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4 Physics Letters A 70
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Expansion dynamics of atmospheric pressure helium plasma jet in 77
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13 ambient air 79
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15 a, b a a a 81
G. Veda Prakash , Kiran Patel , Narayan Behera , Ajai Kumar
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17 Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar-382 428, India
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18 Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi-110 016, India 1 84
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21 a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t 87
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Article history: In this work, the expansion dynamics of a helium plasma jet in ambient air is examined. By using a fast
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Received 2 December 2019 imaging technique, the expansion of plasma jet from glass nozzle to air is captured which is in the form
24 Received in revised form 21 March 2020 90
of plasma bullet propagating into the air. To understand the plasma bullet travel path from glass nozzle
25 Accepted 15 April 2020 91
to plasma jet tip a drag force model is used. Moreover, the spatial variation of plasma density along the
26 Available online xxxx 92
Communicated by F. Porcelli
plasma jet length is estimated using drift velocity, plasma jet current and the cross-sectional area of the
27 plasma jet. It is observed that the slight increase in plasma density is due to the combined effect of 93
28 reduction of drift velocity, plasma jet current, and jet cross-sectional area. The obtained plasma density 94
Keywords:
29 Atmospheric pressure plasma jet from glass nozzle to jet tip is in the range of (0.069-5.96) × 1012 cm−3 . The above parameters can be of 95
30 Time-resolved fast imaging the essence in biological and industrial applications. 96
31 Plume length © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 97
Drag force model
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Plasma plume density
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37 1. Introduction chemical reactions. The above might also be the future require- 103
38 ment considering the utilization of a single plasma device with a 104
39 Over the last few years, low-temperature atmospheric pressure range of plasma parameters for various applications. Specifically, a 105
40 plasma is one of the fastest-growing areas for fundamental study 106
few studies described the role of ambient gas on the mechanism
41 and applications in medical and industrial areas such as wound 107
of extended plasma plume formation, also explained the geometri-
42 healing, cancer treatment, tissue sterilization, surface modification, 108
cal shape of the plasma jet depends on ambient gas [7]. In this, the
43 sterilization of heat-sensitive materials and instruments, textile in- 109
authors have shown that the geometrical shape of the jet in ambi-
44 dustry, etc. [1–3]. The plasma generated by using gases such as 110
ent helium is not an arrow-like shape as that in the ambient air,
45 Helium (He), Argon, air, etc., are sources of reactive species, which 111
but a diffusive one. Further, to understand the ambient effect on
46 can take part in various chemical reactions [1]. To use these plas- 112
the plasma jet formation and propagation, detailed studies in this
47 mas for medical and industrial applications, it is vitally neces- 113
direction are required. Several authors have estimated the plasma
48 sary to thoroughly estimate and understand the plasma parame- 114
bullet/plasma velocity using photodiode and ICCD imaging method
49 ters such as electron density (ne ), electron temperature (Te ), gas 115
[4,5], whereas electron density in discharge by using optical emis-
50 temperature (Tg ), active species content, etc. Towards this, several 116
sion spectroscopy (OES) [8–10] and in the plasma jet region by
51 experimental studies have taken place in the past to understand 117
microwave interferometry method [11,12] and Rayleigh scattering 118
52 the above parameters using various electrical and optical diagnos-
53
method [13]. The plasma bullet velocity and density values found 119
tics [4,5]. In particular, the dynamics of plasma jet parameters such
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to be in the order of a few 10 km/s [14] and ∼1010 -1012 cm−3 re- 120
as variation of plasma bullet velocity profile and plasma density
55 spectively [15,16]. Further, the utilization of OES for estimating the 121
along the length of the plasma jet in the ambient air are not clearly
56 plasma density will include a great amount of signal to noise ratio, 122
understood. The velocity along the plasma jet length helps to de-
57 which may lead to overestimation of plasma parameters, whereas 123
cide the impact it creates on sensitive target whereas the plasma
58 utilizing the microwave interferometry technique is expensive and 124
density decides the duration of the treatment required [6], as it is
59 involve complexity in the analysis of post-experimental data. 125
responsible for the generation of reactive species consequently the
60 In this work, we present the study of plasma jet dynamics in 126
61 the ambient air given a wide range of medical and industrial ap- 127
62 E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Veda Prakash). plications where the target is sensitive to the applied plasma shape 128
1
63 Present address. (cross-sectional area, pressure, etc.) and plasma parameters (elec- 129
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2020.126497
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0375-9601/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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 JID:PLA AID:126497 /SCO Doctopic: Plasma and fluid physics [m5G; v1.284; Prn:21/04/2020; 16:33] P.2 (1-4)
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18 Fig. 1. (Color online.) (a) Schematic of experimental setup and diagnostics arrangement. (b) Typical discharge voltage and discharge current (Idischarge ) profiles of the helium 84
plasma jet.
