LONG HIGH-PRESSURE ARCS

Experiments were made with long high-pressure arcs to study possibility of heating of a dense plasma up to temperatures of several tens of thousands of degrees with relatively small expended power. Conclusions are: rotation of gas surrounding arc makes it possible to obtain long stable arcs in range of pressures of helium from 1 to 100 atm; with length of arc greater than 5 cm, larger part of energy is released directly into arc column; at pressures higher than 20 to 30 atm, losses due to radiation are decisive in balance of energy; investigation of interrelation of pressure, voltage gradient and current in arc make possible calculation of such arc parameters as radius of channel of arc, temperature of plasma, degree of ionization of plasma. Edited machine trans. of Fizika Plazmy i Problemy Upravlvaemogo Termoyadernogo Sinteza (USSR) n2 p296-306 1963.