Influence of input power in Ar/H2 thermal plasma with silicon powder by numerical simulation

Abstract

Numerical simulation in inductively coupled thermal plasma was made on the temperature distribution in argon (Ar)+hydrogen (H2) induction thermal plasma torch with silicon (Si) powder injection to obtain the temperature distribution and gas flow fields. The ICTP model was used in this research because it has benefit of good repeatability and no contamination process. Interactions between ICTP and injected powder are very complicated to be understood only by related experiments. Influence of input power in ICTP was numerically investigated on thermal plasma temperature fields and powder evaporation. The temperature distributions of thermal plasma and Si vapor distribution were compared at input powers of 20 kW, 30 kW, and 40 kW. Results indicated that higher input power increases the temperature of the thermal plasma with doughnut shape but it slightly enhances evaporation of the powder at the center axis of the plasma torch.

Numerical analysis in Ar-H₂ coupled-coil inductively coupled thermal plasma with Si feedstock for stable operation

“…In this paper, the infusion feeding powder is set to three feed rates such as 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 g/min for calculation. The one-coil has 8 swivel coils with one plasma torch and is connected to one power resource at the operating frequency [21]. In this study, an electromagnetic field is produced at one frequency.…”

“…A water-cooled line for powder infusion of raw materials is attached from the top of the torch to the lower coil's 4-5 turns coil along the middle axis, as depicted in Figures 1(a) and (b). In the case of the synthesis of Si nanomaterials, Silicon (Si) feedstock powder is infused from above through the torch axis concurrently with carrier gases Ar and H2 by water-cooled pipes [21], [23].…”

“…The main objective of this work is a computational program that was used in a coupled coil ICTP with powder infusion analysis to find the gas flow field and temperature behaviour by regenerating our calculation type for a one-coil ICTP with powder infusion of matter [21]- [24]. The Inductively coupled thermal plasma (ICTP) coupled-coil is suitable for upper and lower coils of the same diameter.…”