28, 29 October 2011

University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Background
The role of thermal plasma as a processing medium is expanding continuously, as uses of existing plasma technologies are expanding and new technologies are introduced. However, experience and intuition built upon other thermal processing technologies cannot be necessarily applied to plasmas, because some fundamental differences exist.

This two-day course will cover the fundamentals of thermal plasma technologies by discussing in detail the properties of thermal plasmas based on principles of gaseous electronics and thermodynamics, the various ways to generate thermal plasmas including the control of non-equilibrium boundaries, and the principles of the interactions of thermal plasmas with liquids and solids. Some time will be devoted to describing the physical differences between the thermal plasma and the high and low pressure non-equilibrium plasmas, and the different approaches for their characterization. Both, direct current and radio frequency plasmas will be discussed. A brief review of applications will include thermal plasma coating technologies, plasma powder treatment and synthesis of nano-size powders, and some applications making use of the plasma as a heat source such as plasma cutting, metallurgical processing and waste processing.

This course will provide the foundation for the understanding of the special characteristics of thermal plasmas that makes it suitable or unsuitable for specific materials treatment processes, and how these characteristics are used in selected processing applications.

Presenters
Prof Maher Boulos (Sherbrook University, Canada)
Prof Joachim Heberlein (Minnesota University, USA)
Prof Pierre Fauchais (University of Limoges, France)

Who should attend?

• Post graduate chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering students

• Scientists and engineers currently working with plasma technology or interested in the field.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points will be awarded.

Costs
R500 per person for the course

Registration
Please contact Thereza Botha to register for the Short course:
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 012 - 807 0869
Cell: 083 375 7373