Flow characterization in plasma wind tunnels often relies on known catalytic properties of metallic surfaces. Copper is generally considered as fully catalytic standard for those purposes. However, long exposures to atomic oxygen enable the development of a stable oxidized layer and lead to a material with lower catalytic activity, falsifying the definition of those testing conditions. This work presents an experimental method to build a catalytic model on surfaces under high-temperature and low-pressure plasma flow conditions. The technique is called the Mini-Max, and it is applied in Plasmatron facility at VKI to determine the catalytic recombination coefficient () on a copper-based calorimeter. An empirical catalytic model of the surface is provided, based on different power and pressure settings of the Plasmatron. It is observed that, on the one hand, the recombination coefficient is significantly reduced at higher pressures, whereas, on the other hand, it remains rather constant for the range of power levels considered.
Empirical Modeling of Copper Catalysis for Enthalpy Determination in Plasma Facilities
Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer ; 34 , 1 ; 26-36
2019-06-17
11 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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