Methods for increasing the service life of electrodes in the arc plasmatorches

Results of experimental studies of electrode erosion in high-current arc discharges are presented. Available data on the service life of electrodes in the arc plasma generators sometimes are contradictory and do not give the whole pattern on the relationship of specific erosion of the electrode material with the basic determining parameters of the plasmatorch. The real ways to increase the duration of plasmatorch operation before electrode replacement have been proposed.     

Electric arc plasmatorch for steam heating

A construction arrangement of electric arc plasmatorch with copper tubular electrodes for steam plasma generation was developed and tested. Experimental data on energy curves of this plasmatorch with nominal power of 100 kW are presented.     

Analysis and optimization of gas-thermal spray process in terms of condensed phase velocity and temperature

The paper presents the experimental results for velocity and tempertaure disibutions of the condensed phase in a plasma jet from the plasmatorch PNK-50 (design from ITAM SB RAS, Novosibirsk). The plasma jet is used at different operational modes for thermal spraying of nickel alloy powder PR-NKh16SR3. The measurements for average velocity (230–280 m/s) and temperature (2290–2410 K) of sprayed particles were matched to data on microhardness (630–710 HV) and porosity (1.7–13.5 %) of samples. Results were transferred into coating properties maps plotted in coordinates “arc current vs. torch offset” and “particle velocity vs. particle temperature”. Experiments demonstrated the change in parameters of condensed phase in the jet after performimg of maintenance job for the plasmatorch. We propose the method for adjusting the operational parameters of thermal spraying equipment using optical methods of control for particle velocity and particle temperature. The exemplary apparatus function of the plasmatorch was plotted; an approach is proposed for optimization and transfer of spraying technology of coatings with specified properties between equipment from different manufacturers, different class and power.     

Small-size spectrometer for emission analysis of low-temperature plasma flows

Calculation data for characteristics of concave holographic arrays are reported, allowing development of low-size spectrometers with medium and high spectral resolution. The holographic arrays were fabricated around new subnanostructured films of chalcogenide semiconductors. A medium-resolution, small-size spectrometer was used to measure the distribution of temperature in the gas flow emanating from a DC plasmatorch with sectioned inter-electrode insert by the relative-intensity method. Presently available methods for measuring the temperature of non-uniform optically thin plasma were employed. A comparison of spectral and thermophysical methods for temperature measurements is given.     

Investigation of energy parameters of the plasma-resistive furnace

The electrical and thermal characteristics of plasma-resistive furnace in the drying zone at a recycling manmade waste were studied. The dependences of power output in the drying zone at different specific electrical resistances of the charge were derived. It is shown that introduction of additional resistance heating in the drying zone reduces the load on plasmatorch, increasing the lifetime of electrodes.     

Synthesis of silicon carbide nanopowders in a two-jet plasma-chemical reactor

Results of experimental studies on production of nanostructured silicon carbide powders in a plasma-chemical reactor based on a two-jet plasmatorch are presented. The conditions of SiC formation as a function of temperature and composition of the initial components are determined by thermodynamic calculations. Possibility of silicon carbide synthesis with the size of particles of 5?20 nm is shown experimentally.     

Investigation of the high-current arc in helium

The secondary and erosion characteristics of the electric-arc plasmatorch were studied experimentally. Formulas for arc voltage calculation depending on helium flow rate, diameter of the inner cavity of cylindrical copper anode, arc current, and distance from the nozzle to metal melt were derived.     

Effect of plasma spraying regimes on structure and properties of Ni<Subscript>3</Subscript>Al coatings

The structure and tribological properties of coatings made of PN85YU15 powder were studied. The coatings were deposited on the mild steel blanks by the technology of air-plasma spraying using a unit of annular input and gas-dynamic powder focusing. Efficiency of heating and acceleration of powder particles was studied preliminarily. Measurement results on temperature and velocity distributions of particles at a certain spraying distance by the method of spectral pyrometry and time-of-flight method are presented. The effect of plasmatorch arc current and amount of propane-butane in the plasma flow on the structure and properties of coatings is analyzed in this paper. It is determined that the phase composition of coatings and initial powder is the same: the main phase is Ni₃Al compound; moreover, the structure contains Ni₅Al₃ phase. It is shown that an increase in the amount of propane-butane increases coatings porosity. The densest coatings (5.77%) were obtained at the plasmatorch arc current of 200 A with the reduced amount of propane-butane. The coatings obtained at the minimal arc current of 100 A with an increased amount of propane-butane are characterized by maximal porosity (20.38%). The results of tribological testing of the coatings under the conditions of sliding friction with a lubricant by the disc-plane scheme are presented. From the standpoint of obtaining the densest coatings with high performance, the optimal regimes of plasma spraying of PN85YU15 powder are the current from 140 A to 200 and using the air and propane-butane mixture only as the shielding gas (anode curtain).     