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21 oscilloscope (DSO-X 2024A, Agilent Technologies, 200 MHz band- 87
22 width, 2 GSa/s). The time-resolved fast images of flowing plasma 88
23 plume are captured using an intensified charge-coupled device 89
24 (ICCD) (4 Picos, Stanford computer optics) camera fitted with an 90
25 AVENIR lens (25 mm, F 1.4). The digital image processing tech- 91
26 nique [26] is used to obtain the velocity of plasma plume and the 92
27 dimensions of the plume. 93
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29 3. Results and discussions 95
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31 To understand the plasma jet dynamics in the atmospheric air, a 97
32 fast imaging technique is used. The time-resolved images of visible 98
33 plasma jet provide detailed information related to its hydrody- 99
34 namic and geometrical structure of the plasma jet. Long plasma 100
Fig. 2. (Color online.) Photograph of the visible plasma jet using a digital camera.
35 jet generated with the kHz frequency and a few kV seems con- 101
36 tinuous to the naked eye, but on sub-microsecond timescales, it is 102
tron density, etc.). [17–23] In atmospheric pressure plasma, the
37 a fast-moving plasma bullet. The plasma bullets often referred as 103
plasma jet expands in ambient gas. So we are exploring the effect
38 plasma pulses or plasma packets [27,28] or guided streamer [29]. 104
of background gas dynamics and change of plasma bullet velocity
39 This temporal evolution of the plasma bullet is acquired using ICCD 105
in ambient gas. Earlier researchers described the reduction of this
40 camera by varying the delay time from 500-6000 ns and exposure 106
plasma bullet velocity as an effect of collisional drag force with
41 time of 500 ns. The synchronization of high voltage power supply 107
ambient air [24,25]. But no experimental observations are reported
42 and ICCD camera is arranged using a multi-channel pulse gener- 108
discussing the drag effect on plasma bullet propagation. So we at-
43 ator (Berkeley Nucleonics BNC 555 pulse generator). A delay time 109
tempt to understand this effect experimentally using a drag force
44 of 500 ns is increased for succeeding images of the plasma bullet. 110
model by considering a plasma jet and ambient gas as two differ-
45 For better visibility, gray images are converted into pseudo-color 111
ent fluids. Moreover, we examine the variation of plasma density
46 images using jet-color map in MATLAB [30]. Fig. 3 shows time- 112
along the length of the plasma jet. The plasma density informa-
47 resolved ICCD images of the plasma jet emitted from the cylin- 113
tion along the plasma jet length may help to select the portion of
48 drical glass tube illustrating individual plasma bullets. To estimate 114
the plasma jet for interaction with the target and duration of the
49 the velocity of the plasma bullet, a mesh image of known dimen- 115
treatment.
50 sions is recorded to map the physical dimension of the plasma 116
51 jet under the same camera settings. The repeatability of plasma 117
2. Experimental scheme
52 bullets has been confirmed by recording three images under sim- 118
53 ilar experimental conditions. The geometrical dimensions of the 119
Schematic of the experimental setup and typical discharge volt-
54 plasma jet are estimated by a segmentation algorithm using MAT- 120
age and current (Idischarge ) profiles are shown in Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b
55 LAB [30]. The diameter of the plasma jet at the glass nozzle is 121
respectively. Helium (He) gas of 99.99% purity is introduced into
56 observed approximately equal to the inner diameter of the glass 122
the glass tube of inner diameter 4 mm and thickness 1 mm. The
57 tube. This sub-microsecond time-resolved information is also es- 123
photograph of a visible plasma jet formed in the ambient air for
sential for theoretical modeling and simulation work similar to 124
58 a discharge voltage of 4 kVp-p , 33 kHz frequency and with He gas
laser-produced plasma plume [31]. 125
59 flow rate 11 lpm is shown in Fig. 2. The above operating parame-
60 ters are kept fixed for the plasma generation in this entire work. The obtained time-resolved ICCD images of plasma jet suggest; 126
61 In the present work, a voltage probe (P6015 A, Tektronix, the initial velocity (i.e. near the glass nozzle) of the plasma bul- 127
62 75 MHz bandwidth) is used to measure the applied voltage. let is ∼ 22.46 km/s, which reduces to 1.38 km/s towards plasma 128
63 Current transformer (CT) (FCT-016-20:1, Bergoz instrumentations, jet tip as shown in Fig. 4. The bullet velocity attainment is pos- 129
64 1.25 V/A) is utilized to measure the discharge current (Idischarge ) tulated using electrical parameters [17]. However, the reduction of 130
65 and also to estimate the plasma jet current (Ijet ). The applied volt- the velocity profile of plasma bullets in the ambient (after the glass 131
66 age and current waveforms are recorded using a digital storage nozzle) is not discussed. To understand the decrement of plasma 132
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16 Fig. 3. (Color online.) Sequence of time-resolved ICCD images of the plasma bullet propagation in ambient air at 11 lpm He gas flow rate. 82
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bullet velocity and time evolution of bullet propagation in ambient
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air, a two-fluid model is used by considering plasma jet and ambi-
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ent air as two different fluids (like the expansion of laser-produced
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plasma in ambient gas [30]). This reduction in bullet velocity from
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glass nozzle to plasma jet tip is explained as the bullet experi- 89
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ences the drag force proportional to its velocity from the viscous 90
25 [30] ambient air. So the equation of motion, 91
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Acceleration, a = − β v , (1) 93
28 which gives the velocity, v = v o exp(−β t ) (2) 94
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and the plasma bullet position, 96
31 z = z f [1 − exp(−β t )] [30,32], (3) 97
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where v o is the initial expansion velocity, β is the slowing coeffi- 99
34
cient, t is the delay time and z f = v 0 /β is the stopping distance 100
35
of the plasma bullet. 101
This model predicts that the decrement of plasma bullet ve- Fig. 4. (Color online.) Time-evolution of plasma bullet. Red dots represent the ex-
36 perimental data, and solid blue line represent the fitting for drag force model. 102
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locity with time as a result of resistance from the collisions with 103
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the background gas. The length of the plasma bullet propagation 104
vs delay time curve is fitted with drag force model z = z f [1 − is plasma bullet drift velocity [35,36]. Therefore, the spatial vari-
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exp(−β t )] [30]. The best-fitted parameters i.e. slowing co-efficient ation of plasma density estimated using the plasma bullet drift
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β ∼ 0.4 μs−1 and stopping distance z f ∼ 36.1 mm. Hence, under velocity, plasma jet cross-sectional area and plasma current along
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the influence of the ambient drag force, the plasma bullet moving the plasma jet length by using equation (5). v dri f t and I jet are ob-
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with its initial velocity ∼ 22.46 km/s arrives at a reduced velocity tained from the ICCD camera images and current transformer (CT)
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of 1.38 km/s. This model predicts the information of plasma bullet respectively at a particular length.
