilize the dissociation and ionization of the background gas to produce radicals which, in turn, decompose the toxic compounds. The key to success in the non-thermal plasma approach is to produce a discharge in which the majority of the electrical energy goes into the production of energetic electrons, rather than into gas heating. For example, in a typical application to flue gas cleanup, these electrons produce radicals, such as O and OH, through the dissociation or ionization of molecules such as H 2 O or O 2 . The radicals diffuse through the gas and preferentially oxidize the nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides to form acids that can then be easily neutralized to form non-toxic, easily-collectible (and commercially salable) compounds. Non-thermal plasmas can be created in essentially two different ways: by electron-beam irradiation, and by electrical discharges

The energy partitioning of non-thermal particles in a plasma: the Coulomb logarithm revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singleton, Robert L Jr; Brown, Lowell S

2008-01-01

The charged particle stopping power in a highly ionized and weakly to moderately coupled plasma has been calculated exactly to leading and next-to-leading accuracy in the plasma density by Brown, Preston and Singleton (BPS). Since the calculational techniques of BPS might be unfamiliar to some, and since the same methodology can also be used for other energy transport phenomena, we will review the main ideas behind the calculation. BPS used their stopping power calculation to derive a Fokker-Planck equation, also accurate to leading and next-to-leading orders, and we will also review this. We use this Fokker-Planck equation to compute the electron-ion energy partitioning of a charged particle traversing a plasma. The motivation for this application is ignition for inertial confinement fusion-more energy delivered to the ions means a better chance of ignition, and conversely. It is therefore important to calculate the fractional energy loss to electrons and ions as accurately as possible. One method by which one calculates the electron-ion energy splitting of a charged particle traversing a plasma involves integrating the stopping power dE/dx. However, as the charged particle slows down and becomes thermalized into the background plasma, this method of calculating the electron-ion energy splitting breaks down. As a result, it suffers a systematic error that may be as large as T/E 0 , where T is the plasma temperature and E 0 is the initial energy of the charged particle. The formalism presented here is designed to account for the thermalization process and it provides results that are near-exact.

Thermal fluctuations and critical behavior in a magnetized, anisotropic plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazeltine, R. D.; Mahajan, S. M.

2013-01-01

Thermal fluctuations in a magnetized, anisotropic plasma are studied by applying standard methods, based on the Einstein rule, to the known thermodynamic potential of the system. It is found in particular that magnetic fluctuations become critical when the anisotropy p ∥ −p ⊥ changes sign. By examining the critical region, additional insight on the equations of state for near-critical anisotropic plasma is obtained

Plasma processing of nanomaterials

CERN Document Server

Sankaran, R Mohan

2014-01-01

CRC Press author R. Mohan Sankaran is the winner of the 2011 Peter Mark Memorial Award "… for the development of a tandem plasma synthesis method to grow carbon nanotubes with unprecedented control over the nanotube properties and chirality." -2011 AVS Awards Committee"Readers who want to learn about how nanomaterials are processed, using the most recent methods, will benefit greatly from this book. It contains very recent technical details on plasma processing and synthesis methods used by current researchers developing new nano-based materials, with all the major plasma-based processing techniques used today being thoroughly discussed."-John J. Shea, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, May/June 2013, Vol. 29, No. 3.

Departures from thermal equilibrium in a dense Z-pinch plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neufeld, C.R.

1979-01-01

This paper presents on analysis of several features of the emission spectrum obtained from a dense hydrogen Z-pinch plasma. The spectrum is characterized by an extremely broad H/sub β/ line and by the absence of an emission line at the H/sub b/ wavelength. Comparison with theory shows that the spectrum is inconsistent with the assumption of a thermal or collision-dominated plasma. The assumption of a substantial overpopulation of the atomic-hydrogen excited levels, ascribed to a rising degree of plasma ionization, provides a satisfactory description of the observed spectrum. This result illustrates the difficulty of establishing valid equilibrium criteria for transient plasmas, even in the case of plasma densities as high as 10 19 cm -3

Use of emission spectroscopy as a tool for optimization of plasma hearth operation for hazardous waste thermal treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monts, D.L.; Bauman, L.E.; Lengel, R.K.; Wang, W.; Lin, J.; Cook, R.L.; Shepard, W.S.

1994-01-01

Thermal processing of mixed wastes by plasma hearth vitrification requires optimization of and continuous monitoring of plasma hearth operation. A series of investigations utilizing emission spectroscopy has been initiated to characterize the plasma of a 96 kW plasma hearth in order to determine optimum conditions for monitoring and hence controlling plasma hearth performance. The plasma hearth test stand is based upon a 96 kW, transferred arc plasma torch. The torch is mounted in a vacuum vessel through an electrically operated XYZ Gimbal mount. The peak operating power depends on the gas used for the plasma. The operational limits for DC voltage are 180 V to 550 V; and the current is operated at a constant value, selectable in the range from 72 to 200 amps. The plasma arc length can be varied from 2.5 cm to 25 cm, and is dependent on the supply voltage and the process gas used. The arc current and voltage, gas pressure, cooling water flow, and cooling water temperature are monitored and stored by a PC-based data acquisition system. Five optical ports are available for making optical diagnostic measurements

Theoretical investigation of thermophysical properties in two-temperature argon-helium thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Rohit; Singh, Kuldip; Singh, Gurpreet

2011-01-01

The thermophysical properties of argon-helium thermal plasma have been studied in the temperature range from 5000 to 40 000 K at atmospheric pressure in local thermodynamic equilibrium and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. Two cases of thermal plasma considered are (i) ground state plasma in which all the atoms and ions are assumed to be in the ground state and (ii) excited state plasma in which atoms and ions are distributed over various possible excited states. The influence of electronic excitation and non-equilibrium parameter θ = T e /T h on thermodynamic properties (composition, degree of ionization, Debye length, enthalpy, and total specific heat) and transport properties (electrical conductivity, electron thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusion ratio) have been studied. Within the framework of Chapman-Enskog method, the higher-order contributions to transport coefficient and their convergence are studied. The influence of different molar compositions of argon-helium plasma mixture on convergence of higher-orders is investigated. Furthermore, the effect of different definitions of Debye length has also been examined for electrical conductivity and it is observed that electrical conductivity with the definition of Debye length (in which only electrons participate in screening) is less than that of the another definition (in which both the electrons and ions participate in screening) and this deviation increases with electron temperature. Finally, the effect of lowering of ionization energy is examined on electron number density, Debye length, and higher-order contribution to electrical conductivity. It is observed that the lowering of the ionization energy affects the electron transport-properties and consequently their higher-order contributions depending upon the value of the non-equilibrium parameter θ.

Aspects of plasma arc cutting process in the AISI 321 type stainless steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza Barros, I. de.

1985-01-01

Some aspects of plasma arc cutting process in the AISI321 stainless steel, used in nuclear industry, are analysed. The maximum values of the velocity of cutting and, the minimum quantity of energy per unit of length necesary for the plasma were determined. The localization of irregularities in the cut surface in function of the velocity of cutting was investigated. The cut surfaces were evaluated by surface roughness, using as measurement parameter, the distance between the sharpest salience and the deepest reentrance of the sample profile. The width of layer from thermal action of the plasma was influenced by the velocity of cutting. (Author) [pt

Strongly coupled Coulomb systems with positive dust grains: thermal and UV-induced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samarian, A.A.

2000-01-01

Full text: A plasma containing macroscopic dust particles or grains (often referred to as a dusty or colloidal or complex plasma) has the feature that grains may be charged by electron or ion flux or by photo- or thermoelectron emission. Electron emission from a grain surface produces a positive charge; capture of electrons produces the reverse effect making the dust grains negatively charged. Most dusty plasma research is concerned with the ordered dust structures (so-called 'plasma crystal') in glow discharges. The dust grains in these experiments were found to carry a negative charge due to the higher mobility of electrons as compared to ions in the discharge plasma. In recent years, in parallel with the study of the properties of plasma crystals under discharge conditions, attempts to obtain a structure from positively charged dust grains have been made, and structure formation processes for various charging mechanisms, particularly thermoelectron emission and photoemission, have been investigated. In this paper we review the essential features of strongly coupled plasmas with positive dust grains. An ordered structure of CeO 2 grains has been experimentally observed in a combustion products jet. The grains were charged positively and suspended in the plasma flow. Their charge is about 10 3 a and the calculated value of a Coulomb coupling parameter Γ is >10, corresponding to a plasma liquid. The ordered structures of Al 2 O 3 dust grains in propellant combustion products plasma have been observed for the first time. These structures were found in the sheath boundary of condensation region. The obtained data let us estimate the value of parameter Γ =3-40, corresponding to the plasma liquid state. The possibility is studied of the formation of ordered dust grain structures in thermal plasma. The range of the required values of the coupling parameter Γ is calculated using the results of diagnostic measurements carried out in thermal plasma with grains of

Development of twin cannons of thermal plasma; Desarrollo de canones gemelos de plasma termico.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pena E, R [Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

1997-12-31

Today several service and transformation industries that generate hazardous wastes must implement programs in order to fulfill with requirements established by the present standardization. This problem is solved here for proposing the design and construction of a thermal plasma transferred torch with double cannon which is generated by an electric arc with a capacity of 50 k W, a regulable gas flow from 0-50 lt./min and thermal yield higher than 85 %. This equipment would be capable for degradating industrial and hospital wastes. (Author).

Thermal fluctuation levels of magnetic and electric fields in unmagnetized plasma: The rigorous relativistic kinetic theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, P. H.; Schlickeiser, R.; Kolberg, U.

2014-01-01

Any fully ionized collisionless plasma with finite random particle velocities contains electric and magnetic field fluctuations. The fluctuations can be of three different types: weakly damped, weakly propagating, or aperiodic. The kinetics of these fluctuations in general unmagnetized plasmas, governed by the competition of spontaneous emission, absorption, and stimulated emission processes, is investigated, extending the well-known results for weakly damped fluctuations. The generalized Kirchhoff radiation law for both collective and noncollective fluctuations is derived, which in stationary plasmas provides the equilibrium energy densities of electromagnetic fluctuations by the ratio of the respective spontaneous emission coefficient and the true absorption coefficient. As an illustrative example, the equilibrium energy densities of aperiodic transverse collective electric and magnetic fluctuations in an isotropic thermal electron-proton plasmas of density n e are calculated as |δB|=√((δB) 2 )=2.8(n e m e c 2 ) 1/2 g 1/2 β e 7/4 and |δE|=√((δE) 2 )=3.2(n e m e c 2 ) 1/2 g 1/3 β e 2 , where g and β e denote the plasma parameter and the thermal electron velocity in units of the speed of light, respectively. For densities and temperatures of the reionized early intergalactic medium, |δB|=6·10 −18 G and |δE|=2·10 −16 G result

Spectroscopic diagnostics of industrial plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joshi, N.K.

2004-01-01

Plasmas play key role in modern industry and are being used for processing micro electronic circuits to the destruction of toxic waste. Characterization of industrial plasmas which includes both 'thermal plasmas' and non-equilibrium plasmas or 'cold plasmas' in industrial environment offers quite a challenge. Numerous diagnostic techniques have been developed for the measurement of these partially ionized plasma and/or particulate parameters. The 'simple' non-invasive spectroscopic methods for characterization of industrial plasmas will be discussed in detail in this paper. The excitation temperature in thermal (DC/RF) plasma jets has been determined using atomic Boltzmann technique. The central axis temperature of thermal plasma jets in a spray torch can be determined using modified atomic Boltzmann technique with out using Abel inversion. The Stark broadening of H β and Ar-I (430 nm) lines have been used to determine the electron number density in thermal plasma jets. In low-pressure non-equilibrium argon plasma, electron temperature has been measured using the Corona model from the ratio of line intensities of atomic and ionic transitions. (author)

Application of a plasma-jet for skin antisepsis: analysis of the thermal action of the plasma by laser scanning microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lademann, O; Kramer, A; Richter, H; Patzelt, A; Alborova, A; Humme, D; Weltmann, K-D; Hartmann, B; Hinz, P; Koch, S

2010-01-01

Recently, it was reported that a plasma-jet could be efficiently applied for the antisepsis of wounds. In this case, the discharge in an argon gas stream was used to produce a so-called ''cold plasma'' on the skin surface. The thermal action of the plasma on the skin was investigated in the present study by means of laser scanning microscopy (LSM) and by histological analysis. Consequently, the plasma beam was moved with a definite velocity at an optimal distance over the skin surface. The structural changes of the tissue were analyzed. It was found by LSM that a thermal damage could be detected only in the upper cell layers of the stratum corneum (SC) at moving velocities of the plasma beam, usually applied in clinical practice. Deeper parts of the SC were not damaged. The structural changes were so superficial that they could be detected only by LSM but not by analysis of the histological sections

Rapid thermal processing and beyond applications in semiconductor processing

CERN Document Server

Lerch, W

2008-01-01

Heat-treatment and thermal annealing are very common processing steps which have been employed during semiconductor manufacturing right from the beginning of integrated circuit technology. In order to minimize undesired diffusion, and other thermal budget-dependent effects, the trend has been to reduce the annealing time sharply by switching from standard furnace batch-processing (involving several hours or even days), to rapid thermal processing involving soaking times of just a few seconds. This transition from thermal equilibrium, to highly non-equilibrium, processing was very challenging a

Kinetic and radiation processes in cluster plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smirnov, B.M.

