PLASMA CUTTING

‘Plasma’ is a state of matter whereby gas or a mixture of gases is heated to an extremely high temperature and ionized to become electrically conductive. In plasma cutting, compressed air is the main source of supply with nitrogen the gas used for commercial or heavy industrial uses.

The electrically conductive arc is forced through a small, constricting orifice / plasma tip to create a highvelocity jet of ionized gas. The parent metal or workpiece is then melted away by the heat of this clean, controlled arc.

To put it into perspective, lightning is probably one of the most recognized forms of plasma. The lightning is looking for an earth in the same way that the plasma machine looks for the earthed workpiece.

The intense heat of the plasma arc is around 22,000°C. Compare this with oxyacetylene at around 3150°C or oxy/LPG at 2850°C, and you will have an idea of the energy created. To reach this, plasma machines use DC power sources with