Two-temperature chemically-non-equilibrium modeling of argon induction plasmas with diatomic gas

A non-equilibrium modeling of argon–oxygen and argon–hydrogen induction thermal plasmas was performed without thermal and chemical equilibrium assumptions. Reaction rates of dissociation and recombination of diatomic gas and ionization were taken into account with two-temperature modeling. A substantial deviation from LTE exists near the torch wall in argon–oxygen induction plasmas under atmospheric pressure, while small deviation in argon–hydrogen plasmas results from the large collision frequency between electrons and hydrogen atoms.