Numerical characterization of the plasma arc with various Ar-CO2 mixtures

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 28; no. 45; pp. 63495 - 63503
• Main Authors: Rajendran, Abiyazhini, Krishnaraj, Sowmiya, Kandasamy, Ramachandran, Chidambara Thanupillai, Balasubramanian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carbon dioxide; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Efficiency; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Gas composition; Green Technologies for Sustainable Water; Heating; Industrial areas; Plasma; Plasma arc heating; Plasma jets; Temperature distribution; Thermal conductivity; Two dimensional models; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Gas composition; Ar-CO; Plasma technology; CO; plasma; Anode arc root; mixtures
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-10058-x

Plasma technology finds applications in many industrial areas. To improve the process efficiency, different plasma forming gases and their mixtures are used. Since CO
2
is economical and has high thermal conductivity, it is identified as a potential candidate in plasma material processing. However, the characteristics and merits of CO
2
plasma arc in material processing are scanty. In this work, a 2D model is built to simulate plasma arc with CO
2
and its mixtures with Ar. Effects of arc current, gas composition and arc length on the arc heating efficiency and arc characteristics are discussed. The arc size is strongly influenced by the gas composition at 200 A than at 100 A. Temperature distribution in the arcs is wider when CO
2
content is decreased. The effect of arc current on the arc heating efficiency is stronger at lower current. Results predicted by the present model are compared with measured data for model validation.