Computer tomography imaging of fast plasmachemical processes

Results are presented from experimental studies of the interaction of a high-enthalpy methane plasma bunch with gaseous methane in a plasmachemical reactor. The interaction of the plasma flow with the rest gas was visualized by using streak imaging and computer tomography. Tomography was applied for the first time to reconstruct the spatial structure and dynamics of the reagent zones in the microsecond range by the maximum entropy method. The reagent zones were identified from the emission of atomic hydrogen (the Hα line) and molecular carbon (the Swan bands). The spatiotemporal behavior of the reagent zones was determined, and their relation to the shock-wave structure of the plasma flow was examined