Thermodynamic Property Characterization for Plasmas Generated by an Ablating-Capillary Arc

摘要

The thermodynamic property database developed by McBride and Gordon for use with their program for calculating the chemical compositions of complex gas mixtures has been employed in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for simulating plasma jets generated by ablating-capillary arc igniters. In this report, the methods employed in the development of the McBride and Gordon data are compared to those based on the 'standard' (DeBye-Huckel) theory employed for gases in which Coulomb interactions need to be considered. Predictions based on these two approaches are compared over pressure and temperature ranges relevant to an ablating-capillary arc jet. The comparison indicates that McBride and Gordon data, which does not include a 'first principles' correction for the influence of Coulomb interactions, still yields property determinations that are in good agreement with the standard. Moreover, it is shown that properties obtained from their database should not be corrected with terms that account for Coulomb interactions.