Saturation currents on electric probes in flows of a chemically reacting plasma with different types of ions

The theory of saturation currents in a weakly ionized plasma with different types of ions is studied. The results of measurements of the ionic sections of the current-voltage characteristics of probes in the flow of combustion-product plasma with an alkali additive are presented. It is shown that a calculation based on a model taking into account the presence of negative ions, in particular, HCO3- ions, under the given conditions gives results that agree with experiment, and if only the ions of the additive atoms are taken into account the results disagree significantly