Experimental study on the improvement of spray characteristics of aero-engines using gliding arc plasma

A gliding arc plasma fuel atomization actuator suitable for aeroengines was designed,and a gliding arc plasma fuel spray experimental platform was built to address the fuel atomization problem in aeroengine combustion chambers.The spray characteristics for different airflows,fuel flows,and discharge voltages were analyzed using laser particle size analysis.The research shows that the fuel atomization effect is improved from the increased airflow.The decreased fuel flow not only reduces the injection pressure of the fuel but also changes the discharge mode of the gliding arc,which affects reductions in the discharge power and inhibits fuel atomization.Gliding arc discharges accelerate the breaking,atomization,and evaporation of fuel droplets while reducing the particle size,which increases the proportion of small droplets.Compared with the working conditions of plasma-assisted atomization without the gliding arc,the D0.5,D0.9,and average particle size of the fuel droplets are reduced by 4.7%,6.5%,and 4.1%,respectively,when the modulation voltage of the gliding arc power supply is 200 V.

Destruction of PCDD/Fs by gliding arc discharges

PCDD/Fs have been become a serious issue because of their toxicological effects and associated adverse health implications. In this study, the gliding arc plasma was tested for treatment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins （PCDDs） and polychlorinated dibenzofurans （PCDFs）, which was synthesized from pentachlorophenol in atmospheric condition at 350℃ with or without the catalysis of CuCl2. From the experiment, we found that the destruction efficiency of PCDD/F homologues after gliding was discharge ranged from 25% to 79%. This result demonstrates that gliding arc plasma is an effective technology to decompose PCDDs/Fs in flue gas. A plausible degradation mechanism for PCDD/Fs by gliding arc was discussed. Finally, a multistage reactor structure of gliding arc was proposed to upgrade removal efficiency for PCDD/Fs.

Conversion of Methane to C_2 Hydrocarbons and Hydrogen Using a Gliding Arc Reactor

Methane conversion has been studied using gliding arc plasma in the presence of argon.The process was conducted at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature.The focus of this research was to develop a process of converting methane to C2 hydrocarbons and hydrogen. The main parameters,including the CH4/Ar mole ratio,the CH4 flow rate,the input voltage,and the minimum electrode gap,were varied to investigate their effects on methane conversion rate, product distribution,energy consumption,carbon deposit,and reaction stability.The specific energy requirement（SER） was used to express the energy utilization efficiency of the process and provided a practical guidance for optimizing reaction conditions for improving energy efficiency. It was found that the carbon deposition was not conducive to methane conversion,and the gliding arc plasma discharge reached a stable state twelve minutes later.Optimum conditions for methane conversion were suggested.The maximum methane conversion rate of 43.39%was obtained under the optimum conditions.Also,C2 hydrocarbons selectivity,C2 hydrocarbons yield,H2 selectivity, H2 yield and SER were 87.20%,37.83%,81.28%,35.27%,and 2.09 MJ/mol,respectively.

Characteristics of Atmospheric Pressure Rotating Gliding Arc Plasmas

In this work, a novel direct current （DC） atmospheric pressure rotating gliding arc （RGA） plasma reactor has been developed for plasma-assisted chemical reactions. The influence of the gas composition and the gas flow rate on the arc dynamic behaviour and the formation of reactive species in the N2 and air gliding arc plasmas has been investigated by means of electrical signals, high speed photography, and optical emission spectroscopic diagnostics. Compared to conventional gliding arc reactors with knife-shaped electrodes which generally require a high flow rate （e.g., 10-20 L/min） to maintain a long arc length and reasonable plasma discharge zone, in this RGA system, a lower gas flow rate （e.g., 2 L/min） can also generate a larger effective plasma reaction zone with a longer arc length for chemical reactions. Two different motion patterns can be clearly observed in the N2 and air RGA plasmas. The time-resolved arc voltage signals show that three different arc dynamic modes, the arc restrike mode, takeover mode, and combined modes, can be clearly identified in the RGA plasmas. The occurrence of different motion and arc dynamic modes is strongly dependent on the composition of the working gas and gas flow rate.

