Experiments in a Large, Non-Equilibrium MHD Generator with Cesium Seeded, Noble Gases and Heated Electrodes

摘要

An experimental study was performed of the operating characteristics of a linear, supersonic Faraday generator, having heated wire electrodes suspended in the gas flow. The test gases were argon, neon, helium seeded with 0.8% cesium. It was observed that locating the electrode outside the cold boundary layer greatly reduced the current ignition voltage at the electrodes below that obtained previously with flush mounted electrodes. However, heating the electrodes to 1600K temperatures produced no significant improvement in the electrode performance over that obtained with room temperature electrodes at current densities of about 10 amp/sq/cm. In both cases, the electrode conduction was through arc spots with cathode losses of about 60V. (Author)