A BILATERAL DISCHARGE PLASMATRON WITH VARIABLE ELECTRODE

DIAMETER

A. I. Zhidovich, S. K. Kravchenko, and O. I. Y a s ' k o

Increasing volt-ampere characteristics are obtained experimentally on to develop a sufficiently simple and reliable plasma-
a powerful nonsegmented bilateral-discharge plasmatron. iron design for great power.
A simple and convenient method of establishing arc
The u s e of v a r i o u s h i g h - t e m p e r a t u r e i n d u s t r i a l
length was the method of altering the electrode diam-
p r o c e s s e s is a s s o c i a t e d to a g r e a t extent with the d e -
eter in a bilateral-discharge plasmatron, thus making
v e l o p m e n t and p r o d u c t i o n of h i g h - p o w e r p l a s m a t r o n s
it possible: a) to raise the voltage at the arc; b) to re-
(in thousands of kW) for the heating of working fluids
duce the dimensions of the plasmatron; c) to reduce
and i n t e r m e d i a t e heat c a r r i e r s . One of the d i f f i c u l t i e s
the operating current; d) to increase the efficiency;
h i n d e r i n g the p r o d u c t i o n of such p l a s m a t r o n s is the
e) to work on the ascending segments of the volt-am-
r a p i d w e a r i n g out of the e l e c t r o d e s and the need to
pere characteristic; f) to increase the service life by
p r o v i d e for s p e c i a l s o u r c e s of e l e c t r i c a l e n e r g y to
employing large-diameter current-carrying electrodes.
supply i n s t a l l a t i o n s exhibiting d e c l i n i n g s t a t i c v o l t -
A schematic diagram of a plasmatron is shown in
ampere characteristics.
Fig. I. It is made symmetrically relative to gas ring 1
The o p e r a t i o n a l s e r v i c e life of e l e c t r i c - a r c i n s t a l -
and consists of two identical electrodes with variable
l a t i o n s is g o v e r n e d by e l e c t r o d e e r o s i o n which, all
diameter. Each electrode has a small-diameter clamp-
other c o n d i t i o n s b e i n g equal, is the g r e a t e r , the
ing section 2 (diaphragm) and a separate large-diam-
g r e a t e r the c u r r e n t . F o r a specified power it is t h e r e -
eter electrode 3. The gas is introduced tangentially to
f o r e a d v i s a b l e to s t r i v e toward an i n c r e a s e in the op-
the inside surface, it is heated in the diaphragms and
e r a t i o n a l voltage at the a r c .
in the electrodes by are 4, and it is discharged from
The a t t a i n m e n t of high voltages is m o s t e a s i l y a c -
the plasmatron in both directions in the form of the
c o m p l i s h e d in l i n e a r p l a s m a t r o n s with v o r t i c a l s t a b i -
plasma jets 5.
l i z a t i o n [ 1 - 3 ] . In addition to this advantage, these
On discharge initiation, an ionized channel is formed
p l a s m a t r o n s exhibit d e s c e n d i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and it
within the clamping diaphragms. In connection with the
is t h e r e f o r e n e c e s s a r y to e m p l o y b a l l a s t r e s i s t a n c e s
fact that the velocity of the gas in the diaphragms is
in t h e i r o p e r a t i o n or s p e c i a l a u t o m a t i c c u r r e n t - s t a b i :
high, the support points of the arc are blown away in
l i z a t i o n c i r c u i t s which will e n s u r e steep d e s c e n t for
both directions and reach the current-carrying por-
the o u t s i d e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the e l e c t r i c p o w e r
tions of the electrodes.
source.
The variation of the current within certain limits
This l a t t e r i n c o n v e n i e n c e can be e l i m i n a t e d by d e -
affects only the position of the support points within
s i g n i n g the p l a s m a t r o n s with r i s i n g v o l t - a m p e r e c h a r -
the large-diameter electrodes and has little effect on
a c t e r i s t i c s . To a c h i e v e r i s i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , the
the slope of the volt-ampere characteristics, which is
r e s i s t a n c e of the a r c m u s t r e m a i n c o n s t a n t or, a t l e a s t ,
governed by the strongly compressed portion of the
it m u s t d i m i n i s h m o r e slowly than the c u r r e n t i n -
arc column situated in the diaphragms. However,
c r e a s e s . This is achieved by s t a b i l i z i n g the g e o m e t r i c
since the diaphragms are not insulated from the elec-
d i m e n s i o n s of the a r c which tend to i n c r e a s e as the
trodes, a substantial increase in the current leads to
c u r r e n t is s t r e n g t h e n e d .
a shift in the support points of the arc into the dia-
The l i t e r a t u r e d e s c r i b e s v a r i o u s m e t h o d s of a c h i e v -
phragm and to conversion of the plasmatron into a con-
ing i n c r e a s i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s [ 4 - 6 ] . U n f o r t u n a t e l y ,
ventional installation with descending volt-ampere
u n t i l now none of these methods has m a d e it p o s s i b l e
characteristics.

