Ma. Tas et al., PLASMA EXCITATION PROCESSES IN FLUE-GAS SIMULATED WITH MONTE-CARLO ELECTRON DYNAMICS, Journal of physics. D, Applied physics, 30(11), 1997, pp. 1636-1645
The excitation of gas molecules in flue gas by electron impact is calc
ulated with a Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm for electron dynamics in part
ially ionized gases. The MC algorithm is straightforward for any mixtu
re of molecules for which cross sections are available. Electron drift
is simulated in the first case for homogeneous electric fields and in
the second case for secondary electrons which are produced by electro
n-beam irradiation. The electron energy distribution function, <(epsil
on)over bar>(e), (v) over bar(d), <(lambda)over bar>, the energy branc
hing and the rate of excitation are calculated for standard gas mixtur
es of Ar-N-2, O-2 and H2O. These fundamental process parameters are ne
eded for the study of reactions to remove NOx from flue gas. The calcu
lated results indicate that the production of highly excited molecules
in the high electric field of a streamer corona discharge has an effi
ciency similar to that of electron-beam irradiation.