Reassessment of the body forces in a He atmospheric-pressure plasma jet: a modelling study

Using a fully self-consistent fluid model, the impact of the plasma on the background gas flow in an atmospheric-pressure helium plasma jet (He-APPJ) impinging ambient air is investigated through determination of the electrohydrodynamic forces (EHD forces) and gas heating effects. Three gas flow compositions have been considered: a pure helium flow, a helium flow with 2% O2 admixture, and a helium flow with 2% N2 admixture. In all cases, results show that the plasma mainly affects background flow through localized heating, which creates a pressure gradient force acting to increase the flow velocity at the exit of the capillary by approximately 1 to 3 ms−1. The EHD forces on the other hand disturb the flow only slightly. Discharges with O2 and N2 admixtures exhibit increased gas heating and EHD forces. This is attributed to the extra rotational and vibrational excitation states available, coupling electron energy to the background gas. The findings here indicate that a significant increase in the Reynold number as a result of the presence of the plasma is an unlikely explanation for plasma-induced turbulence, observed in atmospheric plasma jet discharges.