Comparisons between numerical model and experiments for a direct current plasma flow

The governing equations describing a flowing stream of a hydrogen plasma encountered in applications, such as diamond deposition, and in devices, such as arcjet thrusters, are solved numerically using the linearized implicit (LBI) Method of Briley and McDonald. The results of simulations under the assumption that the plasma can be described by a single temperature are compared with detailed experimental measurements of flow characteristics and species concentrations in a I kW arcjet. These comparisons show that by formulating the problem in terms of known experimental operating conditions, such as mass flow rate, power, and current levels, it is possible to predict many of the characteristics of the flowing plasma. As expected, predictions from this one-temperature model show that some deviations from the experimental results occur near the exit plane of the channel, where unequal electron and heavy particle temperatures are encountered because of lower pressures.