Investigation of the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of the working fluid of large MHD generators

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the dependence of the electrical conductivity of the plasma of an open-cycle MHD generator on the plasma temperature and pressure, the degree of oxygen enrichment, and the amount of easily ionized seeding introduced into the plasma. The investigations were performed on experimental industrial MHD generators – the U-25 device and the Mark-VI made by the American firm AVCO in Everett. The apparatus designed at the High-Temperature Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR especially for these experiments is described, and some methodological problems are discussed.