Simulation of microwave-induced formation of gas bubbles in liquid n-heptane

Abstract

A model has been built and the formation of gas bubbles by exciting an atmospheric-pressure microwave discharge in liquid n-heptane has been numerically simulated in the approximation of axial symmetry. The model is based on the simultaneous solution of Maxwell’s equations, Navier–Stokes equations, the heat conduction equation, a balance equation for the electron number density (using the ambipolar diffusion approximation), Boltzmann’s equation for free plasma electrons, and the overall equation for the thermal degradation of n-heptane. The two-phase medium has been described using the phase field method. The calculation has made it possible to describe both the dynamics of the formation of gas bubbles in the liquid and the thermal processes in the system. The calculated gas temperature in the gas bubble with the plasma is in agreement with the measurement results.