Development of a low-cost atmospheric non-thermal plasma jet and its characteristics in air and nitrogen

This paper deals with the development of a low-cost atmospheric non-thermal plasma jet (ANPJ) which was designed and operated previously in our laboratory. The purpose of the developed design with a small size less than 4% of the previous volume is to obtain a more portable device which holds promise for various fields of applications. The discharge is operated separately with compressed air and nitrogen gas with flow rates varied within the range of 3-18 L/min. The plasma plume length and thickness are measured as a function of the gas flow rate and input voltage V-input within the range of 3-18 L/min and 2-6 kV respectively. The results showed that for nitrogen gas, the maximum values of the plume length and thickness are 20 mm and 1.3 mm respectively at a flow rate of 12 L/min and V-input = 6 kV. Results of electrical characterization at V-input = 6 kV such as discharge voltage, discharge current, the mean consumed power and energy showed that the maximum values of these parameters are obtained at a flow rate of 12 L/min. The developed design is found to be saving up to 65.47% and 68.54% of the consumed power compared to the previous design in the case of air and N-2 respectively. The new proposed configuration for the developed ANPJ offers more suitable characteristics than the earlier designs, especially for nitrogen gas.