Numerical Modeling of Nano-powder Synthesis in a Radio-Frequency Inductively Coupled Plasma Torch

Abstract

In order to understand the mechanism of the synthesis of particles using a plasma torch, it is necessary to understand the reaction mechanisms using a computer simulation. In this study, we have developed a simulation method to combine the Lagrangian scheme to follow microparticles and a nodal method to treat nanoparticles categorized with different particle sizes. The Lagrangian scheme includes the Coulomb force which affects the dynamics of larger particles. In contrast, the nodal method is adequate for the nanoparticles because the charge effect is negligible for nanoparticles but the number of nanoparticles is much larger than that of microparticles. This method is helpful to understand the dynamics and growth mechanism of micro-and nano-powder mixture observed in the experiment.