GB849839A - Apparatus for producing high temperature arc plasma - Google Patents

Abstract

849,839. Heating by electric arcs. SPARCATION Ltd. Oct. 3, 1958 [July 4, 1957], No. 21238/57. Class 39(3). In a high temperature arc plasma generator in which an arc is established between two electrodes and part of the arc path is enclosed by a vortex of fluid, the electrodes are supplied with continuous direct current on which a pulsed current is superimposed. In the arrangement shown a carbon electrode 1 provided with a feed control mechansim (not shown) is supported by a fluid-tight gland (not shown) in the end wall 5 of a vortex chamber 2 made of heat resisting glass and provided with tangential inlets 3 and 3<SP>1</SP> for the supply of cooling fluid such as water. The bottom of the chamber is formed by an annulus 6a and a nozzle 6 which is cooled by water escaping from the chamber 2 and collected by an annular launder 7 provided with a drain pipe 8. An internally water-cooled ring electrode 9 made of a high melting-point metal or alloy is located coaxially with the opening of the nozzle 6. The electrodes 1 and 9 are connected to a D.C. supply 10 through a choke coil 11 and are also connected through a switching device 14, e.g. one or more ignitrons, to a storage device 13 comprising a capacitance or a capacitanceinductance network connected to a supply 15. In operation, water is admitted to the chamber 2 to create a vortex and an arc is then established between electrodes 1 and 9 either by temporarily removing a cap 1a and passing a wire through the bore of electrode 1 to contact electrode 9 or by using a high-frequency spark device to ionize a path between the electrodes, after which the switching device 14 is put in operation.