Vibrational and rotational CARS measurements of nitrogen in afterglow of streamer discharge in atmospheric pressure fuel/air mixtures

The use of nonequilibrium plasma generated by nanosecond discharges to ignite fuel/air mixtures, known as transient plasma ignition (TPI), has been shown to effectively reduce ignition delay and improve engine performance relative to spark ignition for combustion engines. While this method is potentially useful for many engine applications, at present the underlying physics are poorly understood. This work uses coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) to measure the rotational and vibrational excitation of nitrogen molecules in the discharge afterglow in a variety of fuel/air mixtures outside the limits of combustion in order to elucidate the thermal behaviour of TPI. The time evolution of relative populations of vibrationally excited states of nitrogen in the electronic ground state are reported for each gas mixture; it is shown that generation of these vibrationally excited states is inefficient during the discharge in air but that generation occurs at a high rate roughly 5μs following the discharge; with the addition of fuels vibrationally excited states are observed during the discharge but an increase in population is still seen at 5μs. Possible mechanisms for this behaviour are discussed. In addition, rotational temperature increases of at least 500 K are reported for all gas mixtures. The effect of this temperature increase on ignition, reaction rates, and thermal energy pathways are discussed. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)