Measurement of gas temperature and convection velocity profiles in a dc atmospheric glow discharge

Gas temperature and convective velocity distributions are presented for an unconfined glow discharge in air at atmospheric pressure, with electric currents ranging between 30 and 92 mA. The vertically oriented discharge was formed between a pin anode (top) and an extended cathode. The temperature and velocity profiles were measured using laser-induced Rayleigh scattering and laser Doppler anemometry techniques, respectively. The temperature field exhibited a conical shape with the radius of hot temperature zone increasing toward the anode. A maximum temperature of 2470 K was observed on the discharge axis with the discharge current of 92 mA. Air velocity measurements around the discharge demonstrated that the shape and magnitude of the temperature field are strongly affected by natural convection. Estimates indicate that convective losses may account for more than 50% of the power input into the positive column of the discharge. The measured temperature fields and convective velocity profiles provide a set of data that is important for the evaluation of dc atmospheric glow discharges in various applications such as sound manipulation and acoustic noise mitigation. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.