Modelling of turbulent reacting flow for a cold atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet

A two-dimensional, axisymmetric model of turbulent reacting flow for a cold atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet has been developed. The model is formulated within the framework of boundary-layer theory and allows to study the transport and chemical processes in the jet with low computational effort. The generation of primary reactive gas species is described using a local zero-dimensional reaction kinetics model. The proposed modelling approach is validated against available experimental data. The computations are performed for a turbulent cold plasma jet operated in argon with admixtures of oxygen, air and water. The effect of a shielding gas on the transport and chemical processes is discussed. The modelling results are compared with the results of quantitative schlieren diagnostics (for Ar), molecular-beam mass spectrometry (for Ar, N-2, O-2), laser-induced fluorescence (for NO), two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (for O), ultraviolet absorption (for O-3) and cavity ring-down (for HO2) spectroscopy measurements. It is shown that turbulent diffusion across the jet is an important factor influencing the behaviour of reactive species that are of interest for practical applications.