Engineering design of plasma generation devices using Elmer finite element simulation methods

Plasma generation devices are important technology for many engineering disciplines. The process for acquiring experience for designing plasma devices requires practice, time, and the right tools. The practice and time depend on the individual and the access to the right tools can be a limiting factor to achieve experience and to get an idea on the possible risks. The use of Elmer finite element method (FEM) software for verifying plasma engineering design is presented as an accessible tool that can help modeling multi-physics and verifying plasma generation devices. Furthermore, Elmer FEM will be suitable for experienced engineer and can be used for determining the risks in a design or a process that use plasma. A physical experiment was conducted to demonstrate new features of plasma generation technology where results are compared with plasma simulation using Elmer FEM

RF-assisted DC single beam plasma generation for multi-beam nuclear fusion

At UOIT, there is extensive research on plasma generation. This paper focuses on RF assisted DC plasma generation. The goal of the research is to increase electron and ion energy and production such that fusion can occur. The high energy ions would overcome the coulomb repulsion barrier energy for fusion. The energy from the ions can be in the form of thermal or kinetic energy. In this research, the solenoid in the plasma generator serving as an auxiliary power source operates both in DC and RF mode. The paper discusses the simulations and experimental work under this research. Under DC mode where the magnetic field is in opposite direction as the plasma flow, the electron temperature and density are 4.44 eV and 354.7 · 1018 m−3. Under 125 MHz radio-frequency, the electron temperature and density are 0.30 eV and 291.7 · 1018 m−3 respectively. Keywords: RF-assisted DC, Single plasma beam, Plasma generation, Multi-beam nuclear fusio