5 research outputs found
Hilbert expansion based fluid models for kinetic equations describing neutral particles in the plasma edge of a fusion device
Neutral particles in the plasma edge of fusion devices based on magnetic
confinement are described by a transient kinetic equation incorporating
ionization, recombination, and charge-exchange collisions. In charge-exchange
dominated regimes, the neutral particle velocity distribution approaches the
drifting Maxwellian defined by the mean velocity and temperature of the plasma.
This enables model order reduction from the kinetic equation to approximate
fluid models. We derive transient fluid models consistent with the kinetic
equation by exploring a splitting based approach. We split the kinetic equation
in sources and sinks on the one hand, and transport combined with
charge-exchange on the other hand. Combining transport with charge-exchange
collisions allows for deriving Hilbert expansion based fluid models. The
retrieved fluid models depend on the assumed importance (scaling) of the
different terms in the split equation describing transport and charge-exchange.
We explore two scalings: the hydrodynamic scaling and the diffusive scaling.
The performance of the fluid models with respect to a discrete velocity model
and a Monte Carlo reference solver is assessed in numerical experiments. The
code used to perform the numerical experiments is openly available.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures. This article may be downloaded for personal use
only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP
Publishing. This article appeared in Physics of Plasmas (Vol.30, Issue 6) and
may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.014615
A novel method for purification, quantitative analysis and characterization of microplastic fibers using Micro-FTIR
Microplastics pose a worldwide risk for the environment. Microplastic fibers, which are released during the household washing of synthetic fabrics, are a substantial percentage of microplastics in rivers and in oceans. A novel quantification and simultaneous identification of fiber polymers via Micro-FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) was developed. Washing simulations with commercially available household products were performed and effluents were filtered either on GF/F filters (0.7 μm) or on Anodisc filter (0.2 μm), to gather even the smallest fibers. Furthermore, a novel purification procedure of effluents was developed. Subsequently, filters were analyzed also with the scanning electronic microscope (SEM) to confirm the width and length of fibers. This novel method is robust and replicable and it allows better quantification of fibers released and identification of fiber polymers with optimal matches (averagely 80%)