On the optimal distribution of the flow rate of gas blown through the side walls of the channel of a de plasmotron (plasma generator)

It is well known that the blowing of cold gas through the side walls of the channel of a dc plasmotron (plasma generator) with longitudinal blowing over the arc leads to an increase in the useful power of the plasmotron [1]. The increase is due to the increase in the combustion voltage of the arc and also the decrease in the heat fluxes to the wall of the channel. The present paper solves the problem of the optimal distribution of the flow rate of gas blown through the side walls into the channel of a dc plasmotron of arbitrary shape F(x). The flow in the main channel and in the ducts in the side walls is described by the quasi-one-dimensional gas-dynamic equations investigated qualitatively in [2] and verified experimentally in [3].Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 120–124, May–June, 1981.