I
Fig. 1. Scheme of a p l a s m a g e n e r a t o r with a s c e n d i n g v o l t a g e -
c u r r e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s obtained by changing of the e l e c t r o d e
d i a m e t e r : 1) gas i n l e t r i n g ; 2) d i a p h r a g m ; 3) e l e c t r o d e ;
4) arc; 5) p l a s m a jet.

683
 The mass-averaged temperature of the heated gas
, oo ~ ~ o
is controlled within wide limits, and at low tempera-
tures it is possible to pass the entire flow through the
are without dilution at the outlet. In these experiments
1300 ~ ~ la ~ ....---"~,"-~ I _~ ! we were able to achieve temperatures from 500 to
o--g 6000 ~ K.
em 3 The e f f i c i e n c y of the d i s c h a r g e c h a m b e r is a f u n c -
llO0
tion of the c u r r e n t s t r e n g t h and of the g a s flow r a t e .
/ i "~- x -- --54
A With d i r e c t c u r r e n t an i n c r e a s e in the flow r a t e l e a d s
900 to i n c r e a s e d e f f i c i e n c y . H o w e v e r , the h i g h e r the a b s o -
z~O0 500 ,500 700 800 900 /000 I lute v a l u e of the e f f i c i e n c y , the s m a l l e r the r e l a t i v e
Fig. 2. V o l t a g e - c u r r e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a p l a s m a i n c r e a s e in e f f i c i e n c y with i n c r e a s i n g flow r a t e . F o r
g e n e r a t o r with the v a r i a b l e e l e c t r o d e d i a m e t e r e x a m p l e , an i n c r e a s e in the flow r a t e f r o m 50 g / s e c
( g a s - a i r . U0 is the v o l t a g e of d i r e c t c u r r e n t s o u r c e . to 100 at a c u r r e n t of 800 A l e a d s to a 7% i n c r e a s e in
U, V; I, A): 1) 356 g / s e c ; 2) 300; 3) 250; 4) 200; e f f i c i e n c y , while the s u b s e q u e n t i n c r e a s e in the flow
5) 150; 6) 100. r a t e to 200 g / s e e i n c r e a s e s e f f i c i e n c y by only 3%. A
r i s e in c u r r e n t with a c o n s t a n t flow r a t e l e a d s to a
d r o p in e f f i c i e n c y a s a r e s u l t of the i n c r e a s e d t h e r m a l
A s c e n d i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s m a k e it p o s s i b l e to w o r k l o s s e s . The e f f i c i e n c i e s of the p l a s m a t r o n d e s i g n s
f r o m a s o u r c e with an e x t e r n a l r i g i d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c at u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n , d e s p i t e the p r e s e n c e of c o o l e d
n o m i n a l v o l t a g e without u s e of any c u r r e n t - s t a b i l i z a - e l e c t r o d e s , a r e r a t h e r high (for e x a m p l e , on a c u r r e n t
tion s y s t e m s . of 900 A and an a i r flow r a t e of 250 g / s e c , the e f f i -
On the b a s i s of the a b o v e - d e s c r i b e d s c h e m e , we c i e n c y a m o u n t s to 82% when T = 2500 o K).
d e v e l o p e d a s e r i e s of e l e c t r i c a l a r c h e a t e r s r a n g i n g Thus t h e s e s t u d i e s have d e m o n s t r a t e d that a p i n s -
in p o w e r f r o m 200 to 3000 kW. The v o l t - a m p e r e c h a r - m a t r o n - - g i v e n a d i s c h a r g e c h a m b e r of s m a l l d i m e n -
a c t e r i s t i c s of one such p l a s m a t r o n a r e given in F i g . 2. s i o n s - c a n be p r o d u c e d to o p e r a t e at high v o l t a g e s , it
The f i g u r e shows the c a s e of p l a s m a t r o n o p e r a t i o n in a e x h i b i t s a long s e r v i c e life of continuous o p e r a t i o n ,
n o n r h e o s t a t r e g i m e at a v o l t a g e of 1650 V. The g a s and i t s e f f i c i e n c y e x h i b i t s r i s i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and a
(air) flow r a t e is equal to 356 g / s e c and the c u r r e n t is wide r a n g e of t e m p e r a t u r e r e g u l a t i o n .
960 A. T h i s type of p l a s m a t r o n can be r e c o m m e n d e d for
Regulation of the plasmatron parameters (current, v a r i o u s i n d u s t r i a l i n s t a l l a t i o n s r e q u i r i n g the h e a t i n g
power, temperatures) after entry into the nonrheostat of a g a s to 5000 ~ K .
regime is accomplished by varying the gas flow rate.
An i n c r e a s e in the flow r a t e l e a d s to a shift in the REFERENCES
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