Influence of metallic vapours on the properties of air thermal plasmas

This paper deals with properties of air thermal plasmas containing vapours of iron, silver or copper. The plasma is supposed to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium, for temperatures ranging from 2000 to 30 000 K. First, the equilibrium composition and thermodynamic properties are presented. Then, the radiative properties are calculated using the method of the net emission coefficient. Finally, the viscosity, electrical and thermal conductivities are calculated using the method of Chapman–Enskog. For all mixtures, mole fractions have been used. The results are computed for various values of pressure, plasma size and proportions of vapours. The influence of metallic vapour is important on the electrical conductivity and on the radiation, even at low concentration. All the metallic vapours present a similar behaviour except iron, which has a stronger radiation emission than the other components.