Numerical simulation of discharge behavior and network analysis of reaction chemistry in an atmospheric plasma jet

Atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge jets are one of the typical examples of low temperature plasma sources. The plasma is ignited by a pulsed discharge and passed through a guided helium jet. The luminous zone (plasma plume) extending into the open air consists of a series of streamers. In this research, we conduct numerical simulations with a two-dimensional axi-symmetrical model to investigate the ionizing wave propagation (streamer behavior) of a kHz-driven helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The two-dimensional plasma-fluid dynamics model consists of a steady fluid dynamics part, a plasma dynamics part and chemical kinetics. Numerically derived two-dimensional maps of the streamer propagation are compared with experimental results obtained using optical emission spectroscopy and high-speed imaging [1]. Furthermore, the complex network analysis based on graph-theory can reveal hidden feature of gas-phase chemistry by the visualization of the growth of the reacting network [2,3]. [1] C. McDonnell, et al. J. Plasma Phys. 88 (2022) 905880316. [2] T. Murakami and O. Sakai, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 29 (2020) 115018. [3] O. Sakai, S. Kawaguchi and T. Murakami, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61 (2022) 070101.