1996-01-01

The analysis of processes is made for a cluster plasma which is a xenon arc plasma of a high pressure with an admixture of tungsten cluster ions. Because cluster ions emit radiation, this system is a light source which parameters are determined by various processes such as heat release and transport of charged particles in the plasma, radiative processes involving clusters, processes of cluster evaporation and attachment of atoms to it that leads to an equilibrium between clusters and vapor of their atoms, processes of cluster generation, processes of the ionization equilibrium between cluster ions and plasma electrons, transport of cluster ions in the discharge plasma in all directions. These processes govern by properties of a specific cluster plasma under consideration. (author)

Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide under plasma DBD process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amouroux, Jacques; Cavadias, Simeon

2017-01-01

Carbon dioxide can be converted, by reaction with hydrogen, into fine chemicals and liquid fuels such as methanol and DME. Methane production by the Sabatier reaction opens the way of carbon recycling for a circular economy of carbon resources. The catalytic process of methanation of carbon dioxide produces two molecules of water as a by-product. A current limitation in the CO 2 methanation is the ageing of catalysts, mainly due to water adsorption during the process. To avoid this adsorption, the process is operated at high temperature (300 °C–400 °C), leading to carbon deposition on the catalyst and its deactivation. To overcome this problem, a methanation plasma-catalytic process has been developed, which achieves high CO 2 conversion rate (80%), and a selectivity close to 100%, working from room temperature to 150 °C, instead of 300 °C–400 °C for the thermal catalytic process. The main characteristics of this process are high-voltage pulses of few nanoseconds duration, activating the adsorption of CO 2 in bent configuration and the polarization of the catalyst. The key step in this process is the desorption of water from the polarized catalyst. The high CO 2 conversion at low temperature could be explained by the creation of a plasma inside the nanopores of the catalyst. (paper)

Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide under plasma DBD process

Science.gov (United States)

Amouroux, Jacques; Cavadias, Simeon

2017-11-01

Carbon dioxide can be converted, by reaction with hydrogen, into fine chemicals and liquid fuels such as methanol and DME. Methane production by the Sabatier reaction opens the way of carbon recycling for a circular economy of carbon resources. The catalytic process of methanation of carbon dioxide produces two molecules of water as a by-product. A current limitation in the CO2 methanation is the ageing of catalysts, mainly due to water adsorption during the process. To avoid this adsorption, the process is operated at high temperature (300 °C-400 °C), leading to carbon deposition on the catalyst and its deactivation. To overcome this problem, a methanation plasma-catalytic process has been developed, which achieves high CO2 conversion rate (80%), and a selectivity close to 100%, working from room temperature to 150 °C, instead of 300 °C-400 °C for the thermal catalytic process. The main characteristics of this process are high-voltage pulses of few nanoseconds duration, activating the adsorption of CO2 in bent configuration and the polarization of the catalyst. The key step in this process is the desorption of water from the polarized catalyst. The high CO2 conversion at low temperature could be explained by the creation of a plasma inside the nanopores of the catalyst.

A numerical model of non-equilibrium thermal plasmas. I. Transport properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang XiaoNing; Xia WeiDong [Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui Province 230026 (China); Li HePing [Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Murphy, Anthony B. [CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, PO Box 218, Lindfield NSW 2070 (Australia)

2013-03-15

A self-consistent and complete numerical model for investigating the fundamental processes in a non-equilibrium thermal plasma system consists of the governing equations and the corresponding physical properties of the plasmas. In this paper, a new kinetic theory of the transport properties of two-temperature (2-T) plasmas, based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation using a modified Chapman-Enskog method, is presented. This work is motivated by the large discrepancies between the theories for the calculation of the transport properties of 2-T plasmas proposed by different authors in previous publications. In the present paper, the coupling between electrons and heavy species is taken into account, but reasonable simplifications are adopted, based on the physical fact that m{sub e}/m{sub h} Much-Less-Than 1, where m{sub e} and m{sub h} are, respectively, the masses of electrons and heavy species. A new set of formulas for the transport coefficients of 2-T plasmas is obtained. The new theory has important physical and practical advantages over previous approaches. In particular, the diffusion coefficients are complete and satisfy the mass conversation law due to the consideration of the coupling between electrons and heavy species. Moreover, this essential requirement is satisfied without increasing the complexity of the transport coefficient formulas. Expressions for the 2-T combined diffusion coefficients are obtained. The expressions for the transport coefficients can be reduced to the corresponding well-established expressions for plasmas in local thermodynamic equilibrium for the case in which the electron and heavy-species temperatures are equal.

A numerical model of non-equilibrium thermal plasmas. I. Transport properties

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao-Ning; Li, He-Ping; Murphy, Anthony B.; Xia, Wei-Dong

2013-03-01

A self-consistent and complete numerical model for investigating the fundamental processes in a non-equilibrium thermal plasma system consists of the governing equations and the corresponding physical properties of the plasmas. In this paper, a new kinetic theory of the transport properties of two-temperature (2-T) plasmas, based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation using a modified Chapman-Enskog method, is presented. This work is motivated by the large discrepancies between the theories for the calculation of the transport properties of 2-T plasmas proposed by different authors in previous publications. In the present paper, the coupling between electrons and heavy species is taken into account, but reasonable simplifications are adopted, based on the physical fact that me/mh ≪ 1, where me and mh are, respectively, the masses of electrons and heavy species. A new set of formulas for the transport coefficients of 2-T plasmas is obtained. The new theory has important physical and practical advantages over previous approaches. In particular, the diffusion coefficients are complete and satisfy the mass conversation law due to the consideration of the coupling between electrons and heavy species. Moreover, this essential requirement is satisfied without increasing the complexity of the transport coefficient formulas. Expressions for the 2-T combined diffusion coefficients are obtained. The expressions for the transport coefficients can be reduced to the corresponding well-established expressions for plasmas in local thermodynamic equilibrium for the case in which the electron and heavy-species temperatures are equal.

Mechanisms of dust grain charging in plasma with allowance for electron emission processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mol’kov, S. I.; Savin, V. N., E-mail: moped@onego.ru [Petrozavodsk State University (Russian Federation)

2017-02-15

The process of dust grain charging is described with allowance for secondary, ion-induced, photoelectric, and thermal electron emission from the grain surface. The roughness of the grain surface is taken into account. An intermediate charging regime involving ion–atom collisions and electron ionization in the perturbed plasma region is analyzed using the moment equations and Poisson’s equation. A calculation method is proposed that allows one to take into account the influence of all the above effects and determine the radius of the plasma region perturbed by the dust grain.

Development of non-thermal plasma jet and its potential application for color degradation of organic pollutant in wastewater treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Pirdo Kasih, Tota; Kharisma, Angel; Perdana, Muhammad Kevin; Murphiyanto, Richard Dimas Julian

2017-12-01

This paper presents the development of non-thermal plasma-based AOPs for color degradation in wastewater treatment. The plasma itself was generated by an in-house high voltage power supply (HVPS). Instead of gas-phase plasma system, we applied plasma jet system underwater during wastewater treatment without additional any chemicals (chemical-free processing). The method is thought to maximize the energy transfer and increase the efficient interaction between plasma and solution during the process. Our plasma jet system could proceed either by using helium (He), argon (Ar) and air as the medium in an open air atmosphere. Exploring the developed plasma to be applied in organic wastewater treatment, we demonstrated that the plasma jet could be generated underwater and yields in color degradation of methylene blue (MB) wastewater model. When using Ar gas as a medium, the color degradation of MB could be achieved within 90 minutes. Whereas, by using Ar with an admixing of oxygen (O2) gas, the similar result could be accomplished within 60 minutes. Additional O2 gas in the latter might produce more hydroxyl radicals and oxygen-based species which speed up the oxidative reaction with organic pollutants, and hence accelerate the process of color degradation.

Porous materials produced from incineration ash using thermal plasma technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Sheng-Fu; Chiu, Wen-Tung; Wang, To-Mai; Chen, Ching-Ting; Tzeng, Chin-Ching

2014-06-01

This study presents a novel thermal plasma melting technique for neutralizing and recycling municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) ash residues. MSWI ash residues were converted into water-quenched vitrified slag using plasma vitrification, which is environmentally benign. Slag is adopted as a raw material in producing porous materials for architectural and decorative applications, eliminating the problem of its disposal. Porous materials are produced using water-quenched vitrified slag with Portland cement and foaming agent. The true density, bulk density, porosity and water absorption ratio of the foamed specimens are studied here by varying the size of the slag particles, the water-to-solid ratio, and the ratio of the weights of the core materials, including the water-quenched vitrified slag and cement. The thermal conductivity and flexural strength of porous panels are also determined. The experimental results show the bulk density and the porosity of the porous materials are 0.9-1.2 g cm(-3) and 50-60%, respectively, and the pore structure has a closed form. The thermal conductivity of the porous material is 0.1946 W m(-1) K(-1). Therefore, the slag composite materials are lightweight and thermal insulators having considerable potential for building applications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal consequences of plasma disruptions in TFTR and ETF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budny, R.; Ludescher, C.

1981-01-01

We studied thermal responses of first walls for TFTR and ETF during plasma disruptions. To model the flux, we assumed the entire kinetic energy is deposited by axisymmetric horizontal displacement of the plasma. The deposition time is a free parameter. In TFTR, the minimum deposition time which does not cause the toroidal limiter to melt is 7 or 14 ms depending on whether or not the limiter is actively cooled. In ETF, the minimum time which does not cause surface melting of the cooling tubes is 80 ms. (author)

Dynamic plasma screening effects on atomic collisions in dense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young-Dae Jung

1999-01-01

Dynamic plasma screening effects are investigated on electron-ion collisional excitation and Coulomb Bremsstrahlung processes in dense plasmas. The electron-ion interaction potential is considered by introduction of the plasma dielectric function. The straight-ling trajectory method is applied to the path of the projectile electron. The transition probability including the dynamic plasma screening effect is found to be always greater than that including the static plasma screening effects. It is found that the differential Bremsstrahlung radiation cross section including the dynamic plasma screening effect is also greater than that including the static plasma screening effect. When the projectile velocity is smaller than the electron thermal velocity, the dynamic polarization screening effect becomes the static plasma screening effect. However, when the projectile velocity is greater than the electron thermal velocity, the interaction potential is almost unshielded

Thermal responses of tokamak reactor first walls during cyclic plasma burns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.; Charak, I.

1978-01-01

The CINDA-3G computer code has been adapted to analyze the thermal responses and operating limitations of two fusion reactor first-wall concepts under normal cyclic operation. A component of an LMFBR computer code has been modified and adapted to analyze the ablative behavior of first-walls after a plasma disruption. The first-wall design concepts considered are a forced-circulation water-cooled stainless steel panel with and without a monolithic graphite liner. The thermal gradients in the metal wall and liner have been determined for several burn-cycle scenarios and the extent of surface ablation that results from a plasma disruption has been determined for stainless steel and graphite first surfaces

Thermal responses of tokamak reactor first walls during cyclic plasma burns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.; Charak, I.

1977-01-01

The CINDA-3G computer code has been adapted to analyze the thermal responses and operating limitations of two fusion reactor first-wall concepts under normal cyclic operation. A component of an LMFBR computer has been modified and adapted to analyze the ablative behavior of first-walls after a plasma disruption. The first-wall design concepts considered are a forced-circulation water-cooled stainless steel panel with and without a monolithic graphite liner. The thermal gradients in the metal wall and liner have been determined for several burn-cycle scenarios and the extent of surface ablation that results from a plasma disruption has been determined for stainless steel and graphite first surfaces

Thermophysical Properties of Cold and Vacuum Plasma Sprayed Cu-Cr-X Alloys, NiAl and NiCrAlY Coatings. Part 1; Electrical and Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Diffusivity, and Total Hemispherical Emissivity

Science.gov (United States)

Raj, S. V.

2017-01-01

This two-part paper reports the thermophysical properties of several cold and vacuum plasma sprayed monolithic Cu and Ni-based alloy coatings. Part I presents the electrical and thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and total hemispherical emissivity data while Part II reports the specific heat capacity data for these coatings. Metallic copper alloys, stoichiometric NiAl and NiCrAlY coatings were fabricated by either the cold sprayed or the vacuum plasma spray deposition processes for thermal property measurements between 77 and 1223 K. The temperature dependencies of the thermal conductivities, thermal diffusivities, electrical conductivities and total hemispherical emissivities of these cold and vacuum sprayed monolithic coatings are reported in this paper. The electrical and thermal conductivity data correlate reasonably well for Cu-8%Cr-1%Al, Cu-23%Cr-5%Al and NiAl in accordance with the Wiedemann-Franz (WF) law although a better fit is obtained using the Smith-Palmer relationship. The Lorentz numbers determined from the WF law are close to the theoretical value.

Physical processes in hot cosmic plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabian, A.G.; Giovannelli, F.

1990-01-01

The interpretation of many high energy astrophysical phenomena relies on a detailed knowledge of radiation and transport processes in hot plasmas. The understanding of these plasma properties is one of the aims of terrestrial plasma physics. While the microscopic properties of astrophysical plasmas can hardly be determined experimentally, laboratory plasmas are more easily accessible to experimental techniques, but transient phenomena and the interaction of the plasma with boundaries often make the interpretation of measurements cumbersome. This book contains the talks given at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on astro- and plasma-physics in Vulcano, Sicily, May 29-June 2, 1989. The book focuses on three main areas: radiation transport processes in hot (astrophysical and laboratory) plasmas; magnetic fields; their generation, reconnection and their effects on plasma transport properties; relativistic and ultra-high density plasmas

Treatment of the oily waste sludges through thermal plasma in absence of oxygen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castaneda J, G.; Pacheco S, J.

2001-01-01

The thermal plasma process in absence of oxygen for the degradation of oily waste sludges was evaluated. These residues are commonly generated in the petrochemical industry and are considered hazardous wastes according to the present environmental regulations. The process was operated using difference residence times and the characteristics of the gaseous by products and residual soils were determined. The efficiency of organic matter degradation was 99.99%. The attained volume reduction, under the best conditions was 95.5%. The residual soils were composed of carbon and clays. The residual gases have low molecular weight. The resulting final wastes were non-hazardous and could be disposed of in landfills. (Author)

Plasma and process characterization of high power magnetron physical vapor deposition with integrated plasma equipment--feature profile model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Da; Stout, Phillip J.; Ventzek, Peter L.G.

2003-01-01

High power magnetron physical vapor deposition (HPM-PVD) has recently emerged for metal deposition into deep submicron features in state of the art integrated circuit fabrication. However, the plasma characteristics and process mechanism are not well known. An integrated plasma equipment-feature profile modeling infrastructure has therefore been developed for HPM-PVD deposition, and it has been applied to simulating copper seed deposition with an Ar background gas for damascene metalization. The equipment scale model is based on the hybrid plasma equipment model [M. Grapperhaus et al., J. Appl. Phys. 83, 35 (1998); J. Lu and M. J. Kushner, ibid., 89, 878 (2001)], which couples a three-dimensional Monte Carlo sputtering module within a two-dimensional fluid model. The plasma kinetics of thermalized, athermal, and ionized metals and the contributions of these species in feature deposition are resolved. A Monte Carlo technique is used to derive the angular distribution of athermal metals. Simulations show that in typical HPM-PVD processing, Ar + is the dominant ionized species driving sputtering. Athermal metal neutrals are the dominant deposition precursors due to the operation at high target power and low pressure. The angular distribution of athermals is off axis and more focused than thermal neutrals. The athermal characteristics favor sufficient and uniform deposition on the sidewall of the feature, which is the critical area in small feature filling. In addition, athermals lead to a thick bottom coverage. An appreciable fraction (∼10%) of the metals incident to the wafer are ionized. The ionized metals also contribute to bottom deposition in the absence of sputtering. We have studied the impact of process and equipment parameters on HPM-PVD. Simulations show that target power impacts both plasma ionization and target sputtering. The Ar + ion density increases nearly linearly with target power, different from the behavior of typical ionized PVD processing. The

Time-resolved probing of electron thermal conduction in femtosecond-laser-pulse-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vue, B.T.V.

