Electrical and aerodynamic characteristics of sliding discharge based on a microsecond pulsed plasma supply

Plasma flow control technology has broad prospects for application. Compared with conventional dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators (DBD-PA), the sliding discharge plasma actuator (SD-PA) has the advantages of a large discharge area and a deflectable induced jet. To achieve the basic performance requirements of light weight, low cost, and high reliability required for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) plasma flight experiments, this work designed a microsecond pulse plasma supply that can be used for sliding discharge plasma actuators. In this study, the topology of the primary circuit of the microsecond pulse supply is determined, the waveform of the output terminal of the microsecond pulse plasma supply is detected using the Simulink simulation platform, and the design of the actuation voltage, the pulse frequency modulation function and the construction of the hardware circuit are achieved. Using electrical diagnosis and flow field analysis, the actuation characteristics and flow characteristics of sliding discharge plasma under microsecond pulse actuation are studied, the optimal electrical actuation parameters and flow field characteristics are described.     

Operation with 1 MA plasma current in EAST

Discharge with a plasma current of 1 MA at a line-averaged density of 1.8×1019m-3 was realized in EAST, a fully superconducting tokamak. The key issues to achieve the discharge with 1 MA plasma current include both early shaping and LHCD assistance during start-up phase to extend the voltage margin of PF coils for easier plasma control, an optimization of the control methodology for PF coils to avoid over-current fault and a very good wall condition. A better wall condition was achieved mainly by extensive Lithium coating. Both stationary H-mode and diverted plasma discharge of 100 s were also obtained.     

Tomography of a simply magnetized toroidal plasma

Optical emission spectroscopy is a passive diagnostic technique,which does not perturb the plasma state.In particular,in a hydrogen plasma,Balmer-alpha(Hα) emission can be easily measured in the visible range along a line of sight from outside the plasma vessel.Other emission lines in the visible spectral range from hydrogen atoms and molecules can be exploited too,in order to gather complementary pieces of information on the plasma state.Tomography allows us to capture bi-dimensional structures.We propose to adopt an emission spectroscopy tomography for studying the transverse profiles of magnetized plasmas when Abel inversion is not exploitable.An experimental campaign was carried out at the Thorello device,a simple magnetized torus.The characteristics of the profile extraction method,which we implemented for this purpose are discussed,together with a few results concerning the plasma profiles in a simply magnetized torus configuration.     

Numerical study of equilibrium solutions for axisymmetric plasmas with toroidal flow obtained using Solovev approach

Solovev approach of finding equilibrium solutions, which was extended to include the vacuum solutions provided by Zheng, Wooton, and Solano, was found extremely useful for the purpose of shaping studies. Its extension to toroidal equilibria with a general plasma flow was examined theoretically in a companion paper by Chu, Hu and Guo. The only meaningful extension was found for plasmas with a pure toroidal rotation and with a constant Mach number. A set of functions {SOLOVEV_ZWSm} was obtained which fixed location of the magnetic axis for equilibria with quasi-constant current density profile, with toroidal flow at constant Mach number and with specific heat capacity 1. The set {Solovev_ZWSm} should have complete shaping capability for plasma shapes with positive curvature at the boundary; but not for plasmas with negative curvature boundary points, i.e. the doublets or bean shaped tokamaks. We report here extensive numerical studies showing the shaping capability of {Solovev_ZWSm} for plasmas with pure toroidal rotations, including the change in topology of the solution when the rotation mach number changes. Included plasma topology are the sphere (spheromaks); and the tokamaks (including the doublets).     

Vacuum pumping by the halo plasma

An estimate is made of the effective vacuum pumping speed of the halo plasma in a tandem mirror fusion reactor, and it is shown that, if the electron temperature and line density are great enough, the halo can be a very good vacuum pump. One can probably obtain the required density by recycling the ions at the halo dumps. An array of small venting ports in the dump plates allows local variation of the recycle fraction and local removal of the gas at a conveniently high pressure. This vented-port concept could introduce more flexibility in the design of pumped limiters for tokamaks.     

