Magin, Thierry E | Search NASA

DOE OSTI2011

Regularized Grad equations for multicomponent plasmas

The moment method of Grad is used to derive macroscopic conservation equations for multicomponent plasmas for small and moderate Knudsen numbers, accounting for the electromagnetic field influence and thermal nonequilibrium. In the low Knudsen number limit, the equations derived are fully consistent with those obtained by means of the Chapman-Enskog method. In particular, we have retieved the Kolesnikov effect coupling electrons and heavy particles in the case of the Boltzmann moment systems. Finally, a regularization procedure is proposed to achieve continuous shock structures at all Mach numbers.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Thermo-chemical dynamics and chemical quasi-equilibrium of plasmas in thermal non-equilibrium

We examine both processes of ionization by electron and heavy-particle impact in spatially uniform plasmas at rest in the absence of external forces. A singular perturbation analysis is used to study the following physical scenario, in which thermal relaxation becomes much slower than chemical reactions. First, electron-impact ionization is investigated. The dynamics of the system rapidly becomes close to a slow dynamics manifold that allows for defining a unique chemical quasi-equilibrium for two-temperature plasmas and proving that the second law of thermodynamics is satisfied. Then, all ionization reactions are taken into account simultaneously, leading to a surprising conclusion: the inner layer for short time scale (or time boundary layer) directly leads to thermal equilibrium. Global thermo-chemical equilibrium is reached within a short time scale, involving only chemical reactions, even if thermal relaxation through elastic collisions is assumed to be slow.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