A 3D electron fluid model with energy balance for plasma plumes

EP2PLUS is a 3D hybrid simulation code designed to analyze the expansion of energetic plasma plumes and its interaction with nearby objects, which is a subject of high interest. Heavy species are treated with a particle-in-cell formulation while a fluid model is used for electrons. The electron model is able to deal with moderate magnetic field but the momentum equation is closed with a polytropic relation for the electron temperature. This is inadequate for magnetized, mildly collisional regions of the plume. This paper presents work in progress to add the electron energy equation to the model with a Fourier’s closure law for the heat flux. An example with a magnetically-guided plume shows the differences between the two approaches.