Some Consequences of Ion Slip in a Plasma flowing through a Magnetic Field

Abstract

DIRECT generation of electrical power can be achieved by driving a conducting gas through a magnetic field transverse to the direction of flow. The necessary conductivity is obtained by heating the gas to a temperature at which appreciable thermal ionization occurs, the latter in accordance with the Saha equation. The conducting gas will be considered to consist of neutral particles and charged particles, no distinction being made between ions and electrons. It is the purpose of this communication to discuss the behaviour of this system as it flows along a duct (neglecting wall effects) through a uniform transverse magnetic field as shown in Fig. 1.