Abstract
An experimental and theoretical study of the ionization instability in nonequilibrium, continuous-electrode MHD generators is presented. Experiments have been conducted in flowing, atmospheric-pressure argon at 2100°K seeded with 0.1% by mole potassium to investigate the influence of electrode separation on the development and effects of the ionization instability. A two-dimensional, linear perturbation analysis of the governing equations was developed to predict the dependence of the critical Hall parameter for growth of the instability on the electrode separation, current density, and magnetic field. Essential to the analysis is the retention of the radiation and heat conduction terms of the energy equation. The experiment and theory were in general agreement and showed that the wavelength decreased with increasing magnetic field, increasing current density, or decreasing electrode separation. The critical Hall parameter was found to decrease with increasing electrode separation and to vary with the current density. From the experiments it was found that the effective Hall parameter decreased with increasing magnetic field or increasing electrode separation. The effective scalar conductivity showed no appreciable change for the three electrode separations.
Published Version
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