Optical temperature measurement in unsteady plasma free jet

Abstract

An Argon plasma free jet is investigated using spectrally narrow bandpass filtered high-speed imaging. The images were captured at 16 kHz with an exposure time of 3.9 μs and then calibrated for absolute radiance. The free jet exhibited behaviour consistent with turbulent free shear flow and maintains an axisymmetric shape. Significant local fluctuations were observed over time, growing in strength and size as the flow convected downstream. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium and self-similar free-jet temperature profiles, the flow radiance is used to determine the local plasma temperature and the jet width. Then, both steady and unsteady flow models were applied to account for the jet fluctuation. In regions of low fluctuations near the nozzle exit, both models show good agreement for centreline temperatures, measuring approximately 11 200 K. In regions of significant fluctuations, the assumption of steady flow leads to an overestimation of 32% for temperature, 18% for jet width, and 41% for total jet power. The unsteady analysis approach results in lower temperatures and smaller jet widths while simultaneously satisfying momentum and energy conservation.