Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of a non-equilibrium argon plasma jet with confined wall

Numerical simulations are presented for the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a two-dimensional impinging jet of argon plasma at atmospheric pressure. The target slab with finite thickness upon which the plasma jet impinges is assumed to be an electric insulator such as SiC, which is the candidate material for plasma facing components of steady-state tokamak reactor. The plasma jet is treated by use of a magnetohydrodynamic model that takes its two-temperature non-equilibrium state into account and also of the electron continuity equation with ambipolar diffusion and generation terms which describe the microscopic behaviour of electrons. The effects of rear-side cooling conditions of the slab on the plasma-side flow and heat transfer performance are examined. Although no significant change is observed in the flow pattern, the plasma-side heat transfer performance is strongly affected by the rear-side cooling conditions.