On the green aurora emission of Ar atmospheric pressure plasma

The Ar atmospheric pressure plasma was found to be an excellent laboratorial source for green aurora emission. However, the characteristic and production mechanism of the green aurora emission of the Ar atmospheric pressure plasma are still not clear. In this work, an Ar plasma in a long glass tube which emits intense green aurora light is investigated. With the long glass tube, it can be concluded that the green aurora emission in the Ar plasma is not owing to the mixture of Ar plasma plume with the surrounding air. It is also found that the green aurora emission often appeared beyond the active electrode when the active electrode is placed at the downstream of the gas flow. The green emission disappears when the traces amount of O₂ or N₂ (about 0.05%–0.07%) is added to Ar. This is because the O₂ molecules deactivate the upper state O(1S), which results in the decrease of the green emission. On the other hand, when N₂ is added, Ar metastable atoms are quenched by N₂, which results in the decrease of O atoms and eventually leads to the decrease of the green emission intensity. The intensity of the green aurora emission increases when the driving voltage frequency increases from 1 to 10 kHz. More importantly, it is found that the green aurora emission is not affected when a grounded stainless steel needle is in contact with the plasma plume. Thus, the green emission is not driven electrically. All these findings are helpful for the understanding of the physics and its applications of atmospheric pressure plasma jet in space physics, laser physics and other application areas.     

Inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus by the synergistic action of charged and reactive plasma particles

In this paper, a low-pressure capacitively coupled plasma discharge sustained in an argonoxygen mixture was studied in order to evaluate its properties in terms of inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus. The plasma parameters as electron temperature and plasma density were measured by the Langmuir probe (N_e ≈ 10¹⁵ m⁻³, T_e ≈ 1.5 eV), while the neutral atom density was in the range of 10²¹ m⁻³. In the plasma phase, oxygen radicals were taken as reference of the reactive species with antimicrobial activity, and oxygen spectral lines, over a range of plasma process parameters, were investigated by the optical emission spectroscopy. Optimal plasma conditions were found, and a count reduction of 4 log in a few minutes of the bacterium proves the potentiality of an industrial grade plasma reactor as a sterilization agent.     

MoP with rich species generated via radio frequency thermal plasma for higher alcohols synthesis from syngas

In this paper, the molybdenum phosphide (MoP) catalysts (TPR-MoP and TPR-MoP-Pla) were prepared by the traditional method and the RF (radio frequency) thermal plasma technique respectively and characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), hydrogen temperature-programmed desorption (H₂-TPD) and carbon monoxide temperature-programmed desorption (CO-TPD) measurements, and their catalytic performance for HAS was evaluated. The results showed that the total and C₂₊ alcohols selectivity of the catalyst after plasma treatment (TPR-MoP-Pla) were enhanced. The enhanced catalytic performance could be related to more dislocation defects and the synergistic effect between Mo^0–2+ and Mo⁴⁺ valence species in the TPR-MoP-Pla catalyst. In addition, this work suggests that thermal plasma treatment can be used as a new preparation technique for the synthesis of materials with rich species.     

Influence of cold plasma treatment on insecticidal properties of wheat seeds against red flour beetles

For the long-term fortification of warehoused crops, the insecticidal impact of cold plasma treated wheat seeds against red flour beetles are studied. In this study, the gain weight loss, mortality and repellency tests of cold plasma treated seeds are investigated and statistical analysis is carried out by SPSS software. Cold plasma treatment is carried out at 800 V for 1 and 4 min. The results show that the minimum grain weight loss is observed in plasma treated seeds as compared to controlled seeds. It is also observed that the mortality rate is minimum in the controlled seed while maximum at 4 min plasma treatment. Similarly, the repellent effect has a very small variation as compared to the controlled seed for Tribolium Castaneum. Therefore, plasma treatment can be considered as a practical and effective method for seed protection against red floor beetles particularly during long-term storage by controlling the insecticidal effects.     

Dispersion and damping rate of Langmuir wave in space plasma with regularized Kappa distributed electrons

The dispersion of Langmuir wave (LW) in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma with regularized Kappa distributed electrons is investigated from the kinetic theory. The frequency and damping rate of LW are analyzed for the parameters relating to the source region of a type III solar radio burst. It is found that the linear behavior of LW is greatly modified by the suprathermal index κ and the exponential cutoff parameter α. In the region κ < 1.5, the damping rate of LW will be much larger than the one with Maxwellian distributed electrons. Hence, the nonlinear process of LW in low κ region may exhibit different properties in comparison with the one in large κ region.     

A GPU-based general numerical framework for plasma simulations in terms of microscopic kinetic equations with full collision terms

We have proposed a general numerical framework for plasma simulations on graphics processing unit clusters based on microscopic kinetic equations with full collision terms. Our numerical algorithm consistently deals with both long-range (classical forces in the Vlasov term) and short-range (quantum processes in the collision term) interactions. Providing the relevant particle masses, charges and types (classical, fermionic or bosonic), as well as the external forces and the matrix elements (in the collisional integral), the algorithm consistently solves the coupled multi-particle kinetic equations. Currently, the framework is being tested and applied in the field of relativistic heavy-ion collisions; extensions to other plasma systems are straightforward. Our framework is a potential and competitive numerical platform for consistent plasma simulations.     

