Experimental Study of Current Discharge Behavior and Hard X-ray Anisotropy by APF Plasma Focus Device

Amirkabir (APF) is a new Mather-type plasma focus device (16 kV, 36 μf, and 115 nH). In this work we present some experimental results as variation of discharge current signal respect to applied voltage at the optimum pressure, focusing time of plasma versus gas pressure, and variations of current discharge with different insulator sleeve dimensions. As we prospected optimum pressure tending to increase as we tried to higher voltage levels. The time taken by the current sheath to lift-off the insulator surface and therefore quality of pinched plasma depends on the length of the insulator sleeve. The results show that the insulator diameter can influence on pinch quality. Behavior of hard X-ray (HXR) signals with the pressure and also anisotropy of HXR investigated by the use of two scintillation detectors. The distribution of HXR intensity shows a large anisotropy with a maximum intensity between 22.5° and 45° and also between −22.5° and −67.5°.     

Stray Capacitance in a Plasma Focus Device: Implications on the Current Derivative Calibration and the Effective Discharge Current

The notion that PF discharge circuits should be represented by an equivalent circuit having two loops instead of the traditional single one is presented. This implies that two frequencies must be expected in the currents and voltages in these devices. Also, that the current flowing into the plasma is not the same as the current flowing from the capacitor bank. Finally, the difficulties for calibrating in situ a Rogowski coil are discussed.     

Temperature and Nitric Oxide Generation in a Pulsed Arc Discharge Plasma

Nitric oxide （NO） is increasingly being used in medical treatments of high blood pressure, acute respiratory distress syndrome and other illnesses related to the lungs. Currently a NO inhalation system consists of a gas cylinder of N2 mixed with a high concentration of NO. This arrangement is potentially risky due to the possibility of an accidental leak of NO from the cylinder. The presence of NO in the air leads to the formation of nitric dioxide （NO2）, which is toxic to the lungs. Therefore, an on-site generator of NO would be highly desirable for medical doctors to use with patients with lung disease.
To develop the NO inhalation system without a gas cylinder, which would include a high concentration of NO, NAMIHIRA et al have recently reported on the production of NO from room air using a pulsed arc discharge. In the present work, the temperature of the pulsed arc discharge plasma used to generate NO was measured to optimize the discharge condition. The results of the temperature measurements showed the temperature of the pulsed arc discharge plasma reached about 10,000 K immediately after discharge initiation and gradually decreased over tens of microseconds. In addition, it was found that NO was formed in a discharge plasma having temperatures higher than 9,000 K and a smaller input energy into the discharge plasma generates NO more efficiently than a larger one.     

Pinch Current Limitation in Sahand Plasma Focus

In this paper a new version of ML model has been used to simulate discharge dynamics in a 90 kj Fillipove type plasma focus, Sahand. Comparing model predictions with experimentally measured data shows that, the ML model when properly is fitted, is able to realistically simulate the discharge dynamics and consequently can be used to investigate the effect of operational and structural parameters on Sahand PF operation. To determine the optimum parameters which maximize the pinch current I_pinch, the effect of gas pressure and static external inductance L₀, on discharge dynamics in Sahand were investigated. The obtained results show that, for fixed initial stored capacitor energy, there is an optimum gas pressure at which I_pinch has its maximum value. To further increase in I_pinch at the optimum pressure, the static inductance was reduced. The results indicated that there exists an optimum value of L₀, where I_pinch reaches a maximum value and reducing L₀ further will not increase I_pinch. The maximum I_pinch has been achieved at optimum low static inductance at the expense of reducing C.S velocity at the time of pinch. The results of this investigation can confirm the current pinch limitation indicated before for Mather type PFs, for a Fillipov type PF.     

用银激活计数器测量快脉冲中子

本文介绍了银激活计数器测量等离子体焦点快脉冲中子的原理，用加速器Ｄ－Ｄ中子作标准中子源，采用饱和照射方式对探头进行了标定。在探测距离６０ｃｍ，给出探头定标系数η＝（２．６０土０．３２）×１０￣４中子／计数。误差分析表明，作与不作散射中子校正，实际测量焦点中子的相对标准误差小于２０％和３０％。最后给出了测量焦点中子的部分结果。     

Ultra Fast Shutter Driven by Pulsed High Current

Radiation simulation utilizing plasma radiation sources (PRS) generates a large number of undesirable debris, which may damage the expensive diagnosing detectors. An ultra fast shutter (UFS) driven by pulsed high current can erect a physical barrier to the slowly moving debris after allowing the passage of X-ray photons. The UFS consists of a pair of thin metal foils twisting the parallel axes in a Nylon cassette, compressed with an outer magnetic field, generated from a fast capacitor bank, discharging into a single turn loop. A typical capacitor bank is of 7.5 μF charging voltages varying from 30 kV to 45 kV, with corresponding currents of approximately 90kA to140 kA and discharging current periods of approximately 13.1 μs. A shutter closing time as fast as 38 microseconds has been obtained with an aluminium foil thickness of 100 micrometers and a cross-sectional area of 15 mm by 20 mm. The design, construction and the expressions of the valve-closing time of the UFS are presented along with the measured results of valve-closing velocities.     

