Kinetic model of a low-pressure N2-O2 flowing glow discharge

A self-consistent kinetic model is developed to study dc flowing glow discharges in N2/O2 mixtures. This model includes the calculation of electron energy distribution functions and electron rate coefficients coupled with detailed vibrational kinetics of N2 molecules, chemical kinetics taking into account a large set of neutral, excited and charged species, interaction of N and O atoms at the discharge tube wall, and the thermal balance of the discharge. The results of this model agree reasonable well with the measurements of the electronic density, the gas temperature, the reduced electric field, the vibrational temperature of N2, and the concentration of O, N atoms, NO molecules, N2(C), N2+(B), and NO(γ) excited states. The comparison was performed in a N2-O2 discharge at pressure p + 2 Torr, for discharge currents I = 15, 30, and 80 mA, a flow rate Q = 100 sccm, and O2 percentages ranging from 0 up to 100%. The kinetic processes occurring in low-temperature plasmas of the atmospheric gases N2, O2 and their mixtures are presently the subject of many investigation due to their importance in atmospheric and ionospheric physics, and in plasma chemistry in general