Thermodynamic and transport properties in equilibrium air plasmas in a wide pressure and temperature range

Thermodynamic and transport properties of high temperature equilibrium air plasmas have been calculated in a wide pressure ( atm) and temperature range ( K). The results have been obtained by using a self-consistent approach for the thermodynamic properties and higher order approximation of the Chapman-Enskog method for the transport coefficients. Debye-Hükel corrections have been considered in the thermodynamic properties while collision integrals of charge-charge interactions have been obtained by using a screened Coulomb potential. Calculated values have been fitted by closed forms ready to be inserted in fluid dynamic codes.     

Enskog-Landau kinetic equation for multicomponent mixture. Analytical calculation of transport coefficients

The Enskog-Landau kinetic equation is considered to describe non-equilibrium processes of a mixture of charged hard spheres. This equation has been obtained in our previous papers by means of the non-equilibrium statistical operator method. The normal solution of this kinetic equation found in the first approximation using the standard Chapman-Enskog method is given. On the basis of the found solution the flows and transport coefficients have been calculated. All transport coefficients for multicomponent mixture of spherical Coulomb particles are presented analytically for the first time. Numerical calculations of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusion coefficient are performed for some specific mixtures of noble gases of high density. We compare the calculations with those ones for point-like neutral and charged particles. Received 10 June 1999 and Received in final form 15 October 1999     

Theoretical Computation for Non-Equilibrium Air Plasma Electrical Conductivity at Atmospheric Pressure

Based on the Chapman-Enskog theory, we calculate the electrical conductivity of non-equilibrium air plasma in the two-temperature model. We consider different degrees of non-equilibrium, which is defined by the ratio of electronic temperature to heavy particles temperature. The method of computing the composition of air plasma is demonstrated. After calculating the electrical conductivity from electron temperature 1000 K to 15000K, the present result is compared with Murphy＇s study [Plasma Chem. Plasma Process 15 （1994） 279] for equilibrium case. All the calculation is completed at atmospheric pressure. The present results may have potential applications in numerical calculation of non-equilibrium air plasma.     

双温度氦等离子体输运性质计算

获得覆盖较宽温度和压力范围内的等离子体输运性质是进行等离子体传热和流动过程数值模拟的必要条件.本文采用Saha方程计算等离子体组分, 采用基于将Chapman-Enskog方法扩展到高阶近似的方法, 计算获得了电子温度(T_e)不等于重粒子温度(T_h)的情形下, 在300 K到40000 K的温度范围内氦等离子体的黏性、热导率和电导率. 研究结果表明压力和热力学非平衡参数(θ =T_e/T_h)对氦等离子体的输运性质有较大的影响. 在局域热力学平衡条件下,计算获得的氦等离子体输运性质和文献报道的数据符合良好.     

The thermophysical properties of low‐temperature Pb plasma

The thermophysical properties of low‐temperature Pb plasma are calculated at temperatures 10–100 kK and densities below 0.2 of the solid‐state value. The thermodynamic values (pressure and internal energy) and transport coefficients (electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and thermal power) are considered. The plasma composition and thermodynamic parameters are obtained within the chemical approach, namely by means of the solution of the corresponding system of the coupled mass action law equations. Atom ionization up to +4 is taken into consideration. The electronic transport coefficients are calculated within the relaxation time approximation. The results obtained by means of the present model are compared with the available data of other models and experiments.     

Self-consistent modelling of X-ray preionized XeCl-laser discharges

In this theoretical work a 0-D model for a self-sustained X-ray preionized XeCl-laser discharge is presented. The model is self-consistent in the sense that it simultaneously solves, contrarily to the usual decoupling procedure, the Boltzmann equation for electrons, the kinetic equations for excited and ionic species, the equations for the electrical circuit and the laser photon density. It includes a rather complete kinetics of HCl(v) vibrational excitation, dissociation and dissociative attachment. The influence of electron collisions with excited species and of e-e Coulomb collisions on the plasma parameters and transport coefficients is discussed. Some evidence of the non-stationary equilibrium between the electron distribution and the reduced electric field E/N is given. Results of the model are compared with experimental ones corresponding to a XeCl-laser discharge driven by a L-C inversion circuit. The model predicts well the main trends for the variation of the laser energy in a large range of experimental conditions. The discrepancy between experiment and model for absolute values of the laser energy is discussed.     

