Properties of plasma of elecric arc discharge in air with admixing of copper and carbon

Abstract

The thermal plasma parameters of arc discharge in air between copper and Cu—C composite electrodes are investigated by optical emission spectroscopy. A complex approach, which combines both experimental and computational methods to determine the radial distributions of electron density in plasma, was developed. To calculate the radial distributions of electron density the energy balance equation is solved. In an assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium in plasma the radial distribution of electron density is calculated from the obtained electrical conductivity profile. Satisfactory agreement between the results obtained by different methods shows that the testified diagnostic technique can be used for investigation of arc discharge thermal plasma with copper and carbon admixtures. Full text download