Abstract
A two-temperature model is developed to compute the electrical conductivity of3 He flow seeded with sodium and chlorine atoms under neutron irradiation for a magnetohydrodynamic generator being proposed as a space nuclear power source. The detailed chemical reaction model includes He, Na, Cl, He+, He2+, Na+ Cl-, and metastable helium atoms and molecules. The model is applied in the analysis of past experiments which have used neutron irradiation to produce fast-ions for non-equilibrium ionization. The computational results are in a good agreement with experimental results at relatively low temperature conditions. The same model is also applied for the conductivity calculation of a system utilizing U as fuel and He as a. carrying gas. An electrical conductivity of 10 mho/m can be achieved due to fission-fragment induced ionization.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | AIAA 21st Fluid Dynamics, Plasma Dynamics and Lasers Conference, 1990 |
Publisher | American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA |
State | Published - Jan 1 1990 |
Event | AIAA 21st Fluid Dynamics, Plasma Dynamics and Lasers Conference, 1990 - Seattle, United States Duration: Jun 18 1990 → Jun 20 1990 |
Other
Other | AIAA 21st Fluid Dynamics, Plasma Dynamics and Lasers Conference, 1990 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Seattle |
Period | 6/18/90 → 6/20/90 |