Atmospheric pressure gliding arc discharge plasma treatments for improving germination, growth and yield of wheat

Wheat （Triticum aestivum） seeds were treated with atmospheric pressure gliding arc discharge plasmas to investigate the effects on water absorption, seed germination rate, seedling growth and yield in wheat. The surface architectures and functionalities of the seeds were found to modify due to plasma treatments. 6 rain treatment was provided 95%-100% germination rate. For the treatment duration of 3 and 9 rain the growth activity, dry matter accumulation, leaves chlorophyll contents, longest spikes, number of spikes/spikelet and total soluble protein content in shoots were improved. The grain yield of wheat was increased ,--20% by 6 min treatment with H2O/O2 plasma with respect to control.

Kinetic Modeling of Plasma Methane Conversion Using Gliding Arc

Plasma methane (CH_4) conversion in gliding arc discharge was examined. Theresult data of experiments regarding the performance of gliding arc discharge were presented in thispaper. A simulation which is consisted some chemical kinetic mechanisms has been provided toanalyze and describe the plasma process. The effect of total gas flow rate and input frequencyrefers to power consumption have been studied to evaluate the performance of gliding arc plasmasystem and the reaction mechanism of decomposition. Experiment results indicated that the maximumconversion of CH_4 reached 50% at the total gas flow rate of 1 L/min. The plasma reaction wasoccurred at the atmospheric pressure and the main products were C (solid), hydrogen, and acetylene(C_2H_2). The plasma reaction of methane conversion was exothermic reaction which increased theproduct stream temperature around 30-50℃.

Discussion on the Non-Equilibrium Phase of the Gliding Arc Plasma Driven by the Transverse Magnetic Field

a gliding arc driven by the transverse magnetic field was ignited between the electrodes with a complicated shape at atmospheric pressure and a non-equilibrium plasma was gencrated. Under our experimental conditions, a phenomenon was clearly observed where the arc power decreased with the increase in arc voltage. As the arc voltage was higher than 3.375 kV, the are power acquired from the power supply decreased, and the arc plasma began to switch to a non-equilibrium phase. The existence of the non-equilibrium arc plasma was very short, about 10 ms in one gliding arc discharge cycle.

Decomposition of CCl_4 and CHCl_3 on gliding arc plasma

Decomposition of chlorinated hydrocarbons, CCl4 and CHCl3, in gliding plasma was examined. The effects of initial concentrations, total gas flow rates, and power consumption have been investigated. The conversion result was relatively high. It reached 80% for CCl4 and 97% for CHCl3. Using atmospheric air as the carrier gas, the plasma reaction occurred at exothermic reaction and the main products were CO2, CO, and Cl2. Transformation into CCl4 was also detected for CHCl3 decomposition reaction. The conversion of CCh and CHCl3 were increased with the increasing applied frequency and decreasing total gas flow rate.

Decontamination of infected plant seeds utilizing atmospheric gliding arc discharge plasma treatment

In agriculture production,plant health is threatened by pathogens parasitic on seeds;hence,it is necessary to disinfect harvested seeds before germination.In this study,a technique of gliding arc plasma treatment was proposed and investigated.The experiment was conducted to treat Astragalus membranaceus(A.membranaceus)seeds that were artificially infected with Fusarium oxysporum(F.oxysporum).The plasma treatment duration varied from 30 s to 270 s.Direct and indirect treatments were compared to evaluate the inactivation efficiency of the F.oxysporum spores on the surface of seeds.The results indicated that the direct treatment behaved significantly better in disinfection than the indirect way.Meanwhile,experiments of the quantitative assessment of seed germination were also conducted,including the germination rate,the germination potential,and the germination index.The results showed that the inactivation efficiency increased as the plasma treatment time was extended.When the treatment time was90 s,the inactivation efficiency reached more than 98%.The plasma treatment of 270 s had a complete devitalization of F.oxysporum spores on the surface of the seeds.After the treatment of 30 s and 90 s,the seed germination parameters improved significantly.This study verified the inactivation efficacy of gliding arc discharge plasma under atmospheric pressure.The technique of gliding arc treatment shows advantages of energy saving and adaptation and has the potential to be utilized in industry.

