Corrosion and arc erosion in MHD channels. Quarterly progress report, April--June 1989
Activity during this Quarter has included the following: Several more electrodes and side wall pegs have been received from Avco. Some of these are being prepared for optical and electron microscope examination. Some literature on sulfidation under MHD conditions has been found. A method for inferring the magnitude of the leakage current flowing through the slag layer has been devised and applied to the analysis of many CDIF runs and a few Avco Mark 6 runs. A critical issue currently being investigated is the viability of tungsten, or tungsten-containing alloys such as W-Cu, and WC-CU in the MHD environment. On the anode wall, as an electrode cladding, tungsten could provide a cost-saving alternative to Pt, especially for a grooved, slagging anode design which is prohibitively costly when fabricated out of Pt. On the cathode, W-Cu has been used to extend the life of cathode leading edges as well as the anodic edges of pegs on the cathode end, and one or two pegs up from there, on the sidewalls. Lifetimes have been extended well beyond that of pure copper alone. Past work at Avco demonstrates that the life of these claddings appears to depend upon the tungsten content of the alloy used. The more tungsten in the tungsten-copper alloy, the longer-wearing they appear to be. There is however no quantitative data available comparing these materials in terms of lifetime or in their corrosion resistance.
- Research Organization:
- Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG22-88PC88928
- OSTI ID:
- 10140198
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/PC/88928-1; ON: DE93011616
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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