Performance of a Faraday Rare Gas Alkali MHD Generator

The performance of the IPP rare gas alkali MHD generator was theoretically and experimentally investigated. The open-circuit Faraday voltage, the short-circuit Hall voltage, and the load characteristic were measured at different segmentation ratios s/h and various magnetic field strengths. Furthermore, the current streamline pattern in the generator duct was determined from the equipotential lines measured by means of a movable probe. From these measurements it could be concluded that the generator is practically free of any leakage currents and internal plasma short-circuits. This conclusion was further supported by the reasonably good agreement between theory and experiment regarding the current voltage characteristic of the generator.