Plasma Characteristics of Atmospheric DBD Argon Discharges Simulated by Fluid Model

A one-dimensional fluid model is established to investigate the plasma characteristics of atmospheric dielectric barrier argon discharges. In this model, four different dielectric structures, (a)no dielectric covered on the electrodes, (b)the dielectric covered on the powered electrode only, (c)the dielectric covered on the grounded electrode only, and (d)the dielectrics covered on both the powered electrode and the grounded electrode, are considered. It is found that the structure of the dielectric has a significant influence on the discharges. And the plasmas produced in the case (d) are more homogeneous in space, which is more amenable for the application of non-thermal equilibrium plasmas. Further, the effect of neutral gas temperature on the plasmas in case (d) is studied. Numerical results of the plasma densities, the electric field intensity, the electric potential, the ionization rate and the electron temperature with the different neutral gas temperatures are obtained. The results show that as the temperature of the neutral gas increases, the density of the electrons and the ions produced by the discharge decreases. This shift is achieved mainly by affecting the neutral gas density and the ionization rate, the former dominates. Also, the role of the sheath in the discharge gap is furthermore clearly discussed. *This work is supported by the Liaoning Provincial Education Department Scientific Research Project No. L2019049.