1993-06-01

We present time-resolved measurements of reflectivity, transmissivity and frequency shifts of probe light interacting with the rear of a disk-like plasma produced by irradiation of a transparent solid target with 0.1ps FWHM laser pulses at peak intensity 5 x 10 l4 W/CM 2 . Experimental results show a large increase in reflection, revealing rapid formation of a steep gradient and overdense surface plasma layer during the first picosecond after irradiation. Frequency shifts due to a moving ionization created by thermal conduction into the solid target are recorded. Calculations using a nonlinear thermal heat wave model show good agreement with the measured frequency shifts, further confining the strong thermal transport effect

Development of innovative thermal plasma and particle diagnostics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bachmann, Benjamin-Leon

2013-09-24

Three original plasma diagnostic systems have been developed to investigate transient three-dimensional plasma processes with high spatial and temporal resolution. The developed diagnostics have been analyzed and tested by increasing the complexity from a stationary free burning Argon arc to a dc pulsed process and finally to a transient gas metal arc including droplet transfer through the plasma. The transient plasma parameters that have been determined include three-dimensional axially symmetric plasma densities (n{sub e}, n{sub A}, n{sub A+}, n{sub A++}), electron temperatures (T{sub e}), electrical conductivities (σ{sub el}), magnetic flux densities (B) and current densities (j{sub el}). In the case of a droplet transfer through an arc consisting of an Iron/Argon plasma, the droplet density, surface tension, viscosity, and temperature have been determined.

Exact evaluation of the rates of electrostatic decay and scattering off thermal ions for an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Layden, B.; Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A. [School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2013-08-15

Electrostatic decay of Langmuir waves into Langmuir and ion sound waves (L→L′+S) and scattering of Langmuir waves off thermal ions (L+i→L′+i′, also called “nonlinear Landau damping”) are important nonlinear weak-turbulence processes. The rates for these processes depend on the quadratic longitudinal response function α{sup (2)} (or, equivalently, the quadratic longitudinal susceptibility χ{sup (2)}), which describes the second-order response of a plasma to electrostatic wave fields. Previous calculations of these rates for an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma have relied upon an approximate form for α{sup (2)} that is valid where two of the wave fields are fast (i.e., v{sub φ}=ω/k≫V{sub e} where ω is the angular frequency, k is the wavenumber, and V{sub e} is the electron thermal speed) and one is slow (v{sub φ}≪V{sub e}). Recently, an exact expression was derived for α{sup (2)} that is valid for any phase speeds of the three waves in an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma. Here, this exact α{sup (2)} is applied to the calculation of the three-dimensional rates for electrostatic decay and scattering off thermal ions, and the resulting exact rates are compared with the approximate rates. The calculations are performed using previously derived three-dimensional rates for electrostatic decay given in terms of a general α{sup (2)}, and newly derived three-dimensional rates for scattering off thermal ions; the scattering rate is derived assuming a Maxwellian ion distribution, and both rates are derived assuming arc distributions for the wave spectra. For most space plasma conditions, the approximate rate is found to be accurate to better than 20%; however, for sufficiently low Langmuir phase speeds (v{sub φ}/V{sub e}≈3) appropriate to some spatial domains of the foreshock regions of planetary bow shocks and type II solar radio bursts, the use of the exact rate may be necessary for accurate calculations. The relative rates of electrostatic decay

The effect of processing parameters on plasma sprayed beryllium for fusion applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.G.; Stanek, P.W.; Jacobson, L.A.; Cowgill, D.F.; Snead, L.L.

1993-01-01

Plasma spraying is being investigated as a potential coating technique for applying thin (0.1--5mm) layers of beryllium on plasma facing surfaces of blanket modules in ITER and also as an in-situ repair technique for repairing eroded beryllium surfaces in high heat flux divertor regions. High density spray deposits (>98% of theoretical density) of beryllium will be required in order to maximize the thermal conductivity of the beryllium coatings. A preliminary investigation was done to determine the effect of various processing parameters (particle size, particle morphology, secondary gas additions and reduced chamber pressure) on the as-deposited density of beryllium. The deposits were made using spherical beryllium feedstock powder which was produced by centrifugal atomization at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Improvements in the as-deposited densities and deposit efficiencies of the beryllium spray deposits will be discussed along with the corresponding thermal conductivity and outgassing behavior of these deposits

The effect of processing parameters on plasma sprayed beryllium for fusion applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.G.; Stanek, P.W.; Jacobson, L.W.; Cowgill, D.F.

1993-01-01

Plasma spraying is being investigated as a potential coating technique for applying thin (0.1-5mm) layers of beryllium on plasma facing surfaces of blanket modules in ITER and also as an in-situ repair technique for repairing eroded beryllium surfaces in high heat flux divertor regions. High density spray deposits (>98% of theoretical density) of beryllium will be required in order to maximize the thermal conductivity of the beryllium coatings. A preliminary investigation was done to determine the effect of various processing parameters (particle size, particle morphology, secondary gas additions and reduced chamber pressure) on the as-deposited density of beryllium. The deposits were made using spherical beryllium feedstock powder which was produced by centrifugal atomization at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Improvements in the as-deposited densities and deposit efficiencies of the beryllium spray deposits will be discussed along with the corresponding thermal conductivity and outgassing behavior of these deposits. (orig.)

Expected energy fluxes onto ITER Plasma Facing Components during disruption thermal quenches from multi-machine data comparisons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loarte, A.; Andrew, P.; Matthews, G.F.; Paley, J.; Riccardo, V.; Counsell, G.; Eich, T.; Fuchs, C.; Gruber, O.; Herrmann, A.; Pautasso, G.; Federici, G.; Finken, K.H.; Maddaluno, G.; Whyte, D.

2005-01-01

A comparison of the power flux characteristics during the thermal quench of plasma disruptions among various tokamak experiments has been carried out and conclusions for ITER have been drawn. It is generally observed that the energy of the plasma at the thermal quench is much smaller than that of a full performance plasma. The timescales for power fluxes onto PFCs during the thermal quench, as determined by IR measurements, are found to scale with device size but not to correlate with pre-disruptive plasma characteristics. The profiles of the thermal quench power fluxes are very broad for diverted discharges, typically a factor of 5-10 broader than that measured during 'normal' plasma operation, while for limiter discharges this broadening is absent. The combination of all the above factors is used to derive the expected range of power fluxes on the ITER divertor target during the thermal quench. The new extrapolation derived in this paper indicates that the average disruption in ITER will deposit an energy flux approximately one order of magnitude lower than previously thought. The evaluation of the ITER divertor lifetime with these revised specifications is carried out. (author)

Industrial application of thermal image processing and thermal control

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Lingxue

2001-09-01

Industrial application of infrared thermography is virtually boundless as it can be used in any situations where there are temperature differences. This technology has particularly been widely used in automotive industry for process evaluation and system design. In this work, thermal image processing technique will be introduced to quantitatively calculate the heat stored in a warm/hot object and consequently, a thermal control system will be proposed to accurately and actively manage the thermal distribution within the object in accordance with the heat calculated from the thermal images.

Design of a uranium-dioxide powder spheroidization system by plasma processing

Science.gov (United States)

Cavender, Daniel

The plasma spheroidization system (PSS) is the first process in the development of a tungsten-uranium dioxide (W-UO2) ceramic-metallic (cermet) fuel for nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) propulsion. For the purposes of fissile fuel retention, UO2 spheroids ranging in size from 50 - 100 micrometers (μm) in diameter will be encapsulated in a tungsten shell. The PSS produces spherical particles by melting angular stock particles in an argon-hydrogen plasma jet where they become spherical due to surface tension. Surrogate CeO 2 powder was used in place of UO2 for system and process parameter development. Stock and spheroidized powders were micrographed using optical and scanning electron microscopy and evaluated by statistical methods to characterize and compare the spherocity of pre and post process powders. Particle spherocity was determined by irregularity parameter. Processed powders showed a statistically significant improvement in spherocity, with greater that 60% of the examined particles having an irregularity parameter of equal to or lower than 1.2, compared to stock powder.

The impact of transient thermal loads on beryllium as plasma facing material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spilker, Benjamin Christof

2017-01-24

The rising global energy consumption requires a broad research and development approach in the field of energy technology. Besides renewables, nuclear fusion promises an efficient, CO{sub 2} free, no long-term radioactive waste producing, and safe energy source using only deuterium and lithium as primary resources, which are widely abundant. However, several technical challenges have to be overcome before a nuclear fusion power plant can be built. For this purpose, the experimental reactor ITER is currently under construction in France. ITER is intended to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of net energy generation via nuclear fusion. The most heavily loaded components inside a fusion reactor, which are directly facing the fusion plasma, have to be armoured with well suited materials, which need to be able to withstand the high thermal and particle loads for an economically reasonable lifetime. For ITER, beryllium is chosen as plasma facing material for the largest fraction of the inner vacuum vessel, the so called first wall. Tungsten will be applied in the bottom region of the vacuum vessel, the so called divertor, which acts as the exhaust system of the machine. The choice of beryllium as plasma facing material was driven by its outstanding advantages, e.g. the low atomic number assures that eroded wall material does not strongly decrease the fusion plasma performance, while it combines a high thermal conductivity with low chemical sputtering characteristics. However, the relatively low melting temperature of beryllium of 1287 C comprises the risk of amour damage by melting during transient plasma events, such as edge localized modes or plasma disruptions. Even when mitigated, these events put tremendous power densities in the GW m{sup -2} range with durations in the ms scale onto the plasma facing materials. Hence, the performance of the ITER reference beryllium grade S-65 under transient thermal loads was studied within this work. Thereby

The impact of transient thermal loads on beryllium as plasma facing material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spilker, Benjamin Christof

2017-01-01

The rising global energy consumption requires a broad research and development approach in the field of energy technology. Besides renewables, nuclear fusion promises an efficient, CO_2 free, no long-term radioactive waste producing, and safe energy source using only deuterium and lithium as primary resources, which are widely abundant. However, several technical challenges have to be overcome before a nuclear fusion power plant can be built. For this purpose, the experimental reactor ITER is currently under construction in France. ITER is intended to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of net energy generation via nuclear fusion. The most heavily loaded components inside a fusion reactor, which are directly facing the fusion plasma, have to be armoured with well suited materials, which need to be able to withstand the high thermal and particle loads for an economically reasonable lifetime. For ITER, beryllium is chosen as plasma facing material for the largest fraction of the inner vacuum vessel, the so called first wall. Tungsten will be applied in the bottom region of the vacuum vessel, the so called divertor, which acts as the exhaust system of the machine. The choice of beryllium as plasma facing material was driven by its outstanding advantages, e.g. the low atomic number assures that eroded wall material does not strongly decrease the fusion plasma performance, while it combines a high thermal conductivity with low chemical sputtering characteristics. However, the relatively low melting temperature of beryllium of 1287 C comprises the risk of amour damage by melting during transient plasma events, such as edge localized modes or plasma disruptions. Even when mitigated, these events put tremendous power densities in the GW m"-"2 range with durations in the ms scale onto the plasma facing materials. Hence, the performance of the ITER reference beryllium grade S-65 under transient thermal loads was studied within this work. Thereby, the

Thermal shock fracture of graphite armor plate under the heat load of plasma disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horie, Tomoyoshi; Seki, Masahiro; Ohmori, Junji

1989-01-01

Experiments on the thermal shock brittle fracture of graphite plates were performed. Thermal loading which simulated a plasma disruption was produced by an electron beam facility. Pre-cracks produced on the surface propagated to the inside of the specimen even if the thermal stress on the surface was compressive. Two mechanisms are possible to produce tensile stress around the crack tip under thermal shock conditions. Temperature, thermal stress, and the stress intensity factor for the specimen were analyzed based on the finite element method for various heating conditions. The trend of experimental results under the asymmetric heating agrees qualitatively with the analytical results. This phenomenon is important for the design of plasma facing components made of graphite. Establishment of a lifetime prediction procedure including fatigue, fatigue crack growth, and brittle fracture is needed for graphite armors. (orig.)

Surface modification of biphasic calcium phosphate scaffolds by non-thermal atmospheric pressure nitrogen and air plasma treatment for improving osteoblast attachment and proliferation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Yu-Ri; Kwon, Jae-Sung; Song, Doo-Hoon; Choi, Eun Ha; Lee, Yong-Keun; Kim, Kyoung-Nam; Kim, Kwang-Mahn

2013-01-01

Surface modifications induced by non-thermal plasma have been used extensively in biomedical applications. The attachment and proliferation of osteoblast cells are important in bone tissue engineering using scaffolds. Hence the effect of non-thermal plasma on hydroxyapatite/β-tri-calcium phosphate (HA/β-TCP) scaffolds in terms of improving osteoblast attachment and proliferation was investigated. Experimental groups were treated with non-thermal plasma for 10 min and 20 min and a control group was not treated with non-thermal plasma. For surface chemistry analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis was carried out. The hydrophilicity was determined from contact angle measurement on the surface. Atomic force microscopy analysis (AFM) was used to test the change in surface roughness and cell attachment and proliferation were evaluated using MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cells. XPS spectra revealed a decreased amount of carbon on the surface of the plasma-treated sample. The contact angle was also decreased following plasma treatment, indicating improved hydrophilicity of plasma-treated surfaces compared to the untreated disc. A significant increase in MC3T3E-1 cell attachment and proliferation was noted on plasma-treated samples as compared to untreated specimens. The results suggest that non-thermal atmospheric pressure nitrogen and air plasma treatments provide beneficial surface characteristics on HA/β-TCP scaffolds. - Highlights: ► Non-thermal plasma increased OH- and decreased C on biphasic scaffold. ► Non-thermal plasma had no effect on surface roughness. ► Non-thermal plasma resulted in hydrophilic surface. ► Non-thermal plasma resulted in better cell attachment and proliferation. ► Non-thermal plasma treatment on biphasic scaffold is useful for tissue engineering

Thermal Plasma Spheroidization of High-Nitrogen Stainless Steel Powder Alloys Synthesized by Mechanical Alloying

Science.gov (United States)

Razumov, Nikolay G.; Popovich, Anatoly A.; Wang, QingSheng

2018-03-01

This paper presents the results of experimental studies on the treatment of Fe-23Cr-11Mn-1N high-nitrogen stainless steel powder alloys, synthesized by the mechanical alloying (MA) of elemental powders in the flow of a thermal plasma. Fe-23Cr-11Mn-1N high-nitrogen stainless steel powder alloys were prepared by MA in the attritor under an argon atmosphere. For spheroidization of Fe-23Cr-11Mn-1N high-nitrogen stainless steel powder alloys, the TekSphero 15 plant manufactured by Tekna Plasma Systems Inc was used. The studies have shown the possibility of obtaining Fe-23Cr-11Mn-1N high-nitrogen spherical powders steel alloys from the powder obtained by MA. According to the results of a series of experiments, it was found that the results of plasma spheroidization of powders essentially depend on the size of the fraction due to some difference in the particle shape and flowability, and on the gas regime of the plasma torch. It is established that during the plasma spheroidization process, some of the nitrogen leaves the alloy. The loss rate of nitrogen depends on the size of the initial particles.

