Thermal Flow Characteristics of the Triple Plasma Torch System for Nanoparticle Synthesis

Triple dc plasma torch system was used for the synthesis of nanoparticles. Three thermal plasma jets are ejected from each plasma torch and they are merged into a strong single plasma plume. Since the feedstock is injected into the jet merging area, this system is suitable for refractory nanoparticle synthesis and enable to high production yield caused by the complete evaporation is possible. In this paper, numerical simulation was carried out to analyze thermal plasma characteristic inside a reactor according to the plasma-forming gas and carrier gas compositions: Ar, Ar-H-2, and Ar-N-2 plasma; Ar, He, and N-2 carrier gas. Then, it was comparatively interpreted with the actually synthesized nanoparticle in order to understand the condensation process of nanoparticles. It was revealed that the thermal environment is able to control readily in the triple torch system by the operating condition depending on the target materials.