Computer Simulation of Inductively Coupled Plasma Discharge for Spectrochemical Analysis. II. Comparison of Temperature and Velocity Profiles, and Particle Decomposition for Inductively Coupled Plasma Discharges in Argon and Nitrogen

Using a recently developed numerical procedure for the solution of energy and magnetic flux density equations for inductively coupled plasma (ICP) discharges with diatomic gases, we made a theoretical comparison of ICP discharges in argon and nitrogen with the objective of evaluating their relative spectrochemical usefulness. Nitrogen discharges operating at powers between 3 and 7 kW and argon discharges of powers between 0.6 and 6 kW are investigated for a three-concentric gas flow arrangement now popular in spectrochemical analysis. Although the argon discharge temperatures are higher and the linear velocity of the central gas stream lower, nitrogen provides a more effective discharge for decomposition of A1 2 O 3 particles. Two-dimensional temperature distributions, velocity profiles, and power loss relationships are described.