Impact of silica seeding and discharge voltage on plasma parameters at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

The interaction of cold plasma with heterogeneous catalysts has led to some peculiar behavior, especially with silica (SiO2) seeding in presence of 2% alumina (Al2O3). In this paper, we have measured plasma parameters in low temperature arc plasma. I - V characteristics of Langmuir probes are plotted using the data obtained from the experimental set up for single probe method in arc plasma at atmospheric pressure. It is revealed that the used seed modifies the electron temperature of the plasma appreciably while the temperature of the gas in the surrounding remains almost unchanged. The single probe characteristics have been utilized to measure the electron temperature, floating potential, Debye length and electron density. It is found that electron temperature decreases whereas electron density increases appreciably after seeding the arc plasma. The decrease in electron temperature and increase in electron density to 99.9% are observed after seeding the arc plasma with silica mixture as compared to those before seeding. Variations in plasma parameters such as electron temperature, electron density, plasma frequency and Debye length with discharge voltage are also plotted for the silica seeded arc plasma.