DMFC两相流及其对传质影响的研究

采用自制的实验系统对液态进料直接甲醇燃料电池(DMFC)阳极交叉指状流道内的两相况功特性进行了可视化实验研究.自制的DMFC单电池带有透明窗口,采用镀金的不锈钢阴极极板和透明的聚碳酸脂阳极流场板,电解质为Nafion117膜.实验过程中燃料电池的进口总管和出口总管是水平的,进口流道和出口流道是竖直的.实验发现,出口流道中典型的两相流流型是泡状流、而出口总管中的典型流型是弹状流.进口流道中的气弹和气柱导致了阳极传质恶化.     

Enhancement of thin air jets produced by ring-shaped dielectric barrier discharges using an auxiliary electrode

A ring-shaped dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was explored as a small form factor ionic wind device. Using a concentric ring electrode geometry, the DBD produced a converging ionic wind that leads to a vertical flow away from the DBD electrodes. The vertical flow was channeled through an outlet nozzle to produce a thin air jet, and a grounded auxiliary electrode was placed at the nozzle to enhance the exit velocity. The inner diameter of the ring-shaped DBD electrode and the auxiliary electrode ranged 3.18–9.54 mm and 1.0–4.0 mm, respectively. Results showed that the auxiliary electrode generated an ionic wind velocity up to 3.7 m/s and increased the conversion efficiency from discharge to flow power by a factor of 30 by strengthening the electric field where the ions are accelerated.     

Simple Physical Model of Generation of the Low-Pressure Radio Frequency Supersonic Plasma Jet

The paper presents a simple theoretical model of the breakdown of the supersonic plasma jet generated by the hollow cathode discharge inside the nozzle in the low pressure RF plasma-chemical reactor. Through the nozzle which is drilled in the RF electrode the working gas flows to the reactor chamber. If at the outlet of the nozzle the gas flow is supersonic the well defined plasma jet is created inside the reactor chamber. The results of our model are in qualitative agreement with experimental data.     

Corona-discharge-based neutralization of charged granular insulating materials in contact with an electrode of opposite polarity

Charge neutralization is a key operation in many electrostatic processes. A wide-range of charge neutralizers have already been developed for various applications: eliminate shock and ignition hazards, avoid electrostatic discharges that might affect the operation of electronic equipment, reduce electrostatic adhesion forces that might stick granular materials in pneumatic conveyors, and so on. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate several methods of charge neutralization for charged granular insulating materials spread on an electrode energized from a voltage source of opposite polarity, a situation encountered – for instance – in two-metallic-belt tribo-aero-electrostatic separators, and which is not covered by commercially-available solutions. Three corona-discharge-based charge neutralization systems are studied: (i) DC-biased AC voltage applied to a corona dual-type electrode; (ii) DC-biased AC voltage applied to a triode-type electrode system; (iii) DC voltage applied to a corona dual-type electrode. The charged samples of polycarbonate granules are obtained at the outlet of a tribo-aero-electrostatic separator. The electric charge per mass ratio of each sample is measured before and after neutralization. The third of the above-mentioned charge neutralization solutions seems to be the most effective solution, but it requires an appropriate adjustment of the DC voltage applied to the corona dual-type electrode.     

Numerical simulation of plasma and fluid behavior in the ISTEC-2 nonequilibrium disk MHD generator with multiple loads

Plasma and fluid behavior in a nonequilibrium disk magnetohydrodynamics generator with multiple loading has been investigated with a time-dependent three-dimensional numerical simulation. Particular attention is paid to the effects of the downstream load resistance and the influences of the middle electrode on the plasma and fluid flow. The possibility to improve generator performance by multiple-loading operation is also examined. It is shown that increase in the downstream load resistance raises the static pressure and decelerates the working gas in the upstream region. This is because the static pressure increase and the boundary layer development near the middle electrode have the same effects as the change of the outlet boundary conditions for the upstream region. It is found that the ionization degree of seed atoms is kept high on the middle electrode, whereas, the electron temperature is decreased rapidly. This results from the longer relaxation time of ion number density compared to that of the electron temperature. The multiple-loading operation leads to an improvement of the enthalpy extraction ratio. Isentropic efficiency, however, becomes somewhat lower under the multiple-loading condition. This is caused by the high static pressure and the low electrical efficiency under the high enthalpy extraction condition for the multiple loading.     

Numerical analysis on the electrostatic capture of airborne nanoparticles and viruses in a homemade particle concentrator without a unipolar charger

A numerical analysis on the electrostatic capture of airborne viruses and nanoparticles in a homemade particle concentrator without a unipolar charger using commercial CFD software (CFD-ACE+) was presented. We simulated the effects of inlet/outlet configurations and particle diameters on the collection efficiency of the particle concentrator, and the simulation was in good agreement with the experimental measurements. We investigated the effects of the electrode arrangement on the collection efficiency. We also discussed the maximum collection efficiency and the relationship between the electric field intensity, the positions of the simulated particles on the inlet surface, and the collection efficiency.     

