Plasmawise - Cold Atmospheric Plasma Technology
From Technology
Most of the known universe is in a plasma state: stars (like the sun), lightning, etc. Source. The core of plasma ranges in temperature from 11,000° – 14,500° degrees, thus limiting its applicable uses. As an ionized gas, plasma’s electron density is balanced by positive ions and contains a sufficient amount of electrically charged particles to affect its electrical properties and behavior. Natural examples for plasmas are the sun – a gigantic plasma ball – or lightning on Earth – temporary electrical discharges.
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Cold atmospheric plasmas are partially ionized gases, that means only one particle out of 1 ∙ 109 is ionized. The advantage of cold atmospheric plasmas is that they are “cold”, within the meaning that they operate under room temperature and can be produced at atmospheric pressure on Earth.
Plasma discharges exist in a wide range of conditions. Their particular properties depend on a variety of parameters including pressure, temperature, and density. Plasma gas temperature is largely dependent upon average energies of particles and their degrees of freedom (translational, rotational, vibrational, and electronic). Such energies are achieved via electron-electron collisions and electron collisions with heavy particles, which result in ionization of the heavy particles. Depending on the frequency of collisions, the energy (and hence temperature) of plasma components (electrons and heavy particles) can be different. As a result, the plasma can exist in a non-equilibrium state.
Extensive research, employing various technologies to generate cold atmospheric plasmas, showed that the resultant mixture of electrons, ions, excited atoms and molecules, reactive species (such as O3, NO, NO2, etc.), UV radiation and heat can vary significantly for different plasma sources and that it can also be modified for specific purposes. In other words, the concentration and the composition of the plasma components can be adapted (or designed) for different intended applications.
Plasma Discharges
Depending on the desired target reaction, different methods of generating plasma can be used. The graph at the bottom from Plasma Universe shows how the characteristics of a power supply can result in varying discharge regimes. It is important to note, that developing a proper power supply is only half of the engineering difficulty.
The corona discharge is a very well known, man-made, and naturally occurring plasma discharge. It can be described as a weakly luminous, non-uniform discharge, which appears at atmospheric pressure near sharp points, edges, and along thin wires. A Strong electric field and ionization along with some luminosity are located near one electrode. Corona discharges can have both positive and negative current.
The most typical corona configuration (both pulsed and continuous) is created around a sharp edge (this maximizes the active discharge volume). In corona, a non-homogeneous electric field is used to stabilize the discharge via the buildup of space charge around a corona wire or point. Silent discharges use charge buildup on a capacitive barrier to achieve a similar end result. Corona discharges are best suited for VOC destruction and a number of sterilization applications.
Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) is similar to pulsed corona, in that its development was a result of trying to find a solution for avoiding arc formation. In the case of DBD, a dielectric barrier is used to stop current and prevent arc formation.
Contrary to pulsed corona, DBD does not require such complicated pulse power supplies. The DBD electrode gap includes one or more dielectric layers, which are located in the current path. Gap distance is typically in the range of 0.1 mm to several centimeters. Some of the dielectric materials that can be used are glass, quartz, and ceramic.
DBD is non-uniform (except in certain gases such as helium), and is comprised of many moving, interacting microdischarges. One interesting configuration includes the use of the human body as a second electrode (floating-electrode DBD). Dielectric barrier discharges are best suited for low temperature (room) applications including sterilization and medical applications.
A spark is a very basic and simple discharge similar to a lightning strike. When a streamer (stream of electrons) connects two electrodes and neither a pulse power supply nor a dielectric barrier prevents further growth of the current, a spark develops. This happens because an initial streamer channel is not very conductive; however, new ionization waves are much more intense than the original streamer and start propagating along the streamer channel but in the opposite direction (from the cathode to anode), which is referred to as the back ionization wave. The back wave is accompanied by a front of intensive ionization and the formation of a plasma channel with sufficiently high conductivity to form a channel of intensive spark.
A gliding arc is a new, innovative plasma discharge. A conventional gliding discharge, traditionally called gliding arc (GA) is an auto-oscillating periodic phenomenon that develops between at least two diverging electrodes submerged in a laminar or turbulent gas flow. First, the discharge self-initiates at the upstream narrowest gap in what is termed the breakdown stage. Then, the discharge forms a plasma column connecting the electrodes of opposite polarity, which is termed the equilibrium stage. This column is dragged by the gas flow towards the diverging downstream section. The discharge length grows with the increase of inter-electrode distance until it reaches a maximum possible value, usually determined by the power supply limit. The non-equilibrium stage starts when the length of the gliding arc exceeds this critical value. Heat losses from the plasma column begin to exceed the energy supplied by the power source, and it is not possible for the discharge to remain in equilibrium. At this point, the plasma rapidly cools and decays. After this point, the discharge extinguishes and momentarily reignites itself at the minimum distance between the electrodes, starting a new cycle.
Gliding arc discharges are suited for gas reforming and treatment application.
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