Changing the surface properties on naval steel as result of non-thermal plasma treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Hnatiuc, B.; Sabău, A.; Dumitrache, C. L.; Hnatiuc, M.; Crețu, M.; Astanei, D.

2016-08-01

The problem of corrosion, related to Biofouling formation, is an issue with very high importance in the maritime domain. According to new rules, the paints and all the technologies for the conditioning of naval materials must fulfil more restrictive environmental conditions. In order to solve this issue, different new clean technologies have been proposed. Among them, the use of non-thermal plasmas produced at atmospheric pressure plays a very important role. This study concerns the opportunity of plasma treatment for preparation or conditioning of naval steel OL36 type. The plasma reactors chosen for the experiments can operate at atmospheric pressure and are easy to use in industrial conditions. They are based on electrical discharges GlidArc and Spark, which already proved their efficiency for the surface activation or even for coatings of the surface. The non-thermal character of the plasma is ensured by a gas flow blown through the electrical discharges. One power supply has been used for reactors that provide a 5 kV voltage and a maximum current of 100 mA. The modifications of the surface properties and composition have been studied by XPS technique (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy). There were taken into consideration 5 samples: 4 of them undergoing a Mini-torch plasma, a Gliding Spark, a GlidArc with dry air and a GlidArc with CO2, respectively the fifth sample which is the untreated witness. Before the plasma treatment, samples of naval steel were processed in order to obtain mechanical gloss. The time of treatment was chosen to 12 minutes. In the spectroscopic analysis, done on a ULVAC-PHI, Inc. PHI 5000 Versa Probe scanning XPS microprobe, a monocromated Al Kα X-ray source with a spot size of 100 μm2 was used to scan each sample while the photoelectrons were collected at a 45-degree take-off angle. Differences were found between atomic concentrations in each individual case, which proves that the active species produced by each type of plasma affects

Enhanced active aluminum content and thermal behaviour of nano-aluminum particles passivated during synthesis using thermal plasma route

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathe, Vikas L.; Varma, Vijay; Raut, Suyog; Nandi, Amiya Kumar; Pant, Arti; Prasanth, Hima; Pandey, R.K.; Bhoraskar, Sudha V.; Das, Asoka K.

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Synthesis of nano crystalline Al (nAl) using DC thermal plasma reactor. • In situ passivation of nAl by palmitic acid and air. • Enhanced active aluminum content obtained for palmitic acid passivated nAl. • Palmitic acid passivated nAl are quite stable in humid atmospheres. - Abstract: Here, we report synthesis and in situ passivation of aluminum nanoparticles using thermal plasma reactor. Both air and palmitc acid passivation was carried out during the synthesis in the thermal plasma reactor. The passivated nanoparticles have been characterized for their structural and morphological properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. In order to understand nature of passivation vibrational spectroscopic analysis have been carried out. The enhancement in active aluminum content and shelf life for a palmitic acid passivated nano-aluminum particles in comparison to the air passivated samples and commercially available nano Al powder (ALEX) has been observed. Thermo-gravimetric analysis was used to estimate active aluminum content of all the samples under investigation. In addition cerimetric back titration method was also used to estimate AAC and the shelf life of passivated aluminum particles. Structural, microstructural and thermogravomateric analysis of four year aged passivated sample also depicts effectiveness of palmitic acid passivation.

Enhanced active aluminum content and thermal behaviour of nano-aluminum particles passivated during synthesis using thermal plasma route

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mathe, Vikas L., E-mail: vlmathe@physics.unipune.ac.in [Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, Maharashtra (India); Varma, Vijay; Raut, Suyog [Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, Maharashtra (India); Nandi, Amiya Kumar; Pant, Arti; Prasanth, Hima; Pandey, R.K. [High Energy Materials Research Lab, Sutarwadi, Pune 411021, Maharashtra (India); Bhoraskar, Sudha V. [Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, Maharashtra (India); Das, Asoka K. [Utkal University, VaniVihar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751004 (India)

2016-04-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Synthesis of nano crystalline Al (nAl) using DC thermal plasma reactor. • In situ passivation of nAl by palmitic acid and air. • Enhanced active aluminum content obtained for palmitic acid passivated nAl. • Palmitic acid passivated nAl are quite stable in humid atmospheres. - Abstract: Here, we report synthesis and in situ passivation of aluminum nanoparticles using thermal plasma reactor. Both air and palmitc acid passivation was carried out during the synthesis in the thermal plasma reactor. The passivated nanoparticles have been characterized for their structural and morphological properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. In order to understand nature of passivation vibrational spectroscopic analysis have been carried out. The enhancement in active aluminum content and shelf life for a palmitic acid passivated nano-aluminum particles in comparison to the air passivated samples and commercially available nano Al powder (ALEX) has been observed. Thermo-gravimetric analysis was used to estimate active aluminum content of all the samples under investigation. In addition cerimetric back titration method was also used to estimate AAC and the shelf life of passivated aluminum particles. Structural, microstructural and thermogravomateric analysis of four year aged passivated sample also depicts effectiveness of palmitic acid passivation.

Ionization processes in the Fe 27 region of hot iron plasma in the field of hard gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Illarionov, A.F.

1989-01-01

A highly ionized hot plasma of an iron 26 56 Fe-type heavy element in the field of hard ionizing gamma-ray radiation is considered. The processes of ionization and recombination are discussed for a plasma consisting of the fully ionized Fe 27 and the hydrogen-like Fe 26 ions of iron in the case of large optical depth of the plasma with respect to the photoionization by gamma-ray quanta. The self-ionization process of a hot plasma with the temperature kT ≅ I (I being the ionization potential), due to the production of the own ionizing gamma-ray quanta, by the free-free (ff) and recombination (fb) radiation mechanisms, is investigated. It is noted that in the stationary situation the process of self-ionization of a hot plasma imposes the restriction upon the plasma temperature, kT<1.5 I. It is shown that the ionization of heavy-ion plasma by the impact of thermal electrons is dominating over the processes of ff- and fb-selfionization of plasma only by the large concentration of hydrogen-like iron at the periphery of the region of fully ionized iron Fe 27

Induction of Immunogenic Cell Death with Non-Thermal Plasma for Cancer Immunotherapy

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Abraham G.

Even with the recent advancements in cancer immunotherapy, treatments are still associated with debilitating side effects and unacceptable fail rates. Induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) in tumors is a promising approach to cancer treatment that may overcome these deficiencies. Cells undergoing ICD pathways enhance the interactions between cancerous cells and immune cells of the patient, resulting in the generation of anti-cancer immunity. The goal of this therapy relies on the engagement and reestablishment of the patient's natural immune processes to target and eliminate cancerous cells systemically. The main objective of this research was to determine if non-thermal plasma could be used to elicit immunogenic cancer cell death for cancer immunotherapy. My hypothesis was that plasma induces immunogenic cancer cell death through oxidative stress pathways, followed by development of a specific anti-tumor immune response. This was tested by investigating the interactions between plasma and multiple cancerous cells in vitro and validating anti-tumor immune responses in vivo. Following plasma treatment, two surrogate ICD markers, secreted adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and surface exposed calreticulin (ecto-CRT), were emitted from all three cancerous cell lines tested: A549 lung carcinoma cell line, CNE-1 radiation-resistant nasopharyngeal cell line and CT26 colorectal cancer cell line. When these cells were co-cultured with macrophages, cells of the innate immune system, the tumoricidal activity of macrophages was enhanced, thus demonstrating the immunostimulatory activity of cells undergoing ICD. The underlying mechanisms of plasma-induced ICD were also evaluated. When plasma is generated, four major components are produced: electromagnetic fields, ultraviolet radiation, and charged and neutral reactive species. Of these, we determined that plasma-generated charged and short-lived reactive oxygen species (ROS) were the major effectors of ICD. Following plasma

Plasma Processing of Metallic and Semiconductor Thin Films in the Fisk Plasma Source

Science.gov (United States)

Lampkin, Gregory; Thomas, Edward, Jr.; Watson, Michael; Wallace, Kent; Chen, Henry; Burger, Arnold

1998-01-01

The use of plasmas to process materials has become widespread throughout the semiconductor industry. Plasmas are used to modify the morphology and chemistry of surfaces. We report on initial plasma processing experiments using the Fisk Plasma Source. Metallic and semiconductor thin films deposited on a silicon substrate have been exposed to argon plasmas. Results of microscopy and chemical analyses of processed materials are presented.

Non equilibrium atomic processes and plasma spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Takako

2003-01-01

Along with the technical progress in plasma spectroscopy, non equilibrium ionization processes have been recently observed. We study non local thermodynamic equilibrium and non ionization equilibrium for various kinds of plasmas. Specifically we discuss non equilibrium atomic processes in magnetically confined plasmas, solar flares and laser produced plasmas using a collisional radiative model based on plasma spectroscopic data. (author)

Effects caused by thermal shocks in plasma sprayed protective coatings from materials based on Al2O3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorski, L.; Wolski, T.; Gostynski, D.

1996-01-01

Plasma sprayed coatings from the materials based on Al 2 O 3 with addition of NiO and TiO 2 have been studied. Thermal shock resistance of these coatings has been tested on special experimental arrangement in the stream of hot and cold gases. Changes in coating microstructure has been determined by light microscopy methods. Phase transition caused by the experiments are revealed by X-ray diffraction methods. The resistance for thermal fatigue processes depends on used coatings materials. (author). 21 refs, 21 figs, 1 tab

Non-thermal plasma instabilities induced by deformation of the electron energy distribution function

Science.gov (United States)

Dyatko, N. A.; Kochetov, I. V.; Napartovich, A. P.

2014-08-01

Non-thermal plasma is a key component in gas lasers, microelectronics, medical applications, waste gas cleaners, ozone generators, plasma igniters, flame holders, flow control in high-speed aerodynamics and others. A specific feature of non-thermal plasma is its high sensitivity to variations in governing parameters (gas composition, pressure, pulse duration, E/N parameter). This sensitivity is due to complex deformations of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) shape induced by variations in electric field strength, electron and ion number densities and gas excitation degree. Particular attention in this article is paid to mechanisms of instabilities based on non-linearity of plasma properties for specific conditions: gas composition, steady-state and decaying plasma produced by the electron beam, or by an electric current pulse. The following effects are analyzed: the negative differential electron conductivity; the absolute negative electron mobility; the stepwise changes of plasma properties induced by the EEDF bi-stability; thermo-current instability and the constriction of the glow discharge column in rare gases. Some of these effects were observed experimentally and some of them were theoretically predicted and still wait for experimental confirmation.

Radial thermal diffusivity of toroidal plasma affected by resonant magnetic perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanno, Ryutaro; Nunami, Masanori; Satake, Shinsuke; Takamaru, Hisanori; Okamoto, Masao

2012-04-01

We investigate how the radial thermal diffusivity of an axisymmetric toroidal plasma is modified by effect of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs), using a drift kinetic simulation code for calculating the thermal diffusivity in the perturbed region. The perturbed region is assumed to be generated on and around the resonance surfaces, and is wedged in between the regular closed magnetic surfaces. It has been found that the radial thermal diffusivity χ r in the perturbed region is represented as χ r = χ r (0) {1 + c r parallel 2 >}. Here r parallel 2 > 1/2 is the strength of the RMPs in the radial directions, means the flux surface average defined by the unperturbed (i.e., original) magnetic field, χ r (0) is the neoclassical thermal diffusivity, and c is a positive coefficient. In this paper, dependence of the coefficient c on parameters of the toroidal plasma is studied in results given by the δ f simulation code solving the drift kinetic equation under an assumption of zero electric field. We find that the dependence of c is given as c ∝ ω b /ν eff m in the low collisionality regime ν eff b , where ν eff is the effective collision frequency, ω b is the bounce frequency and m is the particle mass. In case of ν eff > ω b , the thermal diffusivity χ r evaluated by the simulations becomes close to the neoclassical thermal diffusivity χ r (0) . (author)

Structurally Integrated Coatings for Wear and Corrosion (SICWC): Arc Lamp, InfraRed (IR) Thermal Processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mackiewicz-Ludtka, G.; Sebright, J. [Caterpillar Corp.

2007-12-15

The primary goal of this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) betwe1311 UT-Battelle (Contractor) and Caterpillar Inc. (Participant) was to develop the plasma arc lamp (PAL), infrared (IR) thermal processing technology 1.) to enhance surface coating performance by improving the interfacial bond strength between selected coatings and substrates; and 2.) to extend this technology base for transitioning of the arc lamp processing to the industrial Participant. Completion of the following three key technical tasks (described below) was necessary in order to accomplish this goal. First, thermophysical property data sets were successfully determined for composite coatings applied to 1010 steel substrates, with a more limited data set successfully measured for free-standing coatings. These data are necessary for the computer modeling simulations and parametric studies to; A.) simulate PAL IR processing, facilitating the development of the initial processing parameters; and B.) help develop a better understanding of the basic PAL IR fusing process fundamentals, including predicting the influence of melt pool stirring and heat tnmsfar characteristics introduced during plasma arc lamp infrared (IR) processing; Second, a methodology and a set of procedures were successfully developed and the plasma arc lamp (PAL) power profiles were successfully mapped as a function of PAL power level for the ORNL PAL. The latter data also are necessary input for the computer model to accurately simulate PAL processing during process modeling simulations, and to facilitate a better understand of the fusing process fundamentals. Third, several computer modeling codes have been evaluated as to their capabilities and accuracy in being able to capture and simulate convective mixing that may occur during PAL thermal processing. The results from these evaluation efforts are summarized in this report. The intention of this project was to extend the technology base and provide for

Atomic processes in high temperature plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, Y.