Dynamics of the transport barrier formation on the FT-2 tokamak caused by lower hybrid heating

Experiments at the FT-2 tokamak had demonstrated effective plasma LH heating, which was accounted for by both direct absorption of RF power and plasma transport suppression. The improved core confinement accompanied by Internal Transport Barrier (ITB) formation was observed. The RF pulse switch off is followed by triggering of LH transition and the External Transport Barrier (ETB) formation near the last closed flux surface. The present paper is devoted to a much more detailed study of the radial electric fieldE _r behaviour in the region of ITB and ETB and its influence on the tokamak microturbulence in these regions. The new experimental data were obtained by spatial spectroscopic technique using additional pulse helium puffing in hydrogen plasma. Simultaneously microscale plasma oscillations in the frequency band (0.01–2) MHz are observed with local enhanced microwave scattering diagnostics and by x-mode fluctuation reflectometry. Experiments demonstrate that the improved confinement is associated with the modification of microturbulence by the shear of theE×B poloidal velocity. This conclusion is also confirmed by the data obtained by Langmuir probes in the edge plasma. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreux, Switzerland, June 23–24, 2002”. The study was performed with the support of the Ministry of General and Professional Education of RF (TOO-7.4-2797), INTAS-01-2056 and the RFBR Grants 00-02-16927, 01-02-17926 and 02-02-17684.     

Calculations of the thermophysical properties of low-temperature Pb plasma at low densities

The pressure, internal energy, and electronic transport coefficients of low-temperature Pb plasma were calculated at the temperatures 10–100 kK by means of an earlier developed model (E. M. Apfelbaum, Contrib. Plasma Phys. 2019 , 59, e201800148). The plasma composition and thermodynamics were obtained using a chemical approach. The electronic transport coefficients were calculated within the relaxation time approximation with the new accurate momentum transfer cross-section electron-atom. The results of the present calculations have been compared with the new measurement data, obtained at relatively low densities, reaching 0.125 of the value in solid state, which corresponds to the area, where the model can be applied correctly. The good agreement between the calculations and measurements was obtained for both the pressure and the electrical conductivity.     

Electric dipole moment and charge transfer in alkali-C molecules

Electron excitation rate coefficients for 2p (2p₁, 2p₂, 2p₃, 2p₄, 2p₅, 2p₆) and 3p(3p₅, 3p₆, 3p₇, 3p₈, 3p₁₀) (in Paschen notation) levels of xenon atom have been measured by using electron drift tube technique. The absolute excitation coefficients were obtained from the optical signal at the anode in Townsend xenon discharges, after correction for detector quantum efficiency. The ionization coefficients were determined from the spatial emission profile. The measurement were made for the electric field to xenon atom number density ratios (E/N) from Vm² to Vm². The data were obtained between moderate E/N values where electrons are in equilibrium and very high E/N values where electrons may not be in equilibrium with the local field. It was found that at the highest values of E/N heavy particles do not contribute to the excitation under the present conditions. The absolute excitation coefficients for the studied levels of xenon are to our knowledge the only experimental data available in the literature. Received 17 March 1999 and Received in final form 9 August 1999     

Estimating the departure from LTE of non-LTE plasmas

Based on the law of increase of entropy, non-equilibrium coefficients are defined for scaling the departure from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) of non-LTE plasmas. Numerical examples show that the proposed non-equilibrium coefficients are correct in trend and evaluate the departure quite accurately. Using these coefficients, accurate criteria for full LTE can also be obtained.     