Improvement on Diamond Nucleation Treated by Pulsed Arc Discharge Plasma

A technique of improvement on diamond nucleation based on pulsed arc discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure was developed. The pulsed arc discharge was induced respectively by nitrogen, argon and methanol gas. After the arc plasma pretreatment, a nucleation density higher than 10^10 cm^-2 may be obtained subsequently in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a mirror-polished silicon substrate without any other mechanical treatment. The effects of the arc discharge plasma on the diamond nucleation were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and Raman spectroscopy. The enhancement of nucleation is postulated to be a result of the formation of carbonlike phase materials or nitrogenation on the substrate surface without surface defect produced by arc discharge.     

Experiment and Analysis on the Treatment of Gaseous Benzene Using Pulsed Corona Discharge Plasma

An experiment and analysis on removal of gaseous benzene by pulse corona inducedplasma is presented in this article. Important parameters effecting removal efficiency have been investigated, such as pulse peak voltage, pulse frequency, gas inlet concentration, gas flow rate and reactor temperature. The result shows that the removal efficiency increases with the increase in pulse peak voltage, pulse frequency and reactor temperature, but decreases in the rise of gas inlet concentration and gas flow rate. On the condition of Vp = 36 kV, f = 80 Hz, C = 1440 mg/m^3 and Q = 640 ml/min, the largest removal efficiency is 98%. Finally, the reacted products are qualitatively analysed and the reaction processes are deduced in combination with plasma-chemistry theory.     

Influence of Plasma Temperature on the Concentration of NO Produced by Pulsed Arc Discharge

This study conducted experiments on producing inhaled medical nitric oxide （iNO） by pulsed arc discharge in dry and clean air under different discharge current. The concentration of NO and NO2 produced by air discharge, as well as the change of the ratio of NO2/NO under different discharge current were investigated. Through the analysis of plasma emission spectrum, the relationship between discharge current and arc plasma temperature was studied. The results indicate that, as discharge current increases, the arc plasma temperature increases, which then leads to the increase of NO concentration, the decrease of NO2 concentration, and the rapid decrease of the ratio of NO2/NO. When the plasma temperature is 9000 K, the ratio of NO2/NO is approximately 60%, while when the plasma temperature varies between 10550 K and 11300 K, the NO2/NO ratio is within the range of 4.2% to 4.6%.     

Current Sheath Dynamics and its Evolution Studies in Sahand Filippov Type Plasma Focus

One of the most important factors for optimizing the plasma focus device operation is the dynamics of the plasma. In this paper, we investigated the profile and dynamics of the current sheath by measuring the velocity and distribution of current sheath in Sahand as a Filippov type plasma focus device. For this purpose, the discharge is produced in pure neon gas with capacitor bank stored energies in the range of 14–50 kJ. The current sheath is monitored using two sets of magnetic probes, one with four and other with three equi-distant probe coils. These probes, installed in both radial and axial directions near the edge of the interior electrode (anode), are used for monitoring the distributions and dynamics of the current sheath. The maximum current sheath velocities at radial and axial phase are 4 ± 0.13 and 3.51 ± 0.22 (cm/μs) respectively for 0.25 Torr. The decreasing of CS velocities in going move away from anode surface is one of the our results in this paper. In this paper we conclude that the current sheath velocity at radial phase in Sahand is greater than axial phase. The effect of the neon working gas pressure and working voltage on the current sheath dynamics and its spatial evolution is investigated and presented.     

