Modelling of an Atmospheric Pressure Nitrogen Glow Discharge Operating in High-Gas Temperature Regimes

A model of an atmospheric pressure nitrogen glow discharge in high-gas temperature regimes is developed. The model considers a fairly complete set of chemical reactions, including several processes with the participation of electronically exited nitrogen atoms describing the energy balance and charged particles kinetic processes in the discharge. It is shown that the thermal dissociation of vibrationally excited molecules plays an essential role in the production of N(4S) atoms. The dominant ion within the investigated current range (52–187 mA) is the molecular N2+ with an increasing proportion of atomic N+ towards high-current values. The process of production of electrons within the almost whole current range is controlled predominantly by associative ionization in atomic collisions N(2P) + N(2P) → N2+ + e; being the N(2P) atoms mainly produced via quenching of N2(A3∑u+) electronically excited molecules by N(4S) atoms. The results of calculations are compared with the available experimental data and a good agreement is found.