1990-03-01

Much theoretical and experimental efforts have been expended in recent years to study those atomic processes which are specially relevant to understanding high temperature laboratory plasmas. For magnetically confined fusion plasmas, the temperature range of interest spans from the hundreds of eV at plasma edges to 10 keV at the center of the plasma, where most of the impurity ions are nearly fully ionized. These highly stripped ions interact strongly with electrons in the plasma, leading to further excitation and ionization of the ions, as well as electron capture. Radiations are emitted during these processes, which easily escape to plasma container walls, thus cooling the plasma. One of the dominant modes of radiation emission has been identified with dielectronic recombination. This paper reviews this work

Microwave induced plasma for solid fuels and waste processing: A review on affecting factors and performance criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Guan Sem; Faizal, Hasan Mohd; Ani, Farid Nasir

2017-11-01

High temperature thermal plasma has a major drawback which consumes high energy. Therefore, non-thermal plasma which uses comparatively lower energy, for instance, microwave plasma is more attractive to be applied in gasification process. Microwave-induced plasma gasification also carries the advantages in terms of simplicity, compactness, lightweight, uniform heating and the ability to operate under atmospheric pressure that gains attention from researchers. The present paper synthesizes the current knowledge available for microwave plasma gasification on solid fuels and waste, specifically on affecting parameters and their performance. The review starts with a brief outline on microwave plasma setup in general, and followed by the effect of various operating parameters on resulting output. Operating parameters including fuel characteristics, fuel injection position, microwave power, addition of steam, oxygen/fuel ratio and plasma working gas flow rate are discussed along with several performance criteria such as resulting syngas composition, efficiency, carbon conversion, and hydrogen production rate. Based on the present review, fuel retention time is found to be the key parameter that influences the gasification performance. Therefore, emphasis on retention time is necessary in order to improve the performance of microwave plasma gasification of solid fuels and wastes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spontaneous generation of electromagnetic waves in plasmas with electron thermal flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, Toshio

1977-01-01

Spontaneous generation of propagating electromagnetic fields due to a microinstability is investigated for plasmas which convey electron thermal fluxes. The following two cases are examined: 1) Electromagnetic fields spontaneously excited by electrons in a velocity distribution of skewed Maxwellian type. 2) Electromagnetic waves generated by electrons in a velocity distribution which consists of a main part and a high energy part. In this case, the electron thermal flux can be very high. In both cases, induced electromagnetic waves with relatively low frequencies propagate parallel to the direction of Thermal flux. (auth.)

Biomimetic architectures by plasma processing fabrication and applications

CERN Document Server

Chattopadhyay, Surojit

2014-01-01

Photonic structures in the animal kingdom: valuable inspirations for bio-mimetic applications. Moth eye-type anti-reflecting nanostructures by an electron cyclotron resonance plasma. Plasma-processed biomimetic nano/microstructures. Wetting properties of natural and plasma processed biomimetic surfaces. Biomimetic superhydrophobic surface by plasma processing. Biomimetic interfaces of plasma modified titanium alloy.

Transport of thermal plasma above the auroral ionosphere in the presence of electrostatic ion-cyclotron turbulence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. E. Zakharov

Full Text Available The electron component of intensive electric currents flowing along the geomagnetic field lines excites turbulence in the thermal magnetospheric plasma. The protons are then scattered by the excited electromagnetic waves, and as a result the plasma is stable. As the electron and ion temperatures of the background plasma are approximately equal each other, here electrostatic ion-cyclotron (EIC turbulence is considered. In the nonisothermal plasma the ion-acoustic turbulence may occur additionally. The anomalous resistivity of the plasma causes large-scale differences of the electrostatic potential along the magnetic field lines. The presence of these differences provides heating and acceleration of the thermal and energetic auroral plasma. The investigation of the energy and momentum balance of the plasma and waves in the turbulent region is performed numerically, taking the magnetospheric convection and thermal conductivity of the plasma into account. As shown for the quasi-steady state, EIC turbulence may provide differences of the electric potential of ΔV≈1–10 kV at altitudes of 500 < h < 10 000 km above the Earth's surface. In the turbulent region, the temperatures of the electrons and protons increase only a few times in comparison with the background values.

Key words. Magnetospheric physics (electric fields; plasma waves and instabilities

Rapid thermal processing by stamping

Science.gov (United States)

Stradins, Pauls; Wang, Qi

2013-03-05

A rapid thermal processing device and methods are provided for thermal processing of samples such as semiconductor wafers. The device has components including a stamp (35) having a stamping surface and a heater or cooler (40) to bring it to a selected processing temperature, a sample holder (20) for holding a sample (10) in position for intimate contact with the stamping surface; and positioning components (25) for moving the stamping surface and the stamp (35) in and away from intimate, substantially non-pressured contact. Methods for using and making such devices are also provided. These devices and methods allow inexpensive, efficient, easily controllable thermal processing.

Electrolytic plasma processing of steel surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bejar, M.A; Araya, R.N; Baeza, B

2006-01-01

The thermo-chemical treatments of steels with plasma is normally carried out in low-pressure ionized gaseous atmospheres. Among the treatments used most often are: nitruration, carburization and boronized. A plasma can also generate at atmospheric pressure. One way to produce it is with an electrochemical cell that works at a relatively high inter-electrode voltage and under conditions of heavy gas generation. This type of plasma is known as electrolytic plasma. This work studies the feasibility of using electrolytic plasma for the surface processing of steels. Two processes were selected: boronized and nitruration., for the hardening of two types of steel: one with low carbon (1020) and one with low alloy (4140). In the case of the nitruration, the 1020 steel was first aluminized. The electrolytes were aqueous solutions of borax for the boronizing and urea for the nitruration. The electrolytic plasmas were classified qualitatively, in relation with their luminosity by low, medium and high intensity. The boronizing was carried out with low intensity plasmas for a period of one hour. The nitruration was performed with plasmas of different intensities and for period of a few minutes to half an hour. The test pieces processed by electrolytic plasma were characterized by micro-hardness tests and X-ray diffraction. The maximum surface hardnesses obtained for the 1020 and 4140 steels were the following: 300 and 700 HV for the boronizing, and 1650 and 1200 HV for the nitruration, respectively. The utilization of an electrolytic plasma permits the surface processing of steels, noticeably increasing their hardness. With this type of plasma some thermo-chemical surface treatments can be done very rapidly as well (CW)

Negative ion beam formation using thermal contact ionization type plasma source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukuura, Yoshiyuki; Murakami, Kazutugu; Masuoka, Toshio; Katsumata, Itsuo [Osaka City Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1997-02-01

The small ion sources utilizing thermal ionization have been already developed, and at present, in order to increase ion yield, that being developed to the cylindrical plasma prototype having the inner surface of a Re foil cylinder as the ionization surface, and stably functioning at 3,000 K has been developed, and by using this plasma source, the research on the formation of various ions has been carried out. At present, the research on the formation of Li negative ion beam is carried out. The separation of negative ions from electrons is performed with the locally limited magnetic field using a small iron core electromagnet placed behind the electrostatic accelerating lens system. So for, the formation of about 2 {mu}A at maximum of negative ions was confirmed. It was decided to identify the kinds of ions by time of flight (TOF) process, and the various improvements for this purpose were carried out. The experimental setup, the structure of the plasma source, the circuits for TOF measurement and so on are explained. The experimental results are reported. The problems are the possibility of the formation of alkali metals, the resolution of the time axis of the TOF system and so on. (K.I.)

Si-compatible cleaning process for graphene using low-density inductively coupled plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Yeong-Dae; Lee, Dae-Yeong; Shen, Tian-Zi; Ra, Chang-Ho; Choi, Jae-Young; Yoo, Won Jong

2012-05-22

We report a novel cleaning technique for few-layer graphene (FLG) by using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) of Ar with an extremely low plasma density of 3.5 × 10(8) cm(-3). It is known that conventional capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) treatments destroy the planar symmetry of FLG, giving rise to the generation of defects. However, ICP treatment with extremely low plasma density is able to remove polymer resist residues from FLG within 3 min at a room temperature of 300 K while retaining the carbon sp(2)-bonding of FLG. It is found that the carrier mobility and charge neutrality point of FLG are restored to their pristine defect-free state after the ICP treatment. Considering the application of graphene to silicon-based electronic devices, such a cleaning method can replace thermal vacuum annealing, electrical current annealing, and wet-chemical treatment due to its advantages of being a low-temperature, large-area, high-throughput, and Si-compatible process.

Plasma-wall interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reichle, R.

2004-01-01

This document gathers the 43 slides presented in the framework of the week long lecture 'hot plasmas 2004' and dedicated to plasma-wall interaction in a tokamak. This document is divided into 4 parts: 1) thermal load on the wall, power extraction and particle recovery, 2) basic edge plasma physics, 3) processes that drive the plasma-solid interaction, and 4) material conditioning (surface treatment...) for ITER

Improvement of Polytetrafluoroethylene Surface Energy by Repetitive Pulse Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment in Atmospheric Air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Guoqing; Zhang Guanjun; Zhang Wenyuan

2011-01-01

Improvement of polytetrafluoroethylene surface energy by non-thermal plasma treatment is presented, using a nanosecond-positive-edge repetitive pulsed dielectric barrier discharge generator in atmospheric air. The electrical parameters including discharging power, peak and density of micro-discharge current were calculated, and the electron energy was estimated. Surface treatment experiments of polytetrafluoroethylene films were conducted for both different applied voltages and different treating durations. Results show that the surface energy of polytetrafluoroethylene film could be improved to 40 mJ/m 2 or more by plasma treatment. Surface roughness measurement and surface X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicate that there are chemical etching and implantation of polar oxygen groups in the sample surface treating process, resulting in the improvement of the sample surface energy. Compared with an AC source of 50 Hz, the dielectric barrier discharges generated by a repetitive pulsed source could provide higher peak power, lower mean power, larger micro-discharge current density and higher electron energy. Therefore, with the same applied peak voltage and treating duration, the improvement of polytetrafluoroethylene surface energy using repetitive pulsed plasma is more effective, and the plasma treatment process based on repetitive pulsed dielectric barrier discharges in air is thus feasible and applicable.

Experimental investigation of thermal conduction and related phenomena in a laser heated plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, D.R.

1979-02-01

Thermal conduction in plasmas is of major importance especially in controlled nuclear fusion studies. Direct measurements are rare. When the temperature gradient in a plasma becomes large enough classical thermal conduction (Heat flux q = -kΔT) no longer applies and it is thought that q is limited to some fraction of the free streaming limit qsub(m). The main experiment is the heating of a z-pinch plasma by a fast rising, intense carbon dioxide laser pulse. Electron temperature and density in time and space are diagnosed by ruby laser scattering. The profiles obtained were consistent with a flux limited to approximately 3% of the free streaming limit. Ion acoustic turbulence is observed along the temperature gradient. It is shown that the observed turbulence level is consistent with the heat flux limitation. At electron densities > 10 17 cm -3 backscattered light is observed from the plasma whose growth rate implies that it is Brillouin scattered. (author)

Plasma-chemical processes and systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro B, J.

1987-01-01

The direct applications of plasma technology on chemistry and metallurgy are presented. The physical fundaments of chemically active non-equilibrium plasma, the reaction kinetics, and the physical chemical transformations occuring in the electrical discharges, which are applied in the industry, are analysed. Some plasma chemical systems and processes related to the energy of hydrogen, with the chemical technology and with the metallurgy are described. Emphasis is given to the optimization of the energy effectiveness of these processes to obtain reducers and artificial energetic carriers. (M.C.K.) [pt

Studies of thermal energy confinement scaling in PDX plasmas: D0 → H+ limiter discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaye, S.M.; Goldston, R.J.; Bell, M.

1984-06-01

Experiments were performed on the PDX tokamak to study plasma heating and β scaling with higher power, near-perpendicular neutral beam injection. The data taken during these experiments were analyzed using a time-dependent data interpretation code (TRANSP) to study the transport and thermal confinement scaling over a wide range of plasma parameters. This study focuses on results from experiments with D 0 injection into H + plasmas using graphite rail limiters, a = 40 to 44 cm, R = 143 cm, I/sub p/ = 200 to 480 kA, B/sub T/ = 0.7 to 2.2 T, and typically anti n/sub e/ = 2.5 to 4.2 x 10 13 cm -3 . The results of this study indicate that for both ohmic and neutral beam heated discharges the energy flow out of the plasma is dominated by anomalous electron losses, attributed to electron thermal conduction. The ion conduction losses are well described to electron thermal conduction. The ion conduction losses are well described by neoclassical theory; however, the total ion loss influences the power balance significantly only at high toroidal fields and high plasma currents

THERMODYNAMIC REASONS OF AGGLOMERATION OF DUST PARTICLES IN THE THERMAL DUSTY PLASMA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.I.Vishnyakov

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The thermodynamic equilibrium of thermal dusty plasmas consisting of ionized gas (plasma and solid particles (dust grains, which interact with each other, is studied. The tendency of grains in dusty plasmas to agglomerate corresponds to the tendency of dusty plasmas to balanced states. When grains agglomerate, electrical perturbations generated by each grain concentrate inside the agglomerate. The plasma is perturbed only by the agglomerate's exterior surface. The greater number of possible states for electrons and ions in plasma depends on the volume of perturbation of grains. The fewer are the perturbations the greater is the amount of possible states for electrons and ions in plasma. If the grains collected from a distance smaller than 8 Debye lengths, the total volume of perturbations is minimized; the free energy of the plasma is also minimized.