Investigation of stimulated growth effect using pulsed cold atmospheric plasma treatment on Ganoderma lucidum

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) driven by pulsed high-voltage power has specific advantages in various fields, such as the growth promotion of edible fungi in plasma agriculture. Compared with other strains, Ganoderma lucidum has the significant advantage of high medicinal value, but the shortcomings of low yield, long growth cycle, and an uneven market quality. In this study, Ganoderma lucidum was treated with a CAP powered by a homemade pulsed high-voltage power supply. Three groups of Ganoderma lucidum were treated under different conditions. The stalk lengths and pileus areas of Ganoderma lucidum were recorded to evaluate growth status. Results showed that treatment frequency affected growth status considerably. Ganoderma lucidum was treated with 40 s plasma once a week and showed an improved growth status with a 33.63% increase in average stalk length and a 28% increase in the number of individuals whose pileus areas was greater than the average. Meanwhile, the growth speed was accelerated. However, treatment at an excessive frequency would damage and slow down the growth of Ganoderma lucidum.     

Investigation into wideband electromagnetic stealth device based on plasma array and radar-absorbing materials

Manipulation of electromagnetic waves is essential to various microwave applications, and absorbing devices composed of low-pressure gas discharge tubes and radar-absorbing materials (RAM) can bring new solutions to broadband electromagnetic stealth. The microwave transmission method is used to measure the physical parameters of the plasma unit. The designed structure exhibits superior absorption performance and radar cross-section (RCS) reduction capability in the 2–18 GHz band, with unique absorption advantage in the S and C frequency bands. It is found that the combination of the plasma and the RAM can significantly broaden the absorption frequency band and improve the absorption performance with excellent synergistic stealth capability. Experimental and simulation results present that broadband, wide-angle, tunable electromagnetic wave absorption and RCS reduction can be achieved by adjusting the spatial layout of the combined plasma layer and the type of RAMs, which creates opportunities for microwave transmission and selective stealth of equipment. Therefore, the wave manipulation by combined plasma array and RAM provides a valuable reference for developing numerous applications, including radar antenna stealth, spatial filter, and high power microwave shielding.     

Tunable triangular and honeycomb plasma structures in dielectric barrier discharge with mesh-liquid electrodes

We demonstrate a method to generate tunable triangular and honeycomb plasma structures via dielectric barrier discharge with uniquely designed mesh-liquid electrodes. A rapid reconfiguration between the triangular lattice and honeycomb lattice has been realized. Novel structures comprised of triangular plasma elements have been observed and a robust angular reorientation of the triangular plasma elements withis suggested. An active control on the geometrical shape, size and angular orientation of the plasma elements has been achieved. Moreover, the formation mechanism of different plasma structures is studied by spatial-temporal resolved measurements using a high-speed camera. The photonic band diagrams of the plasma structures are calculated by use of finite element method and two large omnidirectional band gaps have been obtained for honeycomb lattices, demonstrating that such plasma structures can be potentially used as plasma photonic crystals to manipulate the propagation of microwaves. The results may offer new strategies for engineering the band gaps and provide enlightenments on designing new types of 2D and possibly 3D metamaterials in other fields.     

Measurement of Magnetic Island Width by Multi-Channel ECE Radiometer on HT-7 Tokamak

A 16-channel electron cyclotron emission (ECE) radiometer has been employed to observe the (m; n) = (2; 1) magnetic island structure on HT-7 tokamak, where m and n represent the poloidal and toroidal mode number respectively. The results indicate that the island width is about 7 cm when the magnetic island is saturated during the m=n = 2=1 mode. The location of resonance surface can be determined by plotting the contour of ECE relative fluctuation.This method could be applied to the HT-7 and EAST campaigns in the future for the research of neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs).     

Gas pressure effect on plasma transport in a magnetic-filtered radio-frequency plasma source

Volume negative ion production relies on a magnetic filter(MF), where the plasma downstream of the MF is characterized by a strip-like pattern that consists of a bright and dense plasma region. In this work, we study, in a radio-frequency plasma source, the effects of operating pressure on this strip. This investigation, conducted using a Langmuir probe, shows that the plasma uniformity might be controlled through the gas pressure. Moreover, the operating pressure determines on which hemi-cylinder(side of magnetic field lines) the strip forms. This side inversion of the high-density plasma hemi-cylinder is due to an inversion of an ambipolar electric field that changes the E?×?B drift direction.     

