Benchmarks of 3D Laplace Equation Solvers in a Cubic Configuration for Streamer Simulation

The aim of this paper is to test a developed SOR R＆B method using the Chebyshev accelerator algorithm to solve the Laplace equation in a cubic 3D configuration. Comparisons are made in terms of precision and computing time with other elliptic equation solvers proposed in the open source LIS library. The first results, obtained by using a single core on a HPC, show that the developed SOR R＆B method is efficient when the spectral radius needed for the Chebyshev acceleration is carefully pre-estimated. Preliminary results obtained with a parallelized code using the MPI library are also discussed when the calculation is distributed over one hundred cores.

Ar^+/Ar, O_2^+/O_2 and N_2^+/N_2 Elastic Momentum Collision Cross Sections: Calculation and Validation Using the Semi-Classical Model

The aim of this paper is to obtain relevant sets of collision cross sections of the parent ions in low pressure discharges in argon, oxygen, and nitrogen, i.e., Ar＋ in Ar, O2＋ in O2 and N2＋ in N2. These ion data are first discussed and then validated from comparisons between the calculated transport coefficients and those measured in the literature. The elastic momentum transfer collision cross sections are determined from a semi-classical approximation for the phase shift calculation based on a 12-6-4 inter-particle potential while ion transport coefficients are determined versus the reduced electric field from Monte Carlo simulations.

Measurements of Absolute Atomic Nitrogen Density by Two-Photon Absorption Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy in Hot Air Plasma Generated by Microwave Resonant Cavity

For the first time, absolute densities of atomic nitrogen in its ground state (N4S) have been measured in hot dry and humid air plasma columns under post-discharge regime. The determination of space-resolved absolute densities leads to obtain the dissociation degrees of molecular nitrogen in the plasma. The hot plasmas are generated inside an upstream gas-conditioning cell at 600 mbar when the air gas flow is directly injected at 10 slm in a microwave resonant cavity (2.45 GHz, 1 kW) placed in the downstream side. Density measurements based on laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy with two-photon excitation (TALIF), are more particularly performed along the radial and axial positions of the plasma column. Calibration of TALIF signals is performed in situ (i.e. in the same gas-conditioning cell but without plasma) using an air gas mixture containing krypton. Optical emission spectroscopy is considered to estimate the rotational gas temperature by adding a small amount of H2 in dry air to better detect OH (A-X) spectra. The rotational temperatures in humid air plasma column (50% of humidity) are larger than those of dry air plasma column by practically 30% near the nozzle of resonant cavity on the axis of the plasma column. This is partly due to attachment heating processes initiated by water vapor. A maximum of the measured absolute nitrogen density is also observed near the nozzle which is also larger for humid air plasma column. The obtained dissociation degrees of molecular nitrogen in both dry and humid air plasma along the air plasma column are lower than the cases where only thermodynamic equilibrium is assumed. This is characteristic of the absence of chemical and energetic equilibria not yet reached in the air plasma column dominated by recombination processes.

Electric and Spectroscopic Studies of Pulsed Corona Discharges in Nitrogen at Atmospheric Pressure

This paper is mainly dedicated to the experimental electric and spectroscopic analysis of positive corona discharges in the case of point to plane configuration, generated in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. The maximum corona current (a few hundreds of mA), the average current (a few μA) and the average propagation velocity (a few 107 cm/s) are analyzed with the variation of the applied voltage (a few kV) and the gap distance (not exceeding 16 mm). By using an ICCD camera, the dynamics of the discharge during the propagation of primary and secondary streamers across the gap distance was analyzed. Spectroscopic study is emphasized in a spectral range from 200 nm up to 500 nm, to determine the important excited species present in the gaseous environment such as the second positive and the first negative systems (SPS and FNS respectively). The identification of the quenching NOγ emission bands is also emphasized.