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velocity and the propagation distance of the plasma bullet in the In the atmospheric-pressure plasma jet, due to lighter in
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weight, electrons accelerated by the electric field whereas ion
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ambient air. The best fitting of the drag model confirms that the 112
hardly moves; hence, the electron attachment is normally ignored.
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ambient air drag is responsible for the reduction in plasma bullet 113
Also, this plasma bullets propagation phenomenon is similar to a
48
velocity. 114
positive streamer caused by photoionization. In photoionization,
49 Further, it will be interesting to understand the variation of 115
the ionization front travels at a velocity qualitatively similar to
50 plasma density along the plasma jet expansion in ambient air. 116
the drift velocity of the electron, as the movement of the heavy
51 There are various methods to estimate plasma density [33,34]. 117
ions is almost negligible. Therefore, under the atmospheric pres-
52 Here we have used the method given in Yambe et al. (2014) [35] sure, the drift velocity of the charge carrier is qualitatively equal 118
53 and Yambe et al. (2015) [36] because it is the simplest method to to the drift velocity of the plasma bullet [17,36]. In the present 119
54 estimate the plasma density. In a weakly ionized plasma, the rela- case, the measured drift velocity from a glass nozzle to the plasma 120
55 tion between the current density ( j) and plasma density is given jet tip is in the range of 22.46-1.38 km/s. Here, the measurement of 121
56 as [37] plasma current is carried out at three different locations along the 122
57 plasma jet length. The CT has an inner diameter of 16 mm, and 123
58 j = −ne ev dri f t , (4) the plasma jet has a maximum diameter of 3.3 mm. Hence, the 124
59 plasma jet never affected the arrangement of CT along the length 125
60
where ne is plasma density. From this relation, the plasma density 126
of the plasma jet. The plasma jet current amplitude changes with
can further be simplified as 127
61 a distance of the plasma travel length. The profiles of the plasma
62 I jet jet currents are given in reference [38]. The variation of peak value 128
63 ne = (5) of plasma jet current along the length is shown in Fig. 5. 129
e S v dri f t
64 By using the plasma bullet velocity and current information, the 130
65 where e is the elementary charge (e = 1.609 × 10−19 C), I jet is plasma density is calculated via equation (5). The plasma density 131
66 plasma jet current, S cross-sectional area of the plasma jet, v dri f t for three different positions of the plasma jet i.e., at 10, 25, and 132
 JID:PLA AID:126497 /SCO Doctopic: Plasma and fluid physics [m5G; v1.284; Prn:21/04/2020; 16:33] P.4 (1-4)
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1 from the glass nozzle to the plasma jet tip due to ambient drag. 67
2 Further, we demonstrated the increase in density is due to the 68
3 combined effect of reduction of drift velocity, plasma jet current 69
4 and plasma jet cross-sectional area from glass nozzle to plasma jet 70
5 tip. These interesting initial studies will be highly useful for fun- 71
6 damental and applied research (biological and industrial) especially 72
7 considering very sensitive targets. Further insight in this direction 73
8 is much needed. 74
9 75
10 Declaration of competing interest 76
11 77
12 The authors declare that they have no known competing finan- 78
13 cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to 79
14 influence the work reported in this paper. 80
15 81
16 References 82
17 Fig. 5. Variation of peak value of plasma jet current along the length of the plasma 83
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62 along the plasma jet length in the ambient air. The real-time high- [38] G. Veda Prakash, K. Patel, N. Behera, A. Kumar, arXiv:1912.03691 [physics. 128
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64 camera shows the plasma expansion dynamics which further ex- 130
65 plained by the drag force model depict the velocity decrement 131
66 132