Measurement of atom and molecule number densities in hydrogen arcs by means of VUV spectroscopy

The number density of ground state atoms in the 2mm hydrogen arc (T≈20000 K) and the number density of molecules in the 5 mm hydrogen arc (T≈12000 K) have been measured by means of vuv spectroscopy. These species' are particularly likely to deviate from the equilibrium population and may therefore falsify the hydrogen transport coefficients measured in arc experiments. In the present investigation the optically thick line wings of Ly-α and the H₂ molecular spectrum around 1600 Å have been analyzed. The results demonstrate that the former assumptions of LTE and PLTE, respectively, are completely justified on and near the arc axis. However, in the outer zones of these arcs a considerable overpopulation of the molecules must be expected as a consequence of radial diffusion.     

Spectroscopic studies of laser-produced plasmas formed in CO and CO2 using 193, 266, 355, 532 and 1064 nm laser radiation

The wavelength dependence of laser-produced breakdown in air, CO and CO₂ has been studied using the four Nd:YAG harmonics (266 nm, 355 nm, 532 nm and 1064 nm) and the ArF-excimer laser (193 nm). Breakdown thresholds at these wavelengths are reported for air, CO and CO₂. A significant reduction in the breakdown thresholds for both CO and CO₂ is apparent when comparing 193 nm with the four Nd:YAG harmonics. This reduction is attributed to the resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization of metastable carbon atoms generated in the laser focus at the ArF-laser wavelength. In addition to reporting breakdown thresholds, the laser-produced plasmas in CO and CO₂ are characterized in terms of plasma temperatures and electron densities which are measured by time-resolved emission spectroscopy. Electron densities range from 9 × 10¹⁷ cm^–3 to 1 × 10₁₇ cm^–3. Excitation temperatures range from 22 000 K at 0.2 µs to 11 000 K at 2 µs. Ionization temperatures range from 22 000 K at 0.1 µs to 16 000 K at 2 µs. Evidence is presented to indicate that, like ArF-laser-produced plasmas, Nd:YAG-laser-produced plasmas formed in CO and CO₂ are in or near a state of Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) soon after their formation.     

Investigation of XeCl vibrational and quenching kinetics: Numerical simulation of gain and laser spectra in discharge-pumped oscillators

Model calculations of the small-signal gain and laser spectra and of laser output energies have been performed for various discharge-pumped XeCl laser systems. From comparison between model and experiment, limits have been set for the rate coefficients for XeCl(B,C) quenching by Ne, Ne + Xe and electrons. The influence of non-stationarity and electron-electron collisions in the solution of the Boltzmann equation on the estimation of these rate coefficients has been investigated. Some rough estimates of the XeCl(X,v) dissociation rate coefficients are given. It is shown, that due to the inclusion of bound-free emission from the XeCl(B, = 1) level it is not necessary to include strong variations of these rate coefficients with the vibrational quantum number to reproduce the intensity ratios of the two laser lines observed in free-running XeCl-excimer lasers.     

Investigation of Impurity Ion Transport with Laser Blow-off in HL-2A Tokamak

Non-recycling impurities are injected into ohmic HL-2A plasma for the first time. The impurities of titanium and aluminium are injected in the discharges with varying plasma density and current. The convection and diffusion process of the injected impurity ions during the inward phase are qualitatively investigated. The results show that the transport of impurities is much slower in the central region of the plasma than outside of it and that it is greatly enhanced during sawtooth crashes.     

Electron excitation of neutral and ionic levels in Townsend discharges of argon at high E/N

We have measured the emission coefficients of the 3p levels of ArI: 3p₁, 3p₅, 3p₆, 3p₇, 3p₈, and 3p₁₀. The data for the 3p₅, 3p₆, 3p₇, 3p₈ and 3p₁₀ levels were converted to excitation coefficients by using quenching coefficients from the literature. Measurements were performed in the range of E/N between to above except for the 3p₇ level where measurements were done only up to . The data for the emission coefficients for Ar II levels include two 4p' levels with terms ² P ⁰ _1/2 and ² F ⁰ _7/2, and three 4p levels with terms ² P ⁰ _1/2, ⁴ P ⁰ _5/2 and ² D ⁰ _5/2. The measurements for the ionic levels were done for E/N above up to nearly . The absolute values of the coefficients were obtained from the intensity of the light emitted at the anode in the parallel plate self-sustained Townsend argon discharges. For low E/N the apparent emission coefficients (i.e. the normalized spatial profile of emission) for both neutral and ionic levels increase exponentially in almost the entire discharge gap. At about the exponentially increasing signal was obtained only near the anode, while at the spatial dependence was flat throughout the electrode gap. Received: 18 January 1999 / Received in final form: 12 April 1999     

