A theorectical dissertation on the characteristics of the forced convection electric cathode plasma arc

A mathematical model for a forced convection electric cathode plasma arc is presented. The geometry of the system to be analyzed is based on a technique which has demonstrated the capability of having a gas stream injected into the core of the arc column around a cathode electrode with a high degree of penetration without affecting the arc stability. The analysis consists of assuming the plasma arc to be a continuous fluid and solving simultaneously the conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy, and charge using a finite difference iteration scheme. The form of the charge conservation equation is derived from the divergence of the current density being zero for a steady state condition. The charge equation was based upon the most complete current density expression to date and includes terms for ohmic, thermoelectric, and self magnetic current densities. Fundamental knowledge about the relationships and variations of heat transfer, fluid flow, electric, magnetic, and radiation phenomena within the plasma arc was obtained. The results produced include the distributions of the characteristic temperature, velocity, electrical, and magnetic intensity of the plasma arc for the fluid convection cathode system.