Study of plasma parameters and gas heating in the voltage range of nondischarge to full‐discharge in a methane‐fed dielectric barrier discharge
Nima Pourali, K. T. Lai, Joseph W. Gregory, Yuyan Gong, Volker Hessel, Evgeny V. Rebrov
Abstract
Abstract Experimental data are used in theoretical models to study the effects of input voltage and gas flow rate on plasma and background gas parameters in a voltage range where the transition from nondischarge to full‐discharge happens. To this end, a specific methane‐fed dielectric barrier discharge is used as a plasma reactor, and electrical modeling, the Boltzmann equation method, and emission spectrum analysis are employed to calculate plasma parameters and gas heating. The output of this study proves that a uniform plasma with a controllable background gas heating is achievable by the adjustment of input parameters such as voltage and gas flow rate in a well‐designed dielectric barrier discharge.