Characteristics of discharge with liquid non-metallic cathode burning in air flow
Résumé
The possibility of creating a steady-burning low-current discharge in an air flow at
atmospheric pressure using a cathode of weakly conducting liquid (tap water) and a constantvoltage
power source is presented. The experiments were carried out at currents of 100–300
mA and air flows of 5–20 slpm. Probe and spectroscopic measurements were performed to
determine the plasma parameters. The discharge spectrum was simulated and the plasma
composition was calculated. It was found that a nonequilibrium moist high-pressure
plasma with relatively low gas temperatures (>~2000 K) and substantially higher electron
temperatures (>~6000 K) and high electron densities (<~10^21 m−3) is generated in the
discharge channel. According to the calculations, the plasma contains high concentrations of
the chemically active radicals ОН (~10^22–10^23 m−3) and O (~10^22–10^23 m−3). The obtained
results are compared with the available results in the literature regarding experiments and
calculations for glow discharges in gas flows at atmospheric pressure.