DEFINITION OF A NEW LEVEL ONE TEST CASE – MEASUREMENTS OF EQUILIBRIUM RADIATION FROM AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA IN THE NEAR–UV TO NEAR–IR SPECTRAL REGION FOR A MARTIAN–TYPE CO2–N2 MIXTURE

A new test case, using a quasi-similar methodology and experimental set-up than previous test case 1, is presented in this paper. An inductively coupled plasma torch, work-ing at atmospheric pressure, is used to create CO2–N2 Martian-like plasma (97 % CO2–3 % N2). The operating frequency and power are 64 MHz and 3 kW respectively. This kind of apparatus allows obtaining plasma in chem-ical and quasi-thermal equilibrium. The plasma charac-terization will consist firstly to determining the chemi-cal composition; a calculation code based on the Gibbs free energy minimization is used. Secondly, the radial temperature profiles will be given through Abel inversion of atomic and molecular systems. The spectral measure-ments cover the [250–800] nm range and are performed inside the induction coil. Each interesting spectrum is Abel-inverted and calibrated in order to determine the volumetric emission coefficient. These spectra are then compared to the line-by-line spectral code SESAM used for the simulation of the radiative emission of entry-type plasma. 1