Numerical modelling of a low power non-transferred arc plasma reactor for methane conversion

Thermal flow characteristics and the methane conversion reaction in a low power arc plasma reactor for efficient storage and transport of methane, which is the main component of shale gas, were simulated. The temperature and velocity distributions were calculated according to the type of discharge gases and arc current level by a self-developed magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code and a commercial ANSYS-FLUENT code; the transport of chemical species was analyzed as including the chemical reactions of methane conversion. The simulated results were verified by the comparison of calculated and measured arc voltages with permissible low error as under 4%. Three C₂ hydrocarbon gases with ethane (C₂H₆), ethylene (C₂H₄), and acetylene (C₂H₂) were selected as the converted species of methane from experimental data. The mass fraction of C₂ hydrocarbons and hydrogen as the product of the conversion reaction at the reactor was also calculated. Those values show good agreement with the actual experimental results in that the major conversion reaction occurred in C₂H₂ and hydrogen, and the conversions to C₂H₆, C₂H₄, and hydrogen were minor reactions of methane pyrolysis conversion.     

Degradation of tiamulin by a packed bed dielectric barrier plasma combined with TiO2 catalyst

Recently, a plasma catalyst was employed to efficiently degrade antibiotic residues in the environment. In this study, the plasma generated in a packed bed dielectric barrier reactor combined with TiO2 catalyst is used to degrade the antibiotic tiamulin (TIA) loaded on the surface of simulated soil particles. The effects of applied voltage, composition of the working gas, gas flow rate and presence or absence of catalyst on the degradation effect were studied. It was found that plasma and catalyst can produce a synergistic effect under optimal conditions (applied voltage 25 kV, oxygen ratio 1%, gas flow rate 0.6 l min−1, treatment time 5 min). The degradation efficiency of the plasma combined with catalyst can reach 78.6%, which is 18.4% higher than that of plasma without catalyst. When the applied voltage is 30 kV, the gas flow rate is 1 l min−1, the oxygen ratio is 1% and the plasma combined with TiO2 catalyst treats the sample for 5 min the degradation efficiency of TIA reached 97%. It can be concluded that a higher applied voltage and longer processing times not only lead to more degradation but also result in a lower energy efficiency. Decreasing the oxygen ratio and gas flow rate could improve the degradation efficiency. The relative distribution and identity of the major TIA degradation product generated was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. The mechanism of TIA removal by plasma and TiO2 catalyst was analyzed, and the possible degradation path is discussed.     

Dynamics of oscillatory plasma flows prior to the H-mode in the HL-2A tokamak

This paper discusses edge oscillatory plasma flows, geodesic acoustic mode(GAM) and limit cycle oscillations(LCOs), which have been measured by Doppler reflectometry prior to the high confinement mode(H-mode) in the HL-2A tokamak. The complex relations between the flows and background turbulence have been analyzed. It was observed that the GAM and LCO coexist,and these two flows and turbulence have strong nonlinear interactions during the intermediate confinement phase(I-phase). Dynamics of the shear flows and turbulence prior to the H-mode shows that the oscillatory flows quench the turbulence along with the increase of the mean E × B flow at the early stage of the I-phase, then the oscillatory flows are damped and the further increased mean flow takes over the role in turbulence suppression. The reduced turbulent transport results in the formation of a steep edge transport barrier. It suggests that the oscillatory flows can initiate the L–H transition through providing a positive feedback for the increase of the mean E × B flow strength.     

Analysis of the critical active species for methylene blue decoloration in a dielectric barrier discharge plasma system

In the paper, a hybrid gas–liquid dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma system was set up to treat a methylene blue (MB) solution. The effects of the change of the carrier gas, the gas bubbling rate and different kinds of scavenger addition, including sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃), para benzoquinone (p-BQ), triethylenediamine and sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH₂PO₄), on the MB decoloration were reviewed to clarify the critical active species for the dye decoloration in the DBD plasma system. The obtained results show that higher decoloration of the MB solution could be achieved when O₂ was used as the carrier gas, which could be 100% after 20 min discharge treatment, and the result confirmed the crucial effect of O₃ in the MB decoloration. Based on the experiments of the scavenger addition, it could be concluded that O₂⁻ and ¹O₂ were two other important reactive oxygen species (ROS) for the MB decoloration. The results of the higher chemical oxygen demand removal and faster disappearance of the characteristic peak of the MB from the UV–vis analysis under O₂ bubbling conditions also proved the critical effect of the ROS formed by O₂ on the MB decoloration.