Comparison of Reynolds average Navier-Stokes turbulence models in numerical simulations of the DC arc plasma torch

Five turbulence models of Reynolds average Navier-Stokes(RANS),including the standard k-ω model,the RNG k-e model taking into account the low Reynolds number effect,the realizable k-ω model,the SST k-ω model,and the Reynolds stress model(RSM),are employed in the numerical simulations of direct current(DC)arc plasma torches in the range of arc current from 80 A to 240 A and air gas flow rate from 10 m^3 h^-1 to 50 m^3 h^-1.The calculated voltage,electric field intensity,and the heat loss in the arc chamber are compared with the experiments.The results indicate that the arc voltage,the electric field,and the heat loss in the arc chamber calculated by using the standard k-ω model,the RNG k-ωmodel taking into account the low Reynolds number effect,and the realizable k-ω model are much larger than those in the experiments.The RSM predicts relatively close results to the experiments,but fails in the trend of heat loss varying with the gas flow rate.The calculated results of the SST k-ω model are in the best agreement with the experiments,which may be attributed to the reasonable predictions of the turbulence as well as its distribution.

Effects of nitrogen on ozone synthesis in packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge

The effects of nitrogen on ozone synthesis are studied in a coaxial cylinder generator with dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） and pack-bed dielectric barrier discharge（PB-DBD）.A series of 10 h discharge experiments are conducted adopting a bare stainless electrode and bare copper electrode.Results show that the material of the electrode can affect the ozone synthesis.It is inferred that the ozone zero phenomenon（OZP） may be induced from ozone decomposing by metallic oxide catalysis.Packing dielectric particles can reduce the OZP.Adding a certain amount of nitrogen into the oxygen feed gas can further eliminate the OZP,and increase the ozone concentration significantly,but decreases the maximum energy efficiency of ozone generators.Initial analysis indicates that the optimal proportion of nitrogen addition is inversely related to the average reduced electric field strength in the discharge region.