Numerical Simulation of Two-Temperature Non-Equilibrium for High Power Inductively Coupled Plasmas

A two-temperature (2T) thermal non-equilibrium model is established and applied to the numerical simulation of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) under turbulent conditions. The spatial distribution of electron temperature and heavy particle temperature of plasma under different working conditions is discussed by changing the flow of injected reaction gas and cooling gas and input power. The results show that there are significant differences between the simulation results of turbulent flow and laminar flow model. The high volume flow of reaction gas will cause the arc extinguishing phenomenon, and the non-equilibrium area at the inlet of the plasma torch will increase. However, increasing the volume flow of cooling gas will make the overall plasma temperature drop rapidly, and the non-equilibrium region has a tendency to expand to the plasma center. With the increase of coil power, the plasma temperature will rise rapidly and the non-equilibrium area at the inlet of the plasma torch will decrease. The numerical model helps to determine the optimal conditions for generating the desired plasma.