Abstract Plasma stability in reactive mixtures is critical for various applications from plasma-assisted combustion to gas conversion. To generate stable and uniform plasmas and control the transition towards filamentation, the underlying physics and chemistry need a further look. This work investigates the plasma thermal-chemical instability triggered by dimethyl-ether (DME) low-temperature oxidation in a repetitive nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge. First, a plasma-combustion kinetic mechanism of DME/air is developed and validated using temperature and ignition delay time measurements in quasi-uniform plasmas. Then the multi-stage dynamics of thermal-chemical instability is experimentally explored: the DME/air discharge was initially uniform, then contracted to filaments, and finally became uniform again before ignition. By performing chemistry modeling and analyzing the local thermal balance, it is found that such nonlinear development of the thermal-chemical instability is controlled by the competition between plasma-enhanced low-temperature heat release and the increasing thermal diffusion at higher temperature. Further thermal-chemical mode analysis identifies the chemical origin of this instability as DME low-temperature chemistry. This work connects experiment measurements with theoretical analysis of plasma thermal-chemical instability and sheds light on future chemical control of the plasma uniformity. 
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                            Effect of Plasma-Enhanced Low-Temperature Chemistry on Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition in a Microchannel
                        
                    
    
            This study examines low-temperature chemistry (LTC) enhancement by nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge (ns-DBD) plasma on a dimethyl ether (DME)/oxygen [Formula: see text] (Ar) premixture for deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in a microchannel. It is found that non-equilibrium plasma generates active species and kinetically accelerates LTC of DME and DDT. In situ laser diagnostics and computational modeling examine the influence of the ns-DBDs on the LTC of DME and DDT using formaldehyde ([Formula: see text]) laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and high-speed imaging. Firstly, high-speed imaging in combination with LIF is used to trace the presence of LTC throughout the flame front propagation and DDT. Then, competition between plasma-enhanced LTC of ignition and reduced heat release rate of combustion due to plasma-assisted partial fuel oxidation is studied with LIF. Observations of plasma-enhanced LTC effects on DDT are interpreted with the aid of detailed kinetic simulations. The results show that an appropriate number of ns-DBDs enhances LTC of DME and increases [Formula: see text] formation and low-temperature ignition, accelerating DDT. Moreover, it is found that, with many ns-DBDs, [Formula: see text] concentration decreases, indicating that excessive discharges may accelerate fuel oxidation in the premixture, reducing heat release and weakening shock–ignition coupling, inhibiting DDT. 
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                            - Award ID(s):
- 1903362
- PAR ID:
- 10482423
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AIAA Journal
- Volume:
- 61
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 0001-1452
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 4821 to 4827
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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