Dynamic behavior of a rotating gliding arc plasma in nitrogen:effects of gas flow rate and operating current

The effects of feed gas flow rate and operating current on the electrical characteristics and dynamic behavior of a rotating gliding arc （RGA） plasma codriven by a magnetic field and tangential flow were investigated.The operating current has been shown to significantly affect the time-resolved voltage waveforms of the discharge,particularly at flow rate =21 min^-1.When the current was lower than 140 mA,sinusoidal waveforms with regular variation periods of 13.5-17.0 ms can be observed （flow rate =21 min^-1）.The restrike mode characterized by serial sudden drops of voltage appeared under all studied conditions.Increasing the flow rate from 8 to 121 min^-1 （at the same current） led to a shift of arc rotation mode which would then result in a significant drop of discharge voltage （around 120-200 V）.For a given flow rate,the reduction of current resulted in a nearly linear increase of voltage.

OH and O radicals production in atmospheric pressure air/Ar/H_2O gliding arc discharge plasma jet

Atmospheric pressure air/Ar/H_2O gliding arc discharge plasma is produced by a pulsed dc power supply. An optical emission spectroscopic（OES） diagnostic technique is used for the characterization of plasmas and for identifications of OH and O radicals along with other species in the plasmas. The OES diagnostic technique reveals the excitation Tx？≈？5550–9000 K, rotational Tr？≈？1350–2700 K and gas Tg？≈？850–1600 K temperatures, and electron density n？（1.1-1.9） ′101 4 cm^（-3） e under different experimental conditions. The production and destruction of OH and O radicals are investigated as functions of applied voltage and air flow rate. Relative intensities of OH and O radicals indicate that their production rates are increased with increasing Ar content in the gas mixture and applied voltage. nereveals that the higher densities of OH and O radicals are produced in the discharge due to more effective electron impact dissociation of H_2O and O_2 molecules caused by higher kinetic energies as gained by electrons from the enhanced electric field as well as by enhanced n e.The productions of OH and O are decreasing with increasing air flow rate due to removal of Joule heat from the discharge region but enhanced air flow rate significantly modifies discharge maintenance properties. Besides, Tgsignificantly reduces with the enhanced air flow rate. This investigation reveals that Ar plays a significant role in the production of OH and O radicals.

Determination of the Velocity of a Magnetic-Field Driven Gliding Arc by Using a Photo-Multiplier

The gliding arc is an important approach to production of non-thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure, it can offer high-energy efficiency and high-electivity for chemical reactions. In this paper, the gliding arc driven by the transverse magnetic field is described and its velocity is measured by using a photo-multiplier. The mean velocity of the gliding arc increases with increasing magnetic induced-intensity, and its value varies from 7.8 m/s to 32 m/s.

Discharge and jet characteristics of gliding arc plasma igniter driven by pressure difference

Stable combustion in an afterburner can help increase the thrust of the engine in a short time,thereby improving the maneuverability of a fighter.To improve the ignition performance of an afterburner,a twin-duct ignition platform was designed to study the performance of a gliding arc plasma igniter in close-to-real afterburner conditions.The research was carried out by a combination of experiments and simulations.The working environment of the igniter was explored through a numerical simulation.The results showed that the airflow ejected from the radiating holes formed a swirling sheath,which increased the anti-interference ability of the airflow jet.The influence of the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the igniter(Δp),the flow rate outside the igniter outlet(W_(2)),and the installation angle(α)on the singlecycle discharge energy(E)as well as the maximum arc length(L)were studied through experiments.Three stages were identified:the airflow breakdown stage,the arc evolution stage,and the arc fracture stage.E and L increased by 107.3%and 366.2%,respectively,withΔp increasing from 10 to 70 Torr.The relationship between L andΔp obtained by data fitting is L=3-2.47/(1+(Δp/25)^(4)).The relationship of L at differentαis L_(α=0°)>(L_(α=45°)and L_(α=135°))>L_(α=180°)>L_(α=90°).E and L decrease by 18.2%and 37.3%,respectively,whenΔp=45 Torr and W_(2) is increased from 0 to 250 l min^(-1).

