The term plasma actuator has now been a part of the fluid dynamics flow-control vernacular for more than a decade. A particular type of plasma actuator that has gained wide use is based on a single–dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) mechanism that has desirable features for use in air at atmospheric pressures. For these actuators, the mechanism of flow control is through a generated body-force vector field that couples with the momentum in the external flow. The body force can be derived from first principles, and the effect of plasma actuators can be easily incorporated into flow solvers so that their placement and operation can be optimized. They have been used in a wide range of internal and external flow applications. Although initially considered useful only at low speeds, plasma actuators are effective in a number of applications at high subsonic, transonic, and supersonic Mach numbers, owing largely to more optimized actuator designs that were developed through better understanding and modeling of...

Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators for Flow Control

The aim of this paper is to confirm the existence of atmospheric pressure dielectric controlled glow discharge and to describe its main behavior. Electrical measurements, short time exposure photographs, and numerical modeling were used to achieve this task. Experimental observations and numerical simulation are in good agreement. Therefore, the analysis of the calculated space and time variations of the electric field together with the ion and electron densities helps to explain the discharge mechanisms involved, showing the main role played by the electron as well as helium metastable density just before the discharge is turned on.

Experimental and theoretical study of a glow discharge at atmospheric pressure controlled by dielectric barrier

The medical, food processing, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning industries are searching for improved pasteurization, disinfection, and sterilization technologies. Candidate techniques must deal with and overcome such problems as thermal sensitivity and destruction by heat, formation of toxic by-products, costs, and inefficiency in performance. We report the results of a plasma source, the One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP), which operates at atmospheric pressure in air and produces antimicrobial active species at room temperature, OAUGDP exposures have reduced log numbers of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria, bacterial endospores, yeast, and bacterial viruses on a variety of surfaces. The nature of the surface influenced the degree of lethality, with microorganisms on polypropylene being most sensitive, followed by glass, and cells embedded in agar. Experimental results showed at least a 5 log/sub 10/ CFU reduction in bacteria within a range of 50-90 s of exposure. After 10-25 s of exposure, macromolecular leakage and bacterial fragmentation were observed. Vulnerability of cell membranes to reactive oxygen species (ROC) is hypothesized. Results from several novel OAUGDP configurations are presented, including a remote exposure reactor (RER) which uses transported active species to sterilize material located more than 20 cm from the plasma generation site, and a second planar electrode configuration developed for air filter sterilization. Applications of these technologies to the healthcare industry, the food industry, and decontaminating surfaces compromised by biological warfare agents are discussed.

An overview of research using the one atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma (OAUGDP) for sterilization of surfaces and materials

SDBD plasma enhanced aerodynamics: concepts, optimization and applications

The term “plasma actuator” has been a part of the fluid dynamics flow control vernacular for more than a decade. A particular type of plasma actuator that has gained wide use is based on a single dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) mechanism that has desirable features for use in air at atmospheric pressures. For these actuators, the mechanism of flow control is through a generated body force vector that couples with the momentum in the external flow. The body force can be derived from first principles and the plasma actuator effect can be easily incorporated into flow solvers so that their placement and operation can be optimized. They have been used in a wide range of applications that include bluff body wake control; lift augmentation and separation control on a variety of lifting surfaces ranging from fixed wings with various degrees of sweep, wind turbine rotors and pitching airfoils simulating helicopter rotors; flow separation and tip-casing clearance flow control to reduce losses in turbines, to control flow surge and stall in compressors; and in exciting instabilities in boundary layers at subsonic to supersonic Mach numbers for turbulent transition control. New applications continue to appear through programs in a growing number of US universities and government laboratories, as well as in Germany, France, England, Netherland, Russia, Japan and China. This paper provides an overview of the physics, design and modeling of SDBD plasma actuators. It then presents their use in a number of applications that includes both numerical flow simulations and experiments together.

/pdf/single-dielectric-barrier-discharge-plasma-enhanced-3iiumx9r1k.pdf

Single dielectric barrier discharge plasma enhanced aerodynamics: physics, modeling and applications

In this work, we carried out one-dimensional and self-consistent modeling of a high-pressure low-frequency helium discharge between insulated electrodes. We were able to obtain a stationary state which is qualitatively in agreement with the experimental results. We were also able to study the influence of the experimental parameters (gap length, frequency, etc.) on the numerical results. In the near future, we plan to fully include the Penning effect in our model. The calculations will also be extended to two-dimensional geometry.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel2/4605/12965/00592074.pdf

R. Ben Gadri

Papers

Numerical modelling of high-pressure glow discharges controlled by dielectric barrier