Interaction of multiple atmospheric-pressure micro-plasma jets in small arrays: He/O2 into humid air

Abstract

Arrays of atmospheric-pressure plasma jets are being considered as a means to increase the area being treated in surface modification and in plasma medicine in particular. A unique challenge of scaling plasma jet arrays is that individual plasma jets in an array tend to interact with each other, which can lead to quenching of some individual jets. To investigate these potential interactions, a computational study of one-, two- and three-tube arrays of micro-plasma jet arrays was performed. An atmospheric-pressure He/O2 = 99.8/0.2 mixture was flowed through the tubes into humid room air. We found that the jets interact through electrostatic, hydrodynamic and photolytic means. The hydrodynamic interactions result from the merging of individual He channels emerging from individual tubes as air diffuses into the extended gas jets. Ionization waves (IWs) or plasma bullets, which form the jets on the boundaries of an array, encounter higher mole fractions of air earlier compared with the center jet and so are slower or are quenched earlier. The close proximity of the jets produces electrostatic repulsion, which affects the trajectories of the IWs. If the jets are close enough, photoionizing radiation from their neighbors is an additional form of interaction. These interactions are sensitive to the spacing of the jets.