A comparative numerical study of hybrid-stabilized argon-water electric arc

The so-called hybrid stabilized electric arc utilizes a combination of gas and vortex stabilization. In the hybrid argon-water plasma torch, the arc chamber is divided into the short cathode part, where the arc is stabilized by tangential argon flow, and the longer part, which is stabilized by water vortex. This arrangement provides not only the additional stabilization of the cathode region and the protection of the cathode tip but also offers the possibility of controlling plasma jet characteristics in wider range than that of pure gasor liquid-stabilized arcs [1]. At present, this arc has been used for plasma spraying using metallic or ceramic powders injected into the plasma jet, as well as for the pyrolysis of waste (biomass) and production of syngas. The aim of this research is a numerical study of characteristics and processes in the hybrid arc under subsonic, transonic and supersonic plasma flow regimes especially at high currents and high argon mass flow rates. Two different numerical methods have been applied to solve the set of governing conservative equations (continuity, momentum, energy) with both temperature[2] and pressure-dependent transport and thermodynamic properties for argon-water plasma mixture. The difference in results for the two methods has been discussed together with a comparison of the calculated