Effect of charging solid particles on their growth process and parameters of microwave discharge in liquid n-heptane

Abstract

A zero-dimensional non-stationary model of a microwave discharge in liquid n-heptane at atmospheric pressure with continuous argon injection into the plasma region is presented. The model includes equations for the kinetics of neutral and charged plasma components, equations describing the formation and growth of solid particles from the decomposition products of n-heptane, and an equation for the microwave field strength in plasma. The description of the coagulation process takes into account the electrostatic repulsion of solid particles due to their charge. The kinetics of charged particles is described taking into account their death on the surface of negatively charged solid particles formed in plasma. To determine the coefficients of the reaction rates in mechanisms of direct electron impact, the electron energy distribution function obtained by solving the Boltzmann equation is used. Calculations have shown that the plasma quasineutrality is mainly supported by the charge of solid particles, and the electron concentration is 1–2 orders of magnitude less than the total ion concentration. An increase in the averaged microwave field was noted in comparison with the case that does not take into account charging. Charging of the solid particles does not affect the composition of the main gas-phase products, but leads to the suppression of the coagulation process for large solid particles, which leads to a change in the size distribution function of the solid particles formed in the plasma.