Kinetics of Electrons under Influence of Externally Applied Electric Field in Weakly Ionized Carbon Dioxide Plasma
Open Access
- Author:
- Pervez, Mohammad Zaid
- Graduate Program:
- Electrical Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 17, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Victor P Pasko, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Julio Urbina, Committee Member
Madhavan Swaminathan, Program Head/Chair
Reza Janalizadeh, Special Signatory - Keywords:
- Electron energy distribution function
Boltzmann equation
Carbon dioxide
Air
Non-thermal plasma
Gas discharge
Electron transport and rate coefficients
Weakly ionized plasma
Molecular hydrogen
Helium
Magnetized Plasma - Abstract:
- The kinetics of electrons in weakly ionized plasma under the influence of an externally applied electric field plays an important role in the study of various physical phenomena, and has many scientific and industrial applications. In this thesis we focus primarily on weakly ionized CO2 plasma and study the kinetics of electrons in this gas under an external electric field. A survey of experimental data for plasma fluid coefficients from prior studies is also presented. The Boltzmann equation for electrons is solved numerically using the BOLSIG+ solver, and the electron rate and transport coefficients thus obtained are found to be in good agreement with experimental data. Next, we consider weakly ionized magnetized plasma and present a theory to efficiently calculate plasma fluid coefficients in presence of electric and magnetic fields. Due to many practical applications, the CO2 gas is chosen as a test bed to demonstrate practical application of the proposed theory. The method is justified with a rigorous mathematical formulation and provides results of satisfactory accuracy for range of input parameters corresponding to most applications of gas discharge plasma. This new approach allows for efficient modeling of electron kinetics in magnetized plasma and, in particular, has significant potential in the study and modeling of streamer discharges.