Investigation on streamers propagating into a helium jet in air at atmospheric pressure: Electrical and optical emission analysis

International audienceThe plasma produced due to streamers guided by a dielectric tube and a helium jet in atmospheric air is herein studied electrically and optically. Helium streamers are produced inside the dielectric tube of a coaxial dielectric-barrier discharge and, upon exiting the tube, they propagate into the helium jet in air. The axisymmetric velocity field of the neutral helium gas while it penetrates the air is approximated with the PISO algorithm. At the present working conditions, turbulence helium flow is avoided. The system is driven by sinusoidal high voltage of variable amplitude (0-11 kV peak-to-peak) and frequency (5-20 kHz). It is clearly shown that a prerequisite for streamer development is a continuous flow of helium, independently of the sustainment or not of the dielectric-barrier discharge. A parametric study is carried out by scanning the range of the operating parameters of the system and the optimal operational window for the longest propagation path of the streamers in air is determined. For this optimum, the streamer current impulses and the spatiotemporal progress of the streamer UV-visible emission are recorded. The streamer mean propagation velocity is as well measured. The formation of copious reactive emissive species is then considered (in terms of intensity and rotational temperatures), and their evolution along the streamer propagation path is mapped. The main claims of the present work contribute to the better understanding of the physicochemical features of similar systems that are currently applied to various interdisciplinary engineering fields, including biomedicine and material processing. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC