AN EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL STUDY OF THE WALL-STABILIZED, TRANSPIRATION- COOLED DC ELECTRIC ARC (thesis)

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1963

OSTI ID:4006759

Baran, M F

A wall-stabilized, transpiration-cooled arc device was built which consisted of a cathode chamber containing a 0.25-in. diameter W cathode, 12 haif- inch thick wall segments containing porous graphite segments through which Ar at about 1.1 atm was injected into the 0.25-in. diameter arc channel, and a hollow, cylindrical water-cooled Cu anode which served as the plasma exhaust. Cooling water to the cathode, the wall sections, and the anode provided information on the power losses to the device components. The Ar flows to the cathode chamber and each wall segment were individually controlled and monitored by specially built coiled capillary flowmeters. The device proved extremely stable, and after 30 hours of operation, electrode wear was not detectable. For arc powers in the range of 8 to 20 kw (dc), and mass flows on the order of 22 to 29 lb/hr, gas enthalpies from 600 to 1400 Btu/lb were obtained at a device efficiency of 50%. (auth)

• Research Organization: Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio
• NSA Number: NSA-18-021374
• OSTI ID: 4006759
• Report Number(s): GNE/PHYS/63-2; AD-419023
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ANODES
ARGON
CAPILLARIES
CATHODES
COILS
COOLING
COPPER
CURRENTS
CYLINDERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC ARCS
ELECTRODES
ENTHALPY
FLOWMETERS
GAS FLOW
GRAPHITE
INJECTION
LOSSES
MEASURED VALUES
MONITORING
OPERATION
PHYSICS
PIPES
PLASMA
POWER
PRESSURE
STABILITY
SURFACES
TESTING
THERMODYNAMICS
TUNGSTEN
VESSELS
WATER
WEAR