Treatment of Dye Wastewater by Using a Hybrid Gas/Liquid Pulsed Discharge Plasma Reactor

A hybrid gas/liquid pulsed discharge plasma reactor using a porous ceramic tube is proposed for dye wastewater treatment. High voltage pulsed discharge plasma was generated in the gas phase and simultaneously the plasma channel was permeated through the tiny holes of the ceramic tube into the water phase accompanied by gas bubbles. The porous ceramic tube not only separated the gas phase and liquid phase but also offered an effective plasma spreading channel. The effects of the peak pulse voltage, additive gas varieties, gas bubbling rate, solution conductivity and TiO2 addition were investigated. The results showed that this reactor was effective for dye wastewater treatment. The decoloration efficiency of Acid Orange II was enhanced with an increase in the power supplied. Under the studied conditions, 97% of Acid Orange II in aqueous solution was effectively decolored with additive oxygen gas, which was 51% higher than that with argon gas, and the increasing 02 bubbling rate also benefited the decoloration of dye wastewater. Water conductivity had a small effect on the level of decoloration. Catalysis of TiO2 could be induced by the pulsed discharge plasma and addition of TiO2 aided the decoloration of Acid Orange II.     

Simulations and Measurement of Electron Energy and Effective Electron Temperature of Nanosecond Pulsed Argon Plasma

The behavior of argon plasma driven by nanosecond pulsed plasma in a low-pressure plasma reactor is investigated using a global model, and the results are compared with the experimental measurements. The time evolution of plasma density and the electron energy probability function are calculated by solving the energy balance and Boltzmann equations. During and shortly after the discharge pulse, the electron energy probability function can be represented by a bi-Maxwellian distribution, indicating two energy groups of electrons. According to the effective electron temperature calculation, we find that there are more high-energy electrons that play an important role in the excitation and ionization processes than low-energy electrons. The effective electron temperature is also measured via optical emission spectroscopy to evaluate the simulation model. In the comparison, the simulation results are found to be in agreement with the measure- ments. Furthermore, variations of the effective electron temperature are presented versus other discharge parameters, such as pulse width time, pulse rise time and gas pressure.     

Temporal Variation of the Current Sheet Inductance from PACO Plasma Focus Device

The temporal variation of the current sheet (CS) inductance in a plasma focus device can be calculated using the current derivative and the voltage signal acquired on the anode electrode, which are very common measurements in this type of device. The value of that inductance contains important information about the discharge performed including the CS lift-off from the insulator, voltage between the pinch extremes, maximum energy of the X-ray, energy delivered to the pinch and information about the actuating fusion mechanisms if the filling pressure is deuterium. This work discusses the values of the CS inductance extracted from several discharges of the Plasma Auto Confinado (PACO) plasma focus, installed in the National University of the Center of Buenos Aires—Argentina (2 kJ total energy, capacitor bank of 4 μF charged to 31 kV and a maximum current of 250 kA).     

强流脉冲中性源的等离子体发生器电源

本文叙述了强流脉冲中性源等离子体发生器电源的特殊要求,给出了用于7×35cm~2大面积源的灯丝电源和弧流电源的主电路。     

Investigation of Plasma Facing Components in Plasma Focus Operation

Both aspects of the plasma–wall interactions, counter effect of plasma and materials, have been considered in our experiments. The AEOI plasma focus, Dena, has Filippov-type electrodes. The experimental results verify that neutron production increases using tungsten as an anode insert material, compared to the copper one. The experiments show decrement of the hardness of Aluminum targets outward the sides, from 135 to 78 in Vickers scale. The sputtering yield is about 0.0065 for deuteron energy of 50 keV.     

基于中子管离子源的放电电流特性测量

离子源是中子管的核心部件,其放电电流特性与离子源电压、管内真空度和磁场变化有关。该设计通过由离子源、控制台和真空计所组成的实验装置,对离子源放电电流特性进行测量,可得到离子源放电规律,找到其最佳工作状态和工作参数,提高产品质量。     

Magnetic Reynolds Number and Neon Current Sheet Structure in the Axial Phase of a Plasma Focus

The Magnetic Reynolds Number (MRN) in neon is computed as a function of Neon shock speed. The magnetic field profiles at various positions in the axial run down phase of the INTI Plasma Focus device are measured over a range of pressures from 2 to 20 Torr. These profiles are assessed for good electromagnetic coupling including measuring the current per unit current sheet thickness as a comparative measure of current sheet diffusion. It was found that at an axial current sheet speed of over 3.5 cm/μs (corresponding to MRN > 15), the current sheet has a compact profile with current density of 55 kA/cm of sheet thickness whereas at speeds below 2.8 cm/μs (corresponding to MRN < 10) the profile is more diffuse with current density less than 30 kA/cm of sheet thickness. Based on these studies it is proposed to take a speed of 3 cm/μs corresponding to an MRN of 10 as the minimum speed of neon current sheet below which the electromagnetic coupling begins to weaken.