A unified gas kinetic scheme for transport and collision effects in plasma

In this study, the Vlasov-Poisson equation with or without collision term for plasma is solved by the unified gas kinetic scheme (UGKS). The Vlasov equation is a differential equation describing time evolution of the distribution function of plasma consisting of charged particles with long-range interaction. The distribution function is discretized in discrete particle velocity space. After the Vlasov equation is integrated in finite volumes of physical space, the numerical flux across a cell interface and source term for particle acceleration are computed to update the distribution function at next time step. The flux is decided by Riemann problem and variation of distribution function in discrete particle velocity space is evaluated with central difference method. A electron-ion collision model is introduced in the Vlasov equation. This finite volume method for the UGKS couples the free transport and long-range interaction between particles. The electric field induced by charged particles is controlled by the Poisson's equation. In this paper, the Poisson's equation is solved using the Green's function for two dimensional plasma system subjected to the symmetry or periodic boundary conditions. Two numerical tests of the linear Landau damping and the Gaussian beam are carried out to validate the proposed method. The linear electron plasma wave damping is simulated based on electron-ion collision operator. Compared with previous methods, it is shown that the current method is able to obtain accurate results of the Vlasov-Poisson equation with a time step much larger than the particle collision time. Highly non-equilibrium and rarefied plasma flows, such as electron flows driven by electromagnetic field, can be simulated easily.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figure

The surface behaviour and catalytic properties of Nd2-XSrXCoO4±Λ mixed oxides

The mixed oxides, Nd2-XSrXCoO4±λ (0.4 ≤ x ≤ 1.2), (λ = non-stochiometric oxygen) with the K2NiF4 structure were prepared by the polyglycol gel method and used as catalysts for NO reduction. The samples were investigated by IR, TPD, TPR, and XRD methods and iodometry and the effects of the coefficient x on the structure and catalytic activity of the samples were studied. The results show that the Nd2-XSrXCoO4±λ mixed oxides have the K2NiF4 structure; other phases are found when x 1.2. The amount of Co3+ and the lattice oxygen in Nd2-XSrXCoO4±λ increase with increasing x. The catalytic activity of Nd2-XSrXCoO4±λ for NO reduction is closely correlated with the concentration of oxygen vacancies and the amount of Co3+.KEY WORDS: A2BO4, Co-containing mixed oxide, NO reduction, Rare-earthBull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2006, 20(2), 201-206