Tachyonic γ -ray wideband of an ultra-relativistic electron plasma: Spectral fitting with Fermi power-law densities

Fermionic power-law distributions are derived by the second quantization of classical power-law ensembles, and applied to ultra-relativistic electron populations in the Galactic center. The γ-ray flux from the direction of the compact central source Sagittarius A* is fitted with a superluminal cascade spectrum. In this way, estimates of the radiating electron plasma in the Galactic center region are obtained, such as the power-law index, temperature, particle number, and internal energy. The spectral averaging of the tachyonic radiation densities with Fermi power-laws is explained. Fugacity expansions of the thermodynamic variables (thermal equation of state, entropy, isochoric heat capacity, and isothermal compressibility) are obtained in the quasiclassical high-temperature/low-density regime, where the spectral fit is carried out. The leading quantum correction to these variables is calculated, and its dependence on the electronic power-law index and the thermal wavelength is discussed. Excess counts of cosmic rays from the Galactic center region are related to the plasma temperature inferred from the cascade fit.     

Driven transverse shear waves in a strongly coupled dusty plasma

The linear dispersion properties of transverse shear waves in a strongly coupled dusty plasma are experimentally studied in a DC discharge device by exciting them in a controlled manner with a variable frequency external source. The dusty plasma is maintained in the strongly coupled fluid regime with (1<Γ?Γc) where Γ is the Coulomb coupling parameter and Γc is the crystallization limit. A dispersion relation for the transverse waves is experimentally obtained over a frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 2 Hz and found to show good agreement with viscoelastic theoretical results.     

Density Modulation Experiments on HT-7 Tokamak

Density modulation experiments are successfully conducted on HT-7 ohmic discharge to investigate particle transport coefficients: diffusion coefficients D and convection velocity V. The particle transport is studied at low (1.5×10¹⁹m^-3) and high (3×10¹⁹ m^-3) density regimes. The clear differences are observed that D is 0.42m²/s and 0.17m²/s, V is 4.7m/s (outward) and 1.6 m/s (inward) for low and high density plasmas respectively, where spatially constant D and V(r) = (r/a)V₀ were assumed for the analysis.     

Ionization equilibrium and EOS of a low-temperature hydrogen plasma in weak magnetic fields

The influence of a constant uniform magnetic field on the ionization equilibrium and the thermodynamic properties of a nondegenerate partially ionized hydrogen plasma is studied for weak magnetic fields. Using the methods developed in a previous work, various interaction contributions to the thermodynamic functions are given. The equation of state of a quantum magnetized plasma is presented within the framework of a virial expansion up to the second order in the fugacities, including ladder type contributions corresponding to bound states. A simple interpolation formula for an effective partition function is proposed, connecting the low- and high-field results. Furthermore, a closed analytical approximation for the thermodynamic functions in the chemical picture and a Saha equation for weakly magnetized plasmas are presented. Received 3 April 2000     

双温度氩-氮等离子体热力学和输运性质计算

获得覆盖较宽温度和压力范围内的等离子体热力学和输运性质是开展等离子体传热和流动过程数值模拟的必要条件.本文通过联立Saha方程、道尔顿分压定律以及电荷准中性条件求解等离子体组分;采用理想气体动力学理论计算等离子体热力学性质;基于Chapman-Enskog方法求解等离子体输运性质.利用上述方法计算了压力为0.1, 1.0和10.0 atm (1 atm=101325 Pa),电子温度在300—30000 K范围内,非局域热力学平衡(电子温度不等于重粒子温度)条件下氩-氮等离子体的热力学和输运性质.结果表明压力和非平衡度会影响等离子体中各化学反应过程,从而对氩-氮等离子体的热力学及输运性质有较大的影响.在局域热力学平衡条件下,计算获得的氩-氮等离子体输运性质和文献报道的数据符合良好.