Measurement of Plasma Parameters of Gliding Arc Driven by the Transverse Magnetic Field

The gliding arc can offer high energy efficiency and selectivity for chemical reactions and has been widely applied in material processing, environmental protection and other industrial areas. But the discharge properties, measurement of plasma parameters and related physical pro- cesses of the gliding arc discharge still need to further studied. In this study, the gliding arc was driven by the transverse magnetic field to produce the non-equilibrium plasma at high pressure. The parameters of the plasma at our observed point were measured by optical methods. The experimental result shows that the electron temperature is about 0.6 eV and the heavy particle temperature is approximately 2987±250 K.

Characteristics of Gliding Arc Discharge Plasma

A gliding arc discharge plasma and its characteristics are described. Analysis of the production principle of the plasma is presented. Some experimental results about two novel types of the gliding arc plasma generator have been obtained. These types of gliding arc plasma axe potentially usable in the chemical industry and environmental engineering.

Plasma nitrogen fixation system with dual-loop enhancement for improved energy efficiency and its efficacy for lettuce cultivation

Plasma nitrogen fixation(PNF)has been emerging as a promising technology for greenhouse gasfree and renewable energy-based agriculture.Yet,most PNF studies seldom address practical application-specific issues.In this work,we present the development of a compact and automatic PNF system for on-site agricultural applications.The system utilized a gliding-arc discharge as the plasma source and employed a dual-loop design to generate NO_(x)from air and water under atmospheric conditions.Experimental results showed that the system with a dualloop design performs well in terms of energy costs and production rates.Optimal operational parameters for the system were determined through experimentation,resulting in an energy cost of 13.9 MJ mol^(-1)and an energy efficiency of 16 g kWh^(-1)for NO_(3)^(-)production,respectively.Moreover,the concentration of exhausted NO_(x)was below the emission standards.Soilless lettuce cultivation experiments demonstrated that NO_(x)^(-)produced by the PNF system could serve as liquid nitrate nitrogen fertilizer.Overall,our work demonstrates the potential of the developed PNF system for on-site application in the production of green-leaf vegetables.

Increase in the Hydrophilicity and Lewis Acid-Base Properties of Solid Surfaces Achieved by Electric Gliding Discharge in Humid Air: Effects on Bacterial Adherence

This study addressed the effects of treatment with gliding discharge plasma on the surface properties of solid materials, as well as the consequences concerning adherence of a model bacterium. As evaluated by contact angles with selected liquids, plasma treatment caused an increase in surface hydrophilicity and in the Lewis acid-base components of the surface energy of all materials tested. These modifications were more marked for low density polyethylene and stainless steel than for polytetrafiuoroethylene. After treatment, the hydrophilicity of the materials remained relatively stable for at least 20 days. Moreover, analysis of the topography of the materials by atomic force microscopy revealed that the roughness of both polymers was reduced by glidarc plasma treatment. As a result of all these modifications, solid substrates were activated towards micro-organisms and the adherence of S. epidermidis, a negatively charged Lewis-base and mildly hydrophilic strain selected as the model, was increased in almost all the cases tested.

