Estimating the power injection proportion of the plasma jet generator based on the measured enthalpy

Abstract

The purpose of the developed plasma jet generator is to study the effect of jet plasma on electromagnetic wave propagation, simulating the plasma sheath environment encountered during space vehicle reentry. Because the temperature and velocity of the plasma jet are high, it is difficult to measure temperature and electron density by the contact method. In addition to the normal flow of the entire apparatus, high-power magnetic field energy (generated by the power supply) is injected into the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) generation region. The energy of the magnetic field excites the gas and generates plasma. In this paper, the whole apparatus is calculated numerically, the energy term is added to the corresponding area of ICP, and the enthalpy distribution of the whole apparatus is calculated. The heat flux and total pressure are measured by slug calorimeter (heat flux probe) and total pressure probe, and then, the enthalpy is obtained. When the calculated enthalpy is consistent with the measured enthalpy, the value of the energy term in the numerical calculation process is the injected energy value. The ratio of the energy injected into the ICP region to the total energy provided by the power supply is the power injection proportion. The power injection proportion of the apparatus in this paper obtained by the above method is between 25% and 30%.