Similarity Relations of Power–Voltage Characteristics for Tornado Gliding Arc in Plasma-Assisted Combustion Processes

Abstract

Gliding arc discharges have been utilized in plasma-assisted combustion processes, among various other applications, due to their chemical properties. In this paper, an ac-powered gliding arc discharge having a reverse vortex flow configuration (tornado) was experimentally studied in air and in air–natural gas mixtures. A new method is proposed for the generalization of power characteristics of this type of discharge, based on similarity theory. The application of this method is demonstrated to be efficient for gliding arc discharges with tornado effect, using dimensional numbers. Regression dependences for discharges in air and in mixtures of air and natural gas were obtained in a form of simple power function equations (using the concept of equivalence ratio), which can be applied for the design of different gliding arc equipments for plasma-assisted combustion and related technologies.