Effect of swirl and confinement on the flow and temperature fields in an inductively coupled r.f. plasma

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Abstract
A mathematical model was used for the calculation of the flow and temperature fields in the fire‐ball of an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) under confined and free discharge conditions taking into account gravity and swirl in the sheath gas. Computations were made for an argon plasma at atmospheric pressure operating at a power level of 3kW and a frequnecy of 3 MHz. Natural convection has a negligible effect on the flow and temperature fields under confined discharge conditions, but a significant effect, for the free plasma discharge. The back flow in the discharge was substantially reduced in the presence of swirl for swirl velocities over the range 0‐70 m/s. With a moderate increase in swirl, the conduction heat flux to the wall decreased but increased with the further increase in swirl.