Numerical simulation and experimental verification of electrode life for different coolants and its flow in plasma cutting torch

The plasma arc cutting technology is the one, which finds tremendous potential in fabrication and manufacturing industries. The objective of this work is to improve the life of the electrode, which is used in plasma cutting torch as consumable. There are many factors which influences over the electrode life, one such factor affecting the life drastically is overheated plasma system. To increase the life, proper cooling is necessary to cool the system. The results of numerical simulation as well as the experimental outcome due to the effect of different plasma coolants with different flow rates are presented. The thermal behavior, due to three coolants, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol and de ionized water, are analyzed using the CFD tool, FLUENT. It has been experimented with different coolant flow rate to find the effect of flow rate, it confirms an optimized coolant flow rate is required to achieve the better electrode life.