The Influence of Nitrogen in Ar+N2 Mixture on Parameters of High-Temperature Device with Electric Arc

Abstract

The paper presents the results of numerous experiments carried out on a high temperature device consisting of an arc heater with intensively blasted electric arc and reaction chambers connected to its output. The influence of nitrogen mass concentration (up to 11 %) in working gas Ar+N2 on voltage–current characteristics, power losses of individual parts and efficiency is studied for two variants of electrical configuration of the device. A short description of the computation of necessary thermodynamic and transport properties of Ar+N2 mixture is included. The computed properties are then used for evaluation of mean temperature and velocity at certain cross-sections of the device. Conclusions can be useful for the design of high temperature devices operating with argon/nitrogenmixture.