Preliminary experiments concerning inhomogeneities in combustion MHD generators

It is known that electrical conductivity inhomogeneities may cause a reduction in the effective conductivity and power output of an MHD generator, especially at high magnetic fields. Recent theories have suggested that the structure and geometry of the inhomogeneities are important factors in the determination of the extent of these effects; however, little or no experimental data is available to characterize the structure of inhomogeneities in combustion MHD plasmas. Some preliminary inhomogeneity experiments conducted in the Standard M-2 facility and a promising laser fluorescence diagnostic which is being developed for future inhomogeneity experiments are described.