Microwave steam torch

Injecting steam into a discharge tube as a swirl gas at a temperature higher than 150 degrees C, a pure steam torch powered by 2.45 GHz microwaves is generated for various applications such as hydrogen production for fuel cells in the future vehicles. The steam torch is very stable and operates continuously. The temperature measurement of the torch exhibits two distinctive regions: a bright, whitish region of a high-temperature plasma zone and a reddish, dimmer region of a relatively low-temperature zone of hydrogen burning in oxygen, indicating efficient disintegration of water molecules, confirmed by analytical estimates and experimentally measured data. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.