Method and apparatus for producing high purity spherical metallic powders at high production rates from one or two wires

An apparatus for producing metallic powders from wire feedstock includes a plasma torch and at least one wire adapted to be fed in the apparatus. While an arc is directly transferred to the wire(s) to melt the wire, the plasma torch produces a plasma jet that atomizes the molten wire into particles, and a downstream cooling chamber solidifies the particles into powders. An electrical arc is drawn between two continuously fed wires in front of plasma supersonic jet, where current is provided by two or more power supplies connected in parallel, where at least one power supply is set to voltage-controlled and at least one power supply is set to current-controlled. This electrical configuration allows for the production of fine and spherical powders even at very high production rates, which allows for a much lower gas-to-metal ratio. In this apparatus, one wire serves as an anode, and the other as a cathode. In another apparatus, the wire serves as a cathode within the plasma torch. In yet another apparatus, an a