Abstract

The wide technical application of self-sustained discharges in a flow of molecular gases has given rise to intense exploration of plasmochemical processes that accompany such a discharge. The original mixture composition changes as a result of the dissociation of the initial components and also of chemical reactions involving the generated atoms, radicals, and molecules in ground and excited states. This may cause changes of the plasma electrokinetic parameters. It is well known that small additions of H₂ (Refs. 1 and 2) may significantly influence the kinetics of chemical transformations within the mixture of CO₂, N_2> and He. The authors have studied (both experimentally and theoretically) the change of chemical composition of the CO₂N₂He (0.05/0.28/0.67) mixture within a discharge with a transverse gas flow in a closed circuit in the presence of hydrogen (P = 50 Torr, J = 5.8 mA/cm², E/N = 2.4 × 10⁻¹⁶ V · cm², flow rate V = 160 m/s). The concentrations of CO₂, N₂, CO, O₂, and H₂ have been measured by a gas chromatograph. The results of measurements are shown in Fig. 1.

© 1986 Optical Society of America