Numerical analysis of the influence of nonequilibrium plasma on the nucleation rate of supersaturated steam
Sen Li,
Xiaobing Wang,
Yang Liu,
Qinglin Cheng,
Bin Bian,
Hui Pu,
Tingting Ma,
Bo Tang
Affiliations
Sen Li
School of Petroleum Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213000, China
Xiaobing Wang
School of Petroleum Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213000, China
Yang Liu
Key Laboratory for Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery of the Ministry of Education, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Qinglin Cheng
Key Laboratory for Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery of the Ministry of Education, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Bin Bian
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division, Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Hui Pu
Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202-6116, USA
Tingting Ma
School of Petroleum Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213000, China
Bo Tang
School of Petroleum Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213000, China
In this paper, a preliminary numerical method is established to simulate the effect of nonequilibrium plasma in water vapor on the nucleation rate of condensation. In this model, the plasma drift-diffusion model is employed to describe the water vapor plasma by considering a set of simplified reaction mechanisms. A heterogeneous condensation model describes the rate of water vapor nucleation on ions. The numerical simulation results show the formation and distribution of charged particles in nonequilibrium plasma and the effect of charged particles on the nucleation rate. The results also show that the nucleation rate increases rapidly with increasing supersaturation due to the presence of nonequilibrium plasma and is significantly higher with plasma than without plasma. The process of plasma-enhanced water vapor nucleation can be simulated quantitatively by this preliminary numerical method.