Analysis of the expanding thermal argon-oxygen plasma gas phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hest, M F A M van; Haartsen, J R; Weert, M H M van; Schram, D C; Sanden, M C M van de

2003-01-01

An expanding thermal argon plasma into which oxygen is injected has been analysed by means of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements. Information is obtained on the ion density profile and the flow pattern in the downstream plasma. A combination of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements provide information on the total ion flux generated by the plasma source (cascaded arc). It has been found that the ion diffusion is mainly determined by the background pressure in the expansion vessel and the arc current. The ion density is determined by the total power input into the plasma as well as the gas flow in the plasma source. There is an optimum in the power transfer used for ionization from plasma source to the feed gas. Interaction of oxygen with the plasma results in a decrease in the argon ion density and the plasma beam radius. The recirculation pattern of the downstream plasma has been investigated experimentally using the Pitot probe. Due to the low downstream pressure (10-30 Pa), the conventional compressible Pitot probe theory no longer applies. It is concluded that viscous effects start to play an important role at these low pressures and should be taken into account in the analysis of the Pitot probe measurements

Preparation of boron-rich aluminum boride nanoparticles by RF thermal plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Sooseok [Inha University, Department of Chemical Engineering and Regional Innovation Center for Environmental Technology of Thermal Plasma (Korea, Republic of); Matsuo, Jiro; Cheng, Yingying [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering (Japan); Watanabe, Takayuki, E-mail: watanabe@chemenv.titech.ac.jp [Kyushu University, Department of Chemical Engineering (Japan)

2013-08-15

Boron-rich compounds of AlB{sub 12} and AlB{sub 10} nanoparticles were synthesized by a radiofrequency thermal plasma. Aluminum and boron raw powders were evaporated in virtue of high enthalpy of the thermal plasma in upstream region, followed by the formation of aluminum boride nanoparticles in the tail region of plasma flame with rapid quenching. A high production rate of aluminum boride was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction measurement in the case of high input power, high boron content in raw material and helium inner gas. Polyhedral nanoparticles of 20.8 nm in mean size were observed by a transmission electron microscope. In the raw powder mixture of aluminum, titanium, and boron, titanium-boride nanoparticles were synthesized preferentially, because the Gibbs free energy for the boridation of titanium is lower than that of aluminum. Since the nucleation temperature of boron is higher than that of aluminum, the condensation of metal monomers onto boron nuclei results in the formation of boron-rich aluminum boride nanoparticles.

Hydrogen and Carbon Black Production from the Degradation of Methane by Thermal Plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leila Cottet

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Methane gas (CH4 is the main inducer of the so called greenhouse gases effect. Recent scientific research aims to minimize the accumulation of this gas in the atmosphere and to develop processes capable of producing stable materials with added value. Thermal plasma technology is a promising alternative to these applications, since it allows obtaining H2 and solid carbon from CH4, without the parallel formation of byproducts such as CO2 and NOx. In this work, CH4 was degraded by thermal plasma in order to produce hydrogen (H2 and carbon black. The degradation efficiency of CH4, selectivity for H2 production as well as the characterization of carbon black were studied. The best results were obtained in the CH4 flow rate of 5 L min-1 the degradation percentage and the selectivity for H2 production reached 98.8 % and 48.4 %, respectively. At flow rates of less than 5 L min-1 the selectivity for H2 production increases and reaches 91.9 %. The carbon black has obtained amorphous with hydrophobic characteristics and can be marketed to be used in composite material, and can also be activated chemically and/or physically and used as adsorbent material.

Plasma diagnostics discharge parameters and chemistry

CERN Document Server

Auciello, Orlando

1989-01-01

Plasma Diagnostics, Volume 1: Discharge Parameters and Chemistry covers seven chapters on the important diagnostic techniques for plasmas and details their use in particular applications. The book discusses optical diagnostic techniques for low pressure plasmas and plasma processing; plasma diagnostics for electrical discharge light sources; as well as Langmuir probes. The text also describes the mass spectroscopy of plasmas, microwave diagnostics, paramagnetic resonance diagnostics, and diagnostics in thermal plasma processing. Electrical engineers, nuclear engineers, microwave engineers, che

A non-equilibrium simulation of thermal constriction in a cascaded arc hydrogen plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peerenboom, K S C; Goedheer, W J; Van Dijk, J; Kroesen, G M W

2014-01-01

The cascaded arc hydrogen plasma of Pilot-PSI is studied in a non-LTE model. We demonstrate that the effect of vibrationally excited molecules on the heavy-particle-assisted dissociation is crucial for obtaining thermal constriction. To the best of our knowledge, thermal constriction has not been obtained before in a non-LTE simulation. Probably, realistic numerical studies of this type of plasma were hindered by numerical problems, preventing the non-LTE simulations to show characteristic physical mechanisms such as thermal constriction. In this paper we show that with the help of appropriate numerical strategies thermal constriction can be obtained in a non-LTE simulation. To this end, a new source term linearization technique is developed, which ensures physical solutions even near chemical equilibrium where the composition is dominated by chemical source terms. Results of the model are compared with experiments on Pilot-PSI and show good agreement with pressure and voltage measurements in the source. (paper)

Plasma technology for treatment of waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cohn, D [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Fusion Center

1997-12-31

Meeting goals for waste cleanup will require new technology with improved environmental attractiveness and reduced cost. Plasma technology appears promising because of the high degree of controllability; capability to process waste without the adverse effects of combustion; and a very wide temperature range of operation. At the Plasma Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a range of plasma technologies are being investigated. `Hot` thermal plasmas produced by DC arc technology are being examined for treatment of solid waste. In conjunction with this activity, new diagnostics are being developed for monitoring arc furnace operating parameters and gaseous emissions. Electron-beam generated plasma technology is being investigated as a means of producing non-thermal `cold` plasmas for selective processing of dilute concentrations of gaseous waste. (author). 4 figs., 5 refs.

Optimal control theory applied to fusion plasma thermal stabilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sager, G.; Miley, G.; Maya, I.

1985-01-01

Many authors have investigated stability characteristics and performance of various burn control schemes. The work presented here represents the first application of optimal control theory to the problem of fusion plasma thermal stabilization. The objectives of this initial investigation were to develop analysis methods, demonstrate tractability, and present some preliminary results of optimal control theory in burn control research

Characterization of Mullite-Zirconia Composite Processed by Non-Transferred and Transferred Arc Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yugeswaran, S.; Selvarajan, V.; Lusvarghi, L.; Tok, A. I. Y.; Krishna, D. Siva Rama

2009-01-01

The arc plasma melting technique is a simple method to synthesize high temperature reaction composites. In this study, mullite-zirconia composite was synthesized by transferred and non-transferred arc plasma melting, and the results were compared. A mixture of alumina and zircon powders with a mole ratio of 3: 2 were ball milled for four hours and melted for two minutes in the transferred and non-transferred mode of plasma arcs. Argon and air were used as plasma forming gases. The phase and microstructural formation of melted samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The microstructure of the composites was found to be affected by the mode of melting. In transferred arc melting, zirconia flowers with uniform lines along with mullite whiskers were obtained. In the case of non-transferred arc plasma melting, mullite whiskers along with star shape zirconia were formed. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) of the synthesized mullite-zirconia composites provided a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of mullite formation during the two different processes. (plasma technology)

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.

Temperature of thermal plasma jets: A time resolved approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sahasrabudhe, S N; Joshi, N K; Barve, D N; Ghorui, S; Tiwari, N; Das, A K, E-mail: sns@barc.gov.i [Laser and Plasma Technology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai - 400 094 (India)

2010-02-01

Boltzmann Plot method is routinely used for temperature measurement of thermal plasma jets emanating from plasma torches. Here, it is implicitly assumed that the plasma jet is 'steady' in time. However, most of the experimenters do not take into account the variations due to ripple in the high current DC power supplies used to run plasma torches. If a 3-phase transductor type of power supply is used, then the ripple frequency is 150 Hz and if 3- phase SCR based power supply is used, then the ripple frequency is 300 Hz. The electrical power fed to plasma torch varies at ripple frequency. In time scale, it is about 3.3 to 6.7 ms for one cycle of ripple and it is much larger than the arc root movement times which are within 0.2 ms. Fast photography of plasma jets shows that the luminosity of plasma jet also varies exactly like the ripple in the power supply voltage and thus with the power. Intensity of line radiations varies nonlinearly with the instantaneous power fed to the torch and the simple time average of line intensities taken for calculation of temperature is not appropriate. In this paper, these variations and their effect on temperature determination are discussed and a method to get appropriate data is suggested. With a small adaptation discussed here, this method can be used to get temperature profile of plasma jet within a short time.

Beam-generated plasmas for processing applications

Science.gov (United States)

Meger, R. A.; Blackwell, D. D.; Fernsler, R. F.; Lampe, M.; Leonhardt, D.; Manheimer, W. M.; Murphy, D. P.; Walton, S. G.

2001-05-01

The use of moderate energy electron beams (e-beams) to generate plasma can provide greater control and larger area than existing techniques for processing applications. Kilovolt energy electrons have the ability to efficiently ionize low pressure neutral gas nearly independent of composition. This results in a low-temperature, high-density plasma of nearly controllable composition generated in the beam channel. By confining the electron beam magnetically the plasma generation region can be designated independent of surrounding structures. Particle fluxes to surfaces can then be controlled by the beam and gas parameters, system geometry, and the externally applied rf bias. The Large Area Plasma Processing System (LAPPS) utilizes a 1-5 kV, 2-10 mA/cm2 sheet beam of electrons to generate a 1011-1012cm-3 density, 1 eV electron temperature plasma. Plasma sheets of up to 60×60 cm2 area have been generated in a variety of molecular and atomic gases using both pulsed and cw e-beam sources. The theoretical basis for the plasma production and decay is presented along with experiments measuring the plasma density, temperature, and potential. Particle fluxes to nearby surfaces are measured along with the effects of radio frequency biasing. The LAPPS source is found to generate large-area plasmas suitable for materials processing.

A two-dimensional nodal model with turbulent effects for the synthesis of Si nano-particles by inductively coupled thermal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colombo, V; Ghedini, E; Gherardi, M; Sanibondi, P; Shigeta, M

2012-01-01

Nano-particle synthesis by means of inductively coupled plasma torches is a material process of large technological interest. Numerous parameters are involved in the optimization of this process; hence the development of numerical models for the prediction of thermal and magneto-fluid dynamics fields, precursor powder trajectories and thermal history, as well as nano-particle formation and growth, is necessary for the up-scaling of these devices from laboratory batch production to an industrial continuous process. In this work, a two-dimensional (2D) discrete-type model (nodal model) for the analysis of nano-powder nucleation and growth is presented, taking into account convection, diffusion and turbulent effects on particle formation. Discrete-type models feature high precision and reveal a great deal of information useful for clarifying the nano-particle formation process. Using Si as the precursor material, 2D simulations of a nano-particle synthesis RF plasma apparatus with a reaction chamber are carried out. Good agreement is found when comparing results obtained with this model with those coming from a well-established nucleation-coupled moment method. Moreover, the extended amount of obtainable information that characterizes the nodal model is underlined. (paper)

Inflight dissociation of zircon in air plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yugeswaran, S; Selvarajan, V [Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046 (India); Ananthapadmanabhan, P V; Thiyagarajan, T K [Laser and Plasma Technology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai - 400 085 (India); Nair, Janardhanan [Ion Arc Technologies Pvt Ltd, Coimbatore (India)

2010-02-01

Thermal dissociation of zircon can be conveniently carried out in a plasma reactor, which is characterized by high temperature, high energy density and high quench rate. Zirconia is recovered from this partially dissociated zircon by alkali leaching. Dissociation of zircon has been conventionally carried out in argon gas, which is expensive. The present paper reports experimental results on thermal dissociation of zircon in air plasma medium. Process simulation for 'inflight' dissociation of zircon in air plasma medium is also presented. The experimental system consists of a central hollow graphite electrode, which acts as the cathode and a graphite anode. The material to be processed is fed centrally through the cathode. The unique feature of the system is that it uses air as the working gas to generate the thermal plasma. The system has been used to study in-flight dissociation of zircon in the thermal plasma jet. Dissociation was carried out over 10-25 kW power range. Results of the study indicate that complete dissociation of zircon to ZrO{sub 2} and silica could be accomplished at 25 kW in air plasma.

Inflight dissociation of zircon in air plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yugeswaran, S; Selvarajan, V; Ananthapadmanabhan, P V; Thiyagarajan, T K; Nair, Janardhanan

2010-01-01

Thermal dissociation of zircon can be conveniently carried out in a plasma reactor, which is characterized by high temperature, high energy density and high quench rate. Zirconia is recovered from this partially dissociated zircon by alkali leaching. Dissociation of zircon has been conventionally carried out in argon gas, which is expensive. The present paper reports experimental results on thermal dissociation of zircon in air plasma medium. Process simulation for 'inflight' dissociation of zircon in air plasma medium is also presented. The experimental system consists of a central hollow graphite electrode, which acts as the cathode and a graphite anode. The material to be processed is fed centrally through the cathode. The unique feature of the system is that it uses air as the working gas to generate the thermal plasma. The system has been used to study in-flight dissociation of zircon in the thermal plasma jet. Dissociation was carried out over 10-25 kW power range. Results of the study indicate that complete dissociation of zircon to ZrO 2 and silica could be accomplished at 25 kW in air plasma.

Interparticle interaction and transport processes in dense semiclassical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baimbetov, F.B.; Giniyatova, Sh.G.

2005-01-01

On the basis of the density response formalism an expression for the pseudopotential of dense semiclassical plasma, which takes account of quantum-mechanical effects, local field corrections, and electronic screening effects is obtained. The static structure factors taking into account both local fields and quantum-mechanical effects are calculated. An electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and viscosity of dense semiclassical plasma are studied

Results of bench-scale plasma system testing in support of the Plasma Hearth Process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leatherman, G.L.; Cornelison, C.; Frank, S.

