Abstract

Considering the wide range of plasma jet applications including plasma cutting, plasma spraying, and plasma arc waste disposal, realistic simulation of a plasma jet would significantly help to better understand and improve various processes. In this research, firstly a three-dimensional DC plasma torch is modeled using Joule effect method to simulate the plasma jet and its voltage fluctuations. The plasma gas is a mixture of argon/hydrogen and the arc voltage fluctuation is used as an input data in the model. Physical and chemical properties of plasma gases are used to model the plasma jet having high temperature and velocity. Reynolds Stress Model is used for time dependent simulation of the mixing flow of the plasma gas with atmosphere. After modeling the plasma jet, the results are applied to investigate the plasma oscillation effects on the trajectory, temperature, and velocity of suspension droplets. Suspensions are formed of ethanol and Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ, 8 wt.%) sub-micron particles and modeled as multicomponent droplets. To track the droplets and particles trajectory, a two-way coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian method is employed. In addition, in order to simulate the droplet breakup, Kelvin-Helmholtz Rayleigh-Taylor (KHRT) breakup model is used. After the completion of suspension breakup and evaporation, the spray particles are tracked through the domain to obtain the in-flight particle characteristics.