Experiments on power generation from a moving plasma

Abstract

Electrical power of 0·32MW has been extracted for a period of 100 μsec from a plasma of shock-ionized argon travelling at 4×10 5 cm per sec through a magnetic field of 10,000 G. Currents of more than 10,000amp are drawn and the resulting modification of the applied field is considered. Maximum power is obtained when the external load is matched to the plasma generator which has an internal impedance equivalent to its own electrical resistance in series with a resistance arising from its behaviour as a compressible fluid. Values of the electrical conductivity of the plasma obtained in these experiments (about 3 × 10 3 mho per metre) show that the plasma resistance is controlled by electron motion and these values are in good agreement with those found by other methods.