Abstract
WE have been developing methods for burning leaner fuel/air mixtures at faster rates and with less pollution than is achieved in conventional systems1–3. Mixtures of heat contents much below those corresponding to normal limits of flammability have been burned successfully at low temperatures using heat recirculation4,5. At temperatures much above the melting point of heat exchangers large increases in burning rates for a small input of electricity were achieved when radicals from plasma jets were injected, using a magnetically rotated arc to achieve rapid mixing6. We now report on further effects which can be induced using even a much smaller plasma jet (of about the size of a conventional sparking plug), the addition of much smaller proportions of electrical energy (∼ 4% of the chemical through-put) and the absence of any magnetic field.
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HILLIARD, J., WEINBERG, F. Effect of nitrogen-containing plasmas on stability, NO formation and sooting of flames. Nature 259, 556–557 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/259556a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/259556a0
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