Thermometry of microwave discharge in powder mixtures by the thermal radiation spectrum

The temperature is determined in pulsed microwave discharges in powder mixtures at atmospheric pressure. The effect of microwave radiation of gyrotron (wavelength of 4 mm, power up to 200 kW, pulse duration of 1 to 10 ms) on a finely divided medium causes the emergence of plasma in a gas medium between solid particles; the thresholds (with respect to power) of generation of plasma in powder mixtures are hundreds of times lower than those in gas. The method of determining the discharge temperature consists in recording the radiation in a wide spectral range (200 to 850 nm) and comparing the obtained spectrum with the Planck spectrum in the Wien region. In the case of similarity of two spectra, the discharge temperature is determined as a parameter of the spectrum under observation. In so doing, no data on the emissivity of discharge are required for determining the temperature. It is demonstrated that microwave-discharge plasma in powders is characterized by a temperature of 2000–3000 K.