Trends in High Temperature Technology

Nitric oxide concentration of air as a function of temperature at several total pressures (G4). 

Probably the one high temperature chemical process which has received the most attention is the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen as nitric oxide. The advantage of high temperatures is apparent from Fig. 18, 

Uses of High Temperatures Generated in Shock Tubes 

The plasma jet does not exactly simulate re-entry conditions, but it is capable of supplying approximately the same gas temperatures and heating rates to a specimen nose cone. 

Another potential application of the plasma jet in the chemical industry was demonstrated at the National Bureau of Standards recently Margoshes and Scribner (M2) developed a plasma jet spectrograph. Water solutions of metal ions where atomized in a helium plasma, and the emission spectra were recorded. The primary advantage of the plasma jet as a spectroscopic source is its ability to excite elements which are stable at the highest attainable temperatures of chemical flames. 

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