Calibration of an argon plasma jet and preliminary application to production of oxygen by carbon dioxide reduction

An argon plasma jet generator hag been built and calibrated for various power inputs, arc gas flow rates, electrode gaps and anode materials. The gas enthalpy and its temperature, the heat losses, the impact pressure, the exit gas velocity and the heat flux have been calculated from the collected data. Comparisons with helium were also made. Injection of carbon dioxide into the plasma flame has yielded up to 3% of oxygen in the effluent gas. The reaction temperatures ranged from 3,000 to 11,000°K.