1996-01-01

The Plasma Hearth Process (PHP) is a high-temperature process that destroys hazardous organic components and stabilizes the radioactive components and hazardous metals in a leach-resistant vitreous slag waste form. The PHP technology development program is targeted at mixed waste that cannot be easily treated by conventional means. For example, heterogeneous debris, which may contain hazardous organics, toxic metals, and radionuclides, is difficult to characterize and cannot be treated with conventional thermal, chemical, or physical treatment methods. A major advantage of the PHP over other plasma processes is its ability to separate nonradioactive, non-hazardous metals from the non-metallic and radioactive components which are contained in the vitreous slag. The overall PHP program involves the design, fabrication, and operation of test hardware to demonstrate and certify that the PHP concept is viable for DOE waste treatment. The program involves bench-scale testing of PHP equipment in radioactive service, as well as pilot-scale demonstration of the PHP concept using nonradioactive, surrogate test materials. The fate of secondary waste streams is an important consideration for any technology considered for processing mixed waste. The main secondary waste stream generated by the PHP is flyash captured by the fabric- filter baghouse. The PHP concept is that flyash generated by the process can, to a large extent, be treated by processing this secondary waste stream in the PHP. Prior to the work presented in the paper, however, the PHP project has not quantitatively demonstrated the ability to treat PHP generated flyash. A major consideration is the quantity of radionuclides and RCRA-regulated metals in the flyash that can be retained the resultant waste form

Chemically different non-thermal plasmas target distinct cell death pathways

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lunov, O.; Zablotskyy, V.; Chrupina, O.; Lunova, M.; Jirsa, M.; Dejneka, A.; Kubinová, Šárka

2017-01-01

Roč. 7, apr (2017), s. 600 ISSN 2045-2322 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1309 Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : chemically different * non-thermal plasmas * target distinct cell death pathways Subject RIV: FP - Other Medical Disciplines OBOR OECD: Biophysics Impact factor: 4.259, year: 2016

Temperature simulation of thermal plasma melting furnace for disposal of radioactive waste and preliminary research of vitrification formula

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Peng; Lu Yonghong; Xiang Wenyuan; Chen Mingzhou; Liu Xiajie; Qin Yuxin

2013-01-01

Radioactive waste treatment techniques currently used in nuclear power plant increase the volume greatly and bring much pressure on final disposal; Thermal plasma treatment as a crucial technique to reduce the waste volume is introduced. How to improve the efficiency of the plasma energy is the limiting factor of concern. In this paper, the temperature field of thermal plasma melting furnace is simulated, the maximal temperature of fixed bed melting furnace is calculated (about 1445 ℃). According to the optional fire-resistant materials, the feasibility of furnace fabrication is discussed. Vitrification formulas for three typical radioactive wastes are tested with their feasibilities being analyzed then. Finally, the prospect of thermal plasma techniques of radioactive waste is discussed, and issues for future study are raised. (authors)

On reliability of 3D reconstructions of thermal plasma jet radiation by inverse Radon transform

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Sekerešová, Zuzana; Hlína, Jan

2011-01-01

Roč. 56, č. 2 (2011), s. 171-183 ISSN 0001-7043 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509 Keywords : thermal plasma jet * tomography * image reconstruction Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics

Plasma Thermal Conversion of Methane to Acetylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fincke, James Russell; Anderson, Raymond Paul; Hyde, Timothy Allen; Detering, Brent Alan; Wright, Randy Ben; Bewley, Randy Lee; Haggard, Delon C; Swank, William David

2002-01-01

This paper describes a re-examination of a known process for the direct plasma thermal conversion of methane to acetylene. Conversion efficiencies (% methane converted) approached 100% and acetylene yields in the 90-95% range with 2-4% solid carbon production were demonstrated. Specificity for acetylene was higher than in prior work. Improvements in conversion efficiency, yield, and specificity were due primarily to improved injector design and reactant mixing, and minimization of temperature gradients and cold boundary layers. At the 60-kilowatt scale cooling by wall heat transfer appears to be sufficient to quench the product stream and prevent further reaction of acetylene resulting in the formation of heavier hydrocarbon products or solid carbon. Significantly increasing the quenching rate by aerodynamic expansion of the products through a converging-diverging nozzle led to a reduction in the yield of ethylene but had little effect on the yield of other hydrocarbon products. While greater product selectivity for acetylene has been demonstrated, the specific energy consumption per unit mass of acetylene produced was not improved upon. A kinetic model that includes the reaction mechanisms resulting in the formation of acetylene and heavier hydrocarbons, through benzene, is described

Plasma surface interaction processes and possible synergisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behrisch, R.; Roberto, J.B.

1984-08-01

The process determining the plasma surface interaction in today's high temperature plasma experiments are investigated following several lines. First, in plasma devices, the particle and energy fluxes to the different first wall areas the fluxes from the walls back into the plasma are measured and the boundary plasma parameters are determined. The surface composition and structure of the walls, limiters and divertor plates are analyzed following exposure to many discharges. Secondly, the different surface processes which are expected to contribute to the plasma surface interaction (particularly to hydrogen particle balance and impurity introduction) are studied in simulation experiments using well defined particle beams

On the course of fusion processes occurring in the plasma focus - an investigation by using time-resolved neutron spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, R.

1987-01-01

The plasma focus POSEIDON emits up to 2x10 11 neutrons during some 100 ns, if it is operated with deuterium. This very high neutron production cannot be explained by a thermal neutron production mechanism starting out from the measured values of temperature (about 1 KeV) and deuteron density (10 18 cm -3 ). There is no doubt, that there exist strong ''beam-target''-processes of the deuterons, which cause such a high suprathermal neutron production. The neutron emission of the plasma focus POSEIDON appears in two pulses, which are associated to the two main phases of the hot and dense plasma. The first is the pinch or quiescent phase, in which a stable plasma column over 100 or 150 ns exists. The second phase is characterized by turbulence processes and starts with the end of the stable phase with the on-set of the m=0-instabilities and ends with the decay of the plasma. Both phases of neutron production are studied by time-resolved analysis of the neutron anisotropy factor and by time and spatial-resolved measurements of the neutron emission. Hence it follows, that there exist during both phases different non thermal neutron production processes, which are caused by different deuteron acceleration mechanisms. To get information on these deuteron acceleration mechanisms it is appropriate to analyse the neutron spectra of the plasma focus, because the half-width and the shape of the measured spectra are related to the energy and the angular distribution of the accelerated deuterons. (orig./GG) [de

Plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings for industrial gas turbines: morphology, processing and properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruenling, H.W.; Mannsmann, W.

1993-01-01

Thermal barrier coatings out of fully or partially stabilized zirconia offer a unique chance in gas turbines to increase the gas inlet temperature significantly while keeping the temperature of the structural material of the component within conventional limits. The protection of combustor parts and transition pieces as well as of some stationary gas turbine parts however is state of the art. As a consequence of still insufficient reliability, the application for hot rotating parts is very limited. The introduction as a design element requires safe life within defined time intervals. These depend on the overhaul and repair intervals of the engines. For large land based industrial or utility gas turbines, for example, coating life between 25.000 and 30.000 hrs. is a minimum requirement. Premature failure of a coating by e.g. local spalling causes local overheating of the component with the consequence of its total destruction or even more expensive secondary damages. Life limiting is the corrosion rate at the ceramic-metal interface and the behavior of the coated system under transient operating conditions, where multiaxial strain and stress distributions are generated. Sufficient strain tolerance of the coating both under tensile as well as compressive conditions is required. The properties of thermal barrier coating systems depend strongly on the structure and phase composition of the coating layers and the morphology of and the adhesion at the ceramic-metal interface. They have to be controlled by the process itself, the process parameters and the characteristics of the applied materials (e.g. chemical composition, processing, morphology, particle size and size distribution). It will be reviewed, how properties and structures of coating systems correlate and how structures can be modified by careful control of the process parameters. (orig.)

Power supply controlled for plasma torch generation; Fuente de alimentacion controlada para la generacion de un plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diaz Z, S

1997-12-31

The high density of energy furnished by thermal plasma is profited in a wide range of applications, such as those related with welding fusion, spray coating and at the present in waste destruction. The waste destruction by plasma is a very attractive process because the remaining products are formed by inert glassy grains and non-toxic gases. The main characteristics of thermal plasmas are presented in this work. Techniques based on power electronics are utilized to achieve a good performance in thermal plasma generation. This work shown the design and construction of three phase control system for electric supply of thermal plasma torch, with 250 kw of capacity, as a part of the project named `Destruction of hazard wastes by thermal plasma` actually working in the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ). The characteristics of thermal plasma and its generation are treated in the first chapter. The A C controllers by thyristors applied in three phase arrays are described in the chapter II, talking into account the power transformer, rectifiers bank and aliasing coil. The chapter III is dedicated in the design of the trigger module which controls the plasma current by varying the trigger angle of the SCR`s; the protection and isolating unit are also presented in this chapter. The results and conclusions are discussed in chapter IV. (Author).

Method and apparatus for monitoring plasma processing operations

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jr., Michael Lane; Ward, Pamela Denise Peardon; Stevenson, Joel O'Don

2002-01-01

The invention generally relates to various aspects of a plasma process, and more specifically the monitoring of such plasma processes. One aspect relates in at least some manner to calibrating or initializing a plasma monitoring assembly. This type of calibration may be used to address wavelength shifts, intensity shifts, or both associated with optical emissions data obtained on a plasma process. A calibration light may be directed at a window through which optical emissions data is being obtained to determine the effect, if any, that the inner surface of the window is having on the optical emissions data being obtained therethrough, the operation of the optical emissions data gathering device, or both. Another aspect relates in at least some manner to various types of evaluations which may be undertaken of a plasma process which was run, and more typically one which is currently being run, within the processing chamber. Plasma health evaluations and process identification through optical emissions analysis are included in this aspect. Yet another aspect associated with the present invention relates in at least some manner to the endpoint of a plasma process (e.g., plasma recipe, plasma clean, conditioning wafer operation) or discrete/discernible portion thereof (e.g., a plasma step of a multiple step plasma recipe). Another aspect associated with the present invention relates to how one or more of the above-noted aspects may be implemented into a semiconductor fabrication facility, such as the distribution of wafers to a wafer production system. A final aspect of the present invention relates to a network a plurality of plasma monitoring systems, including with remote capabilities (i.e., outside of the clean room).

Parametric analysis of the thermal effects on the divertor in tokamaks during plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruhn, M.L.

1988-04-01

Plasma disruptions are an ever present danger to the plasma-facing components in today's tokamak fusion reactors. This threat results from our lack of understanding and limited ability to control this complex phenomenon. In particular, severe energy deposition occurs on the divertor component of the double-null configured tokamak reactor during such disruptions. A hybrid computational model developed to estimate and graphically illustrate global thermal effects of disruptions on the divertor plates is described in detail. The quasi-two-dimensional computer code, TADDPAK (Thermal Analysis Divertor during Disruptions PAcKage), is used to conduct parametric analysis for the TIBER II Tokamak Engineering Test Reactor Design. The dependence of these thermal effects on divertor material choice, disruption pulse length, disruption pulse shape, and the characteristic thickness of the plasma scrape-off layer is investigated for this reactor design. Results and conclusions from this analysis are presented. Improvements to this model and issues that require further investigation are discussed. Cursory analysis for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is also presented in the appendix. 75 refs., 49 figs., 10 tabs

Reversible switching of wetting properties and erasable patterning of polymer surfaces using plasma oxidation and thermal treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Zeeshan; Atay, Ipek; Soydan, Seren; Yagci, M. Baris; Jonáš, Alexandr; Yilgor, Emel; Kiraz, Alper; Yilgor, Iskender

2018-05-01

Polymer surfaces reversibly switchable from superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic by exposure to oxygen plasma and subsequent thermal treatment are demonstrated. Two inherently different polymers, hydrophobic segmented polydimethylsiloxane-urea copolymer (TPSC) and hydrophilic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) are modified with fumed silica nanoparticles to prepare superhydrophobic surfaces with roughness on nanometer to micrometer scale. Smooth TPSC and PMMA surfaces are also used as control samples. Regardless of their chemical structure and surface topography, all surfaces display completely reversible wetting behavior changing from hydrophobic to hydrophilic and back for many cycles upon plasma oxidation followed by thermal annealing. Influence of plasma power, plasma exposure time, annealing temperature and annealing time on the wetting behavior of polymeric surfaces are investigated. Surface compositions, textures and topographies are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and white light interferometry (WLI), before and after oxidation and thermal annealing. Wetting properties of the surfaces are determined by measuring their static, advancing and receding water contact angle. We conclude that the chemical structure and surface topography of the polymers play a relatively minor role in reversible wetting behavior, where the essential factors are surface oxidation and migration of polymer molecules to the surface upon thermal annealing. Reconfigurable water channels on polymer surfaces are produced by plasma treatment using a mask and thermal annealing cycles. Such patterned reconfigurable hydrophilic regions can find use in surface microfluidics and optofluidics applications.

Measurement of thermal plasma jet temperature and velocity by laser light lineshape analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, S.C.; Reynolds, L.D.

1991-01-01

Two important parameters of thermal plasma jets are kinetic or gas temperatures and flow velocity. Gas temperatures have been traditionally measured using emission spectroscopy, but this method depends on either the generally unrealistic assumption of the existence of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) within the plasma, or the use of various non-LTE or partial LTE models to relate the intensity of the emission lines to the gas temperature. Plasma jet velocities have been measured using laser Doppler velocimetry on particles injected into the plasma. However, this method is intrusive and it is not known how well the particle velocities represent the gas velocity. Recently, plasma jet velocities have been measured from the Doppler shift of laser light scattered by the plasma. In this case, the Doppler shift was determined from the difference in the transmission profile of a high resolution monochromator between red shifted and blue shifted scattered light. A direct approach to measuring localized temperatures and velocities is afforded by high resolution scattered light lineshape measurements. The linewidth of laser light scattered by atoms and ions can be related to the kinetic temperature without LTE assumptions, while a shift in the peak position relative to the incident laser lineshape yields the gas velocity. We report in this paper work underway to measure gas temperatures and velocities in an argon thermal plasma jet using high resolution lineshape analysis of scattered laser light

Thermal processing systems for TRU mixed waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eddy, T.L.; Raivo, B.D.; Anderson, G.L.

1992-01-01

This paper presents preliminary ex situ thermal processing system concepts and related processing considerations for remediation of transuranic (TRU)-contaminated wastes (TRUW) buried at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). Anticipated waste stream components and problems are considered. Thermal processing conditions required to obtain a high-integrity, low-leachability glass/ceramic final waste form are considered. Five practical thermal process system designs are compared. Thermal processing of mixed waste and soils with essentially no presorting and using incineration followed by high temperature melting is recommended. Applied research and development necessary for demonstration is also recommended

The Quark-Gluon Plasma Collective Dynamics and Hard Thermal Loops

CERN Document Server

Blaizot, J P; Blaizot, Jean-Paul; Iancu, Edmond

2002-01-01

We present a unified description of the high temperature phase of QCD, the so-called quark-gluon plasma, in a regime where the effective gauge coupling $g$ is sufficiently small to allow for weak coupling calculations. The main focuss is the construction of the effective theory for the collective excitations which develop at a typical scale $gT$, which is well separated from the typical energy of single particle excitations which is the temperature $T$. We show that the plasma particles provide a source for long wavelength oscillations of average fields which carry the quantum numbers of the plasma constituents, the quarks and the gluons. To leading order in $g$, the plasma particles obey simple gauge-covariant kinetic equations, whose derivation from the general Dyson-Schwinger equations is outlined. As a by-product, the ``hard thermal loops'' emerge naturally in a physically transparent framework. We show that the collective excitations can be described in terms of classical fields, and develop for these a ...

