Electron swarm and streamer transport across the gas-liquid interface: A comparative fluid model study

In this work we present a comparative study of fluid modeling methods in order to determine a recommended procedure to describe electron transport and streamer propagation across gas-liquid interfacial regions. A test case of a cryogenic argon gas-liquid interface is simulated in this work to demonstrate applicability of the recommended procedures. The recommended non-local four moment model takes into consideration the density variation across the interface, and its associated impact on the transport properties/collisional transfer rates, as well as the spatial variation of the dielectric permittivity and the conduction band through the liquid binding energy, V ₀. The study examines the impacts of various assumptions involved in the modeling of electron transport across the plasma-liquid interface, by comparing a local field (drift-diffusion) approximation with the non-local (four moment) model, as well as a step function change in the density to actual spatially dependent density variations across the interface. We provide recommendations on necessary physical considerations needed to adequately model transport phenomena across gas-liquid interfaces.