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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

MHD generator with uniform voltage distribution

Patent ·
OSTI ID:7365571

An MHD generator is described for generating electricity from a moving stream of electrically conductive gas comprising: a duct for conveying the gas stream, the duct having an inlet and an outlet, means for establishing a magnetic field through said duct normal to the direction of gas flow, terminal electrodes positioned along the duct at the inlet and outlet, a plurality of discrete electrodes positioned at intervals along opposing walls of the duct, certain of said discrete electrodes being directly opposed and lying in planes normal to the direction of gas flow, said generator having a rated Hall voltage between adjacent electrodes, a plurality of first coupling means each coupling together different opposed discrete electrodes which lie in planes at an angle theta to the direction of gas flow, second coupling means including a power transistor connected between and coupling together different adjacent electrodes for producing a voltage drop between said connected adjacent discrete electrodes sufficient to prevent damaging electrical differentials between said adjacent discrete electrodes, and a control circuit for controlling the current flow through said transistor in response to the voltage across said transistor.

Assignee:
Avco Everett Research Lab., Inc.
Patent Number(s):
US 3940639
OSTI ID:
7365571
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English