Effect of pulse voltage rising time on discharge characteristics of a helium-air plasma at atmospheric pressure

In this paper,the influence of voltage rising time on a pulsed-dc helium-air plasma at atmospheric pressure is numerically simulated.Simulation results show that as the voltage rising time increases from 10 ns to 30 ns,there is a decrease in the discharge current,namely 0.052 A when the voltage rising time is 10 ns and 0.038 A when the voltage rising time is 30 ns.Additionally,a shorter voltage rising time results in a faster breakdown,a more rapidly rising current waveform,and a higher breakdown voltage.Furthermore,the basic paraneters of the streamer discharge also increase with voltage rise rate,which is ascribed to the fact that more energetic electrons are produced in a shorter voltage rising time.Therefore,a pulsed-dc voltage with a short rising time is desirable for efficient production of nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma discharge.     

Model development and simulation of transient behavior of helium turbine system

This paper describes a performance model for the transient analysis of helium turbine system. Governing equations have been derived from integral forms of unsteady basic conservation equations. The one-dimensional model is employed for flow-paths except turbine and compressor, which are considered as zero-dimensional components and volume-less treatment is employed. Component mathematical model results in a set of ordinary differential equations and algebraic equations. The simulation code is established on MATLAB, and the ordinary differential equations are solved a variable order solver of MATLAB, ode15s. The accidents of loss of load and loss of feedwater to precooler and intercooler, the transients of recuperator and the decreasing heat transfer capacity of intermediate heat exchanger are simulated respectively. The analysis of calculated results verifies the present model. The effects of bypass valve size and thermal inertia of the recuperator wall are also studied. The simulation results show that throttle size of bypass valve has important influence on the characteristics of turbine system and should be carefully selected to satisfy the requirement of system control and safety.     

Synergistic effect of helium and hydrogen for bubble swelling in reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steel under sequential helium and hydrogen irradiation at different temperatures

In order to investigate the synergistic effect of helium and hydrogen on swelling in reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel, specimens were separately irradiated by single He⁺ beam and sequential He⁺ and H⁺ beams at different temperatures from 250 to 650 °C. Transmission electron microscope observation showed that implantation of hydrogen into the specimens pre-irradiated by helium can result in obvious enhancement of bubble size and swelling rate which can be regarded as a consequence of hydrogen being trapped by helium bubbles. But when temperature increased, Ostwald ripening mechanism would become dominant, besides, too large a bubble could become mobile and swallow many tiny bubbles on their way moving, reducing bubble number density. And these effects were most remarkable at 450 °C which was the peak bubble swelling temperature for RAMF steel. When temperature was high enough, say above 450, point defects would become mobile and annihilate at dislocations or surface. As a consequence, helium could no longer effectively diffuse and clustering in materials and bubble formation was suppressed. When temperature was above 500, helium bubbles would become unstable and decompose or migrate out of surface. Finally no bubble was observed at 650 °C.     

Discharge characteristics and reactive species production of unipolar and bipolar nanosecond pulsed gas-liquid discharge generated in atmospheric

In this paper,unipolar pulse (including positive pulse and negative pulse) and bipolar pulse voltage are employed to generate diffuse gas-liquid discharge in atmospheric N2 with a trumpet-shaped quartz tube.The current-voltage waveforms,optical emission spectra of excited state active species,FTIR spectra of exhaust gas components,plasma gas temperature,and aqueous H2O2,NO2-,and NO3-production are compared in three pulse modes,meanwhile,the effects of pulse peak voltage and gas flow rate on the production of reactive species are studied.The results show that two obvious discharges occur in each voltage pulse in unipolar pulse driven discharge,differently,in bipolar pulse driven discharge,only one main discharge appears in a single voltage pulse time.The intensities of active species (OH(A),and O(3p)) in all three pulsed discharge increase with the rise of pulse peak voltage and have the highest value at 200 ml min-1 of gas flow rate.The absorbance intensities of NO2 and N2O increase with the increase of pulse peak voltage and decrease with the increase of gas flow rate.Under the same discharge conditions,the bipolar pulse driven discharge shows lower breakdown voltage,and higher intensities of excited species (N2(C),OH(A),and O(3p)),nitrogen oxides (NO2,NO,and N2O),and higher production of aqueous H2O2,NO2-,and NO3-compared with both unipolar positive and negative discharges.     

OH and O radicals production in atmospheric pressure air/Ar/H2O gliding arc discharge plasma jet

Atmospheric pressure air/Ar/H_2O gliding arc discharge plasma is produced by a pulsed dc power supply. An optical emission spectroscopic(OES) diagnostic technique is used for the characterization of plasmas and for identifications of OH and O radicals along with other species in the plasmas. The OES diagnostic technique reveals the excitation Tx?≈?5550–9000 K, rotational Tr?≈?1350–2700 K and gas Tg?≈?850–1600 K temperatures, and electron density n?(1.1-1.9) ′101 4 cm~(-3) e under different experimental conditions. The production and destruction of OH and O radicals are investigated as functions of applied voltage and air flow rate. Relative intensities of OH and O radicals indicate that their production rates are increased with increasing Ar content in the gas mixture and applied voltage. nereveals that the higher densities of OH and O radicals are produced in the discharge due to more effective electron impact dissociation of H_2O and O_2 molecules caused by higher kinetic energies as gained by electrons from the enhanced electric field as well as by enhanced n e.The productions of OH and O are decreasing with increasing air flow rate due to removal of Joule heat from the discharge region but enhanced air flow rate significantly modifies discharge maintenance properties. Besides, Tgsignificantly reduces with the enhanced air flow rate. This investigation reveals that Ar plays a significant role in the production of OH and O radicals.     

Modeling of a DC glow discharge in a neon–xenon gas mixture at low pressure and with metastable atom densities

The physical properties of Ne–Xe DC glow discharges at low pressure are reported for a gap length of 1 cm for the first time in the literature. The model deals specifically with the first three moments of Boltzmann's equation and includes the radiation processes and metastable atom densities. The spatio-temporal distributions of the electron and neon and xenon ion densities, the neon and xenon metastable atom densities, the electric potential and the electric field as well as the mean electron energy are presented at 1.5 Torr and 250 V. The current–voltage characteristic is shown at 3 Torr, and it is compared with previous work for pure neon gas. The model is validated theoretically and experimentally in the case of pure gas.     

Development of local-scale high-resolution atmospheric dispersion model using large-eddy simulation. Part 3: turbulent flow and plume dispersion in building arrays

We have developed a LOcal-scale High-resolution atmospheric DIspersion Model using Large-Eddy Simulation (LOHDIM-LES) to assess the safety at nuclear facilities and to respond to emergencies against accidental or intentional release of radioactive materials (e.g., a terrorist attack in an urban area). In Part 1, the unsteady behavior of a plume over a flat terrain was successfully simulated. In Part 2, a new scheme to generate a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer flow was proposed. Then, the large-eddy simulation (LES) model for turbulent flow and plume dispersion around an isolated building was validated. In this study, we extend the LES model to turbulent flows and plume dispersion in various building arrays that represent typical urban surface geometries. Concerning the characteristics of flow and dispersion in building arrays, the flow patterns associated with obstacle densities and the distribution patterns of mean and root-mean-square (r.m.s.) concentrations agree well with those of the wind tunnel experiments. It is shown that the LES model successfully simulates the unsteady behaviors of turbulent flows and plume dispersion in urban-type surface geometries.