Quantitative analysis of plasma action on gas flow in a He plasma jet

The presented article introduces a novel approach to the study of plasma–flow interaction in atmospheric pressure plasma jets. A sensitive manometer is constructed and applied for the measurement of the gas flow change induced by the discharge. The presented device can be used for the study of various types of plasma jets operating in all kinds of atmospheres. The proposed method is further used for the study of the influence of the applied voltage and initial gas flow rate on the effect of plasma on flow variation in a kHz helium plasma jet. It is found that the plasma–flow interaction is the most prominent for lower gas flows and that initial flow can be doubled. Also, the results show that the gas flow increase is linearly dependent on the applied voltage and that the slopes of these dependencies decrease as the initial flow rises.