Radiation losses of cylindrical SF6 gas arc

The net emission coefficient is calculated for the SF6 plasma arc in local thermodynamic equilibrium. Both continuum and line radiation are taken into account. A thermal Doppler, natural and collision broadening are considered in order to describe bound-bound transitions. The net emission coefficients calculated are given for the isothermal cylindrical are of 0.2-3 cm radius. 10(17)-10(19) cm(-3) ionic concentration and 10,000-40,000 K temperature. The results obtained show significant differences from the numerical calculations of other authors, especially for temperatures greater than 25,000 K.