We developed a plasma torch with self-cooling anode. The anode was cooled by forcing the working medium to flow through the internal of the anode

and the temperature of working gas would simultaneously increase by absorbing heat from the high-temperature anode. The heated gas then flowed into the discharging channel

and a stable plasma jet was obtained. The new plasma torch was tested with total input power at 785 W

under atmospheric pressure without water-cooling

and it could work stably in long-standing period. The length of the jet does not change notably

and the anode keeps a temperature at about 395 ℃. A traditional torch was also tested for comparison with 815 W input power without water-cooling. The temperature of the normal torch increases to 750 ℃ and shuts down after 5-minute operation in the air. The length of the plasma jet from a normal torch exhibits a quasi-period variation

observed by neck eyes clearly. The experimental results show that the self-cooling anode is an efficient way to achieve a stable plasma jet

and to increase the length

temperature and enthalpy of the jet. Self-cooling anode is a useful technique to improve the efficiency and quality of a plasma torch.