Magnetic field approaches in dc thermal plasma modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freton, P; Gonzalez, J J; Masquere, M; Reichert, Frank

2011-01-01

The self-induced magnetic field has an important role in thermal plasma configurations generated by electric arcs as it generates velocity through Lorentz forces. In the models a good representation of the magnetic field is thus necessary. Several approaches exist to calculate the self-induced magnetic field such as the Maxwell-Ampere formulation, the vector potential approach combined with different kinds of boundary conditions or the Biot and Savart (B and S) formulation. The calculation of the self-induced magnetic field is alone a difficult problem and only few papers of the thermal plasma community speak on this subject. In this study different approaches with different boundary conditions are applied on two geometries to compare the methods and their limitations. The calculation time is also one of the criteria for the choice of the method and a compromise must be found between method precision and computation time. The study shows the importance of the current carrying path representation in the electrode on the deduced magnetic field. The best compromise consists of using the B and S formulation on the walls and/or edges of the calculation domain to determine the boundary conditions and to solve the vector potential in a 2D system. This approach provides results identical to those obtained using the B and S formulation over the entire domain but with a considerable decrease in calculation time.

Thermal energy and bootstrap current in fusion reactor plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, G.

1993-01-01

For DT fusion reactors with prescribed alpha particle heating power P α , plasma volume V and burn temperature i > ∼ 10 keV specific relations for the thermal energy content, bootstrap current, central plasma pressure and other quantities are derived. It is shown that imposing P α and V makes these relations independent of the magnitudes of the density and temperature, i.e. they only depend on P α , V and shape factors or profile parameters. For model density and temperature profiles analytic expressions for these shape factors and for the factor C bs in the bootstrap current formula I bs ∼ C bs (a/R) 1/2 β p I p are given. In the design of next-step devices and fusion reactors, the fusion power is a fixed quantity. Prescription of the alpha particle heating power and plasma volume results in specific relations which can be helpful for interpreting computer simulations and for the design of fusion reactors. (author) 5 refs

Plasma-aided nanofabrication: where is the cutting edge?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ostrikov, K; Murphy, A B

2007-01-01

Plasma-aided nanofabrication is a rapidly expanding area of research spanning disciplines ranging from physics and chemistry of plasmas and gas discharges to solid state physics, materials science, surface science, nanoscience and nanotechnology and related engineering subjects. The current status of the research field is discussed and examples of superior performance and competitive advantage of plasma processes and techniques are given. These examples are selected to represent a range of applications of two major types of plasmas suitable for nanoscale synthesis and processing, namely thermally non-equilibrium and thermal plasmas. Major concepts and terminology used in the field are introduced. The paper also pinpoints the major challenges facing plasma-aided nanofabrication and identifies some emerging topics for future research. (editorial review)

Synthesis of nanocrystalline magnesium nitride (Mg3N2) powder using thermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Dong-Wook; Kim, Tae-Hee; Park, Hyun-Woo; Park, Dong-Wha

2011-01-01

Nanocrystalline magnesium nitride (Mg 3 N 2 ) powder was synthesized from bulk magnesium by thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure. Magnesium vapor was generated through heating the bulk magnesium by DC plasma jet and reacted with ammonia gas. Injecting position and flow rates of ammonia gas were controlled to investigate an ideal condition for Mg 3 N 2 synthesis. The synthesized Mg 3 N 2 was cooled and collected on the chamber wall. Characteristics of the synthesized powders for each experimental condition were analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravity analysis (TGA). In absence of NH 3 , magnesium metal powder was formed. The synthesis with NH 3 injection in low temperature region resulted in a formation of crystalline magnesium nitride with trigonal morphology, whereas the mixture of magnesium metal and amorphous Mg 3 N 2 was formed when NH 3 was injected in high temperature region. Also, vaporization process of magnesium was discussed.

Atomic and molecular processes in fusion plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janev, R.K. [International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)

1997-01-01

The role of atomic and molecular processes in achieving and maintaining the conditions for thermonuclear burn in a magnetically confined fusion plasma is described. Emphasis is given to the energy balance and power and particle exhaust issues. The most important atomic and molecular processes which affect the radiation losses and impurity transport in the core plasma, the neutral particle transport in the plasma edge and the radiative cooling of divertor plasmas are discussed in greater detail. (author)

Nonlinear electron-acoustic rogue waves in electron-beam plasma system with non-thermal hot electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Elwakil, S. A.; El-hanbaly, A. M.; Elgarayh, A.; El-Shewy, E. K.; Kassem, A. I.

2014-11-01

The properties of nonlinear electron-acoustic rogue waves have been investigated in an unmagnetized collisionless four-component plasma system consisting of a cold electron fluid, non-thermal hot electrons obeying a non-thermal distribution, an electron beam and stationary ions. It is found that the basic set of fluid equations is reduced to a nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The dependence of rogue wave profiles on the electron beam and energetic population parameter are discussed. The results of the present investigation may be applicable in auroral zone plasma.

Non-thermally activated chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stiller, W.

1987-01-01

The subject is covered under the following headings: state-of-the art of non-thermally activated chemical processes; basic phenomena in non-thermal chemistry including mechanochemistry, photochemistry, laser chemistry, electrochemistry, photo-electro chemistry, high-field chemistry, magneto chemistry, plasma chemistry, radiation chemistry, hot-atom chemistry, and positronium and muonium chemistry; elementary processes in non-thermal chemistry including nuclear chemistry, interactions of electromagnetic radiations, electrons and heavy particles with matter, ionic elementary processes, elementary processes with excited species, radicalic elementary processes, and energy-induced elementary processes on surfaces and interfaces; and comparative considerations. An appendix with historical data and a subject index is given. 44 figs., 41 tabs., and 544 refs

Modeling of thermal effects on TIBER II divertor during plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruhn, M.L.; Perkins, L.J.

1987-01-01

Mapping the disruption power flow from the mid-plane of the TIBER Engineering Test Reactor to its divertor and calculating the resulting thermal effects are accomplished through the modification and coupling of three presently existing computer codes. The resulting computer code TADDPAK (Thermal Analysis Divertor during Disruption PAcKage) provides three-dimensional graphic presentations of time and positional dependent thermal effects on a poloidal cross section of the double-null-divertor configured reactor. These thermal effects include incident heat flux, surface temperature, vaporization rate, total vaporization, and melting depth. The dependence of these thermal effects on material choice, disruption pulse shape, and the characteristic thickness of the plasma scrape-off layer is determined through parametric analysis with TADDPAK. This computer code is designed to be a convenient, rapid, and user-friendly modeling tool which can be easily adapted to most tokamak double-null-divertor reactor designs

Oblique propagation of electron thermal modes below the electron plasma frequency without boundary effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohnuma, T.; Watanabe, T.; Sanuki, H.

1981-08-01

Propagation characteristics and refractive effects of an oblique electron thermal mode without boundary effects below the electron plasma frequency are studied experimentally and theoretically in an inhomogeneous magnetized plasma. The behavior of this mode observed experimentally was confirmed by the theoretical analysis based on a new type of ray theory. (author)

Thermal physics of gas-thermal coatings formation processes. State of investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fialko, N.M.; Prokopov, V.G.; Meranova, N.O.; Borisov, Yu.S.; Korzhik, V.N.; Sherenkovskaya, G.P.; AN Ukrainskoj SSR, Kiev

1993-01-01

The analysis of state of investigations of gas-thermal coatings formation processes in presented. Classification of approaches to mathematical simulation of thermal phenomena studies is offered. The general characteristics of three main approaches to the analysis of heat transport processes is given. Some problems of mathematical simulation of single particle thermal interaction with solid surface are considered in details. The main physical assumptions are analysed

Plasma catalytic reforming of methane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bromberg, L.; Cohn, D.R.; Rabinovich, A. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Science and Fusion Center; Alexeev, N. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation). Baikov Inst. of Metallurgy

1998-08-01

Thermal plasma technology can be efficiently used in the production of hydrogen and hydrogen-rich gases from methane and a variety of fuels. This paper describes progress in plasma reforming experiments and calculations of high temperature conversion of methane using heterogeneous processes. The thermal plasma is a highly energetic state of matter that is characterized by extremely high temperatures (several thousand degrees Celsius) and high degree of dissociation and substantial degree of ionization. The high temperatures accelerate the reactions involved in the reforming process. Hydrogen-rich gas (50% H{sub 2}, 17% CO and 33% N{sub 2}, for partial oxidation/water shifting) can be efficiently made in compact plasma reformers. Experiments have been carried out in a small device (2--3 kW) and without the use of efficient heat regeneration. For partial oxidation/water shifting, it was determined that the specific energy consumption in the plasma reforming processes is 16 MJ/kg H{sub 2} with high conversion efficiencies. Larger plasmatrons, better reactor thermal insulation, efficient heat regeneration and improved plasma catalysis could also play a major role in specific energy consumption reduction and increasing the methane conversion. A system has been demonstrated for hydrogen production with low CO content ({approximately} 1.5%) with power densities of {approximately} 30 kW (H{sub 2} HHV)/liter of reactor, or {approximately} 10 m{sup 3}/hr H{sub 2} per liter of reactor. Power density should further increase with increased power and improved design.

Kinetics, Stability, and Thermal Contact Resistance of Nickel–Ca3Co4O9 Interfaces Formed by Spark Plasma Sintering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holgate, Tim; Wu, NingYu; Søndergaard, M.

2013-01-01

3Co4O9) have been formed directly by spark plasma sintering (SPS). An intermediate NiO phase is formed during the SPS processes, which grows during post-heating with Co entering from the cobaltate side to form a graded Ni1xCoxO interfacial layer. The electrical and thermal transport across...

Final treatment of spent batteries by thermal plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Cubas, Anelise Leal Vieira; Machado, Marina de Medeiros; Machado, Marília de Medeiros; Dutra, Ana Regina de Aguiar; Moecke, Elisa Helena Siegel; Fiedler, Haidi D; Bueno, Priscila

2015-08-15

The growth in the use of wireless devices, notebooks and other electronic products has led to an ever increasing demand for batteries, leading to these products being commonly found in inappropriate locations, with adverse effects on the environment and human health. Due to political pressure and according to the environmental legislation which regulates the destination of spent batteries, in several countries the application of reverse logistics to hazardous waste is required. Thus, some processes have been developed with the aim of providing an appropriate destination for these products. In this context, a method for the treatment of spent batteries using thermal plasma technology is proposed herein. The efficiency of the method was tested through the determination of parameters, such as total organic carbon, moisture content and density, as well as analysis by atomic absorption spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence using samples before and after inertization. The value obtained for the density was 19.15%. The TOC results indicated 8.05% of C in the batteries prior to pyrolisis and according to the XRF analysis Fe, S, Mn and Zn were the most stable elements in the samples (highest peaks). The efficiency of the paste inertization was 97% for zinc and 99.74% for manganese. The results also showed that the most efficient reactor was that with the DC transferred arc plasma torch and quartzite sand positively influenced by the vitrification during the pyrolysis of the electrolyte paste obtain from batteries. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Development of process data capturing, analysis and controlling for thermal spray techniques - SprayTracker

Science.gov (United States)

Kelber, C.; Marke, S.; Trommler, U.; Rupprecht, C.; Weis, S.

2017-03-01

Thermal spraying processes are becoming increasingly important in high-technology areas, such as automotive engineering and medical technology. The method offers the advantage of a local layer application with different materials and high deposition rates. Challenges in the application of thermal spraying result from the complex interaction of different influencing variables, which can be attributed to the properties of different materials, operating equipment supply, electrical parameters, flow mechanics, plasma physics and automation. In addition, spraying systems are subject to constant wear. Due to the process specification and the high demands on the produced coatings, innovative quality assurance tools are necessary. A central aspect, which has not yet been considered, is the data management in relation to the present measured variables, in particular the spraying system, the handling system, working safety devices and additional measuring sensors. Both the recording of all process-characterizing variables, their linking and evaluation as well as the use of the data for the active process control presuppose a novel, innovative control system (hardware and software) that was to be developed within the scope of the research project. In addition, new measurement methods and sensors are to be developed and qualified in order to improve the process reliability of thermal spraying.

Chemically different non-thermal plasmas target distinct cell death pathways

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lunov, Oleg; Zablotskyy, Vitaliy A.; Churpita, Olexandr; Lunova, M.; Jirsa, M.; Dejneka, Alexandr; Kubinová, Šárka

2017-01-01

Roč. 7, č. 1 (2017), s. 1-17, č. článku 600. ISSN 2045-2322 Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) Fellowship J. E. Purkyně Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : chemically different * non-thermal plasmas * target distinct cell death pathways Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics OBOR OECD: Biophysics Impact factor: 4.259, year: 2016

Plasma processing of superconducting radio frequency cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, Janardan

The development of plasma processing technology of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities not only provides a chemical free and less expensive processing method, but also opens up the possibility for controlled modification of the inner surfaces of the cavity for better superconducting properties. The research was focused on the transition of plasma etching from two dimensional flat surfaces to inner surfaces of three dimensional (3D) structures. The results could be applicable to a variety of inner surfaces of 3D structures other than SRF cavities. Understanding the Ar/Cl2 plasma etching mechanism is crucial for achieving the desired modification of Nb SRF cavities. In the process of developing plasma etching technology, an apparatus was built and a method was developed to plasma etch a single cell Pill Box cavity. The plasma characterization was done with the help of optical emission spectroscopy. The Nb etch rate at various points of this cavity was measured before processing the SRF cavity. Cylindrical ring-type samples of Nb placed on the inner surface of the outer wall were used to measure the dependence of the process parameters on plasma etching. The measured etch rate dependence on the pressure, rf power, dc bias, temperature, Cl2 concentration and diameter of the inner electrode was determined. The etch rate mechanism was studied by varying the temperature of the outer wall, the dc bias on the inner electrode and gas conditions. In a coaxial plasma reactor, uniform plasma etching along the cylindrical structure is a challenging task due to depletion of the active radicals along the gas flow direction. The dependence of etch rate uniformity along the cylindrical axis was determined as a function of process parameters. The formation of dc self-biases due to surface area asymmetry in this type of plasma and its variation on the pressure, rf power and gas composition was measured. Enhancing the surface area of the inner electrode to reduce the

Plasma spheroidization of iron powders in a non-transferred DC thermal plasma jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, S.; Selvarajan, V.

2008-01-01

In this paper, the results of plasma spheroidization of iron powders using a DC non-transferred plasma spray torch are presented. The morphology of the processed powders was characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM). The percentages of spheroidized powders were calculated by the shape factors such as the Irregularity Parameter (IP) and Roundness (RN). A maximum of 83% of spheroidization can be achieved. The spheroidization results are compared with the theoretical estimation and they are found to be in good agreement. The phase composition of the spheroidized powder was analyzed by XRD. The effect of plasma jet temperature and plasma gas flow rate on spheroidization is discussed. At low plasma gas flow rates and at high plasma jet temperatures, the percentage of spheroidization is high

Power supply controlled for plasma torch generation