Competitive Contribution of Catalyst and Adsorption Roles of TiO_2 on the Degradation of AO7 Dye During Plasma Treatment

In order to investigate the role of TiO2 during plasma treatment, the degradation of the dye AO7 has been studied by gliding arc discharge in the presence of a TiO2 catalyst （CGAD）. The results revealed that the adsorption of the dye on TiO2 is a physical adsorption in accordance with Langmuir isotherm, with a constant of adsorption KL ： 0.52 mg/L and a maximum adsorption capacity b = 18.1 mg/g. The temperature variation of the reaction medium made it possible to consider thermodynamic parameters. Indeed, the adsorption is exothermic （enthalpy： △H 〈 0）, and spontaneous （free enthalpy： △G 〈 0）. The negative entropy （△S 〈 0） confirms the affinity of the dye molecules for TiO2. 20 min of CGAD treatment in the pres- ence of an optimal quantity of TiO2 （2 g/L enabled us to bleach the solution of AO7 （100 μM） completely. The discoloration rate with and without the addition of TiO2 was 100% and 28%, respectively. 40 additional minutes of treatment allowed a total abatement of the chemical oxy- gen demand. The elimination of AO7 molecules during the plasma-catalytic treatment follows Langmuir-Hinshelwood （L-H） model kinetics. According to this model, the speed constant is kr = 14.97 mg-L-1 ·min-1 and the adsorption coefficient is KL-H= 0.010 L/mg. The latter being negligible compared to kr, adsorption is therefore weakly performed during the plasma treatment.

Experimental investigation of a gliding discharge plasma jet igniter

Relight of jet engines at high altitude is difficult due to the relatively low pressure and temperature of inlet air.The penetration of initial flame kernel affects the ignition probability in the turbine engine combustor greatly.In order to achieve successful ignition at high altitude,a deeper penetration of initial flame kernel should be generated.In this study,a Gliding Arc Plasma Jet Igniter(GAPJI)is designed to induce initial flame kernel with deeper penetration to achieve successful ignition at high altitude.The ignition performance of the GAPJI was demonstrated in a model combustor.It was found that GAPJI can generate plasma with deeper penetration up to 30.5 mm than spark igniter with 22.1 mm.The discharge power of GAPJI was positively correlated with flow rate of the carrier gas,approaching 200 W in average.Ignition experiments show that GAPJI has the advantage of extending the lean ignition limit.With GAPJI,the lean ignition limit of the combustor is 0.02 at 0 km,which is 55.6%less than that with spark igniter(0.045).The evolution of flame morphology was observed to explore the development of the flame kernel.It is shown that the advantage of a high penetration and continuous releasing energy can accelerate the ignition process and enhance combustion.

MCGA-assisted ignition process and flame propagation of a scramjet at Mach 2.0

The ignition process and flame propagation with ethylene fuel in cavity-stabilized scramjet by a Multi-Channel Gliding Arc(MCGA)at Mach 2.0 were investigated.Effects of equivalence ratios on the MCGA-assisted ignition process and flame propagation of the scramjet were recorded by two high-speed cameras from different view angles.The discharge characteristics of MCGA are also collected synchronously with the high-speed cameras.The distributions of temperature,velocity,and equivalence ratios in non-reactive flows of the cavity were simulated by Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)model.The results show that MCGA can achieve reliable ignition with the Global Equivalence Ratios(GER)between 0.06 and 0.17.The ignition process is composed of flame kernel generation,flame development,and stable combustion.The time from flame kernel generation to the establishment of global flame decreases as GER decreases from 0.17 to 0.08.In the streamwise direction,the flame first develops to the Cavity Leading Edge(CLE)because of the influence of the cavity recirculation zone and then uplifts into the cavity shear layer,and finally develops to the Cavity Trailing Edge(CTE).In the spanwise direction,the flame width is less than 50%of the width of the cavity before developing to CLE and begins to develop towards the two sides of the combustor after reaching CLE,which is affected by the angular recirculation zone on both sides of CLE.The ignition processes by MCGA in the scramjet combustor are significantly affected by local distributions of equivalence ratios and velocity in the cavity.