Analysis of the behavior of a discharge in a coaxial plasma jet accelerator

We analyze the behavior of the discharge in a coaxial plasma jet accelerator with a pulsed supply of the working gas released by an electric discharge from titanium hydride powder. Radiation (varying with time) from the discharge in the accelerator was detected using an optical method through a narrow slit cut along the outer electrode by a Bifo Company K008 streak camera. Stable operation of the source with the highest kinetic energy of a pure hydrogen plasma jet was attained for a relatively uniform glow of the discharge along the accelerator during the entire current pulse. Conversely, local glow of the discharge at the outlet or inlet of the accelerator considerably contaminated the discharge with impurities, and the kinetic energy of the plasma jet decreased by an order of magnitude. The highest energy of the plasma jet was attained when the polarity of the electrodes was the same as at the plasma focus.     

基于灰色关联分析的BP神经网络对混流闭式冷却塔出水温度的预测

通过控制变量法对混流闭式冷却塔进行测试, 采用灰色关联分析法对影响出水温度的因素进行筛选, 将关联度较大的5个因子作为输入参数, 进而建立灰色_BP神经网络预测模型, 对混流闭式冷却塔的出水温度进行预测。操作参数包括进水温度、湿球温度、补水温度、循环水流量和风量, 输出值为出水温度。网络采用三层结构, 隐含层神经元数为4个, 迭代次数为30 000次, 使用不涉及训练阶段的实验数据来验证所建立的模型。结果表明, 灰色_BP神经网络模型比传统BP神经网络模型的预测结果更加准确, 其预测值与实际值的相关系数、平均相对误差、均方根误差, 分别为0.998 9、0.293 4%和0.152 9, 因而可认为灰色_BP神经网络是预测混流闭式冷却塔出水温度的有效工具。     

后置蜗壳斜流叶轮进出口流场的实验研究

后置蜗壳斜流叶轮进出口流场的实验研究吴克启，于文华，张勇，胡晓，刘海波，赵联州（华中理工大学武汉４３００７４）关键词：后置蜗壳，斜流叶轮，进出口流场，实验一、前言后置导叶翼形和圆弧形斜流风机的设计及应用【川＼日益受到人们的关注并形成了性能良好的斜流风...     

TEA CO2激光器非对称电极系统的电场分布

 设计了一种非对称电极,这种非对称电极的阳极是Chang电极或Ernst电极,阴极是由直线和圆弧构成的简单电极。通过比较和分析非对称电极和对称电极的特点发现,非对称电极系统中简单电极的边缘电场起伏最大。采用有限元方法计算了非对称电极系统中的简单电极取不同的直线长度和弧线半径时,非对称电极系统的电场分布,给出了选择非对称电极系统中的简单电极参数的依据。结果表明：这种非对称电极系统结合了解析电极和简单电极的优点,通过选择非对称电极系统的简单电极参数,它可以在TEA CO₂激光器中产生边缘电场起伏小于0.06,且满足电极表面均匀场面积宽度要求的电场。     

变截面超音速汽液两相流升压过程的研究

本文针对超音速汽液两相流在变截面通道中的升压过程进行了实验研究,得到了变截面混合腔中超音速汽液两相流的压力变化规律,通过实验结果的分析得出了变截面混合腔中的渐缩部分的压力分布与出口压力无关、变截面通道的渐扩部分为一个单相流体扩压管、压力突变发生在变截面混合腔喉部和随着出口压力升高而激波强度增大、变截面超音速汽液两相流升压技术具有定流量特征等结论。     

三维漏斗中颗粒物质堵塞问题的数值实验研究

对于工程和实验中使用漏斗颗粒流而言,连续稳定的流量是必要的.当漏斗口较小时,很容易发生堵塞行为.堵塞现象对于交通流、疏散问题等也具有重要的意义.前人主要使用扰动的方法破坏漏斗中已有的堵塞,以便引起下一次堵塞,加快实验进程.本文利用自主开发的基于GPU(graphics processing unit)的密集颗粒流模拟程序,主要研究当三维漏斗开口打开后的第一次堵塞行为,不再引入扰动.详细讨论了漏斗开口尺寸、漏斗锥角等几何参数对坍塌规模的影响.发现对于坍塌规模的概率分布符合前人的研究结果,可以分为两部分:峰的左边呈幂函数上升形式,峰的右边呈指数衰减趋势.对于漏斗开口尺寸和漏斗锥角而言,均存在一个临界值使得堵塞不再发生.