Book Description

Druyvesteyn's solutions for electrophoretically induced gas flows in electrical discharges in gases were extended over a larger pressure range and corrected for the influence of Debye shielding effects. The effects of molecular or 'slip' flow were also taken into account. These more accurate and general solutions were applied to the reverse phenomenon of space charge field generation arising from the flow of a thermally ionized cesium plasma through a tube. Under such flow conditions, a non-linear differential equation for the axial pressure distribution was obtained but not solved. However, it was possible to obtain estimates of the ranges of cesium pressure, temperature and tube radii which would be required for sensible levels of electric power generation. Anaphoretic flow power levels of the order of 0.1 to 10 watts, in tubes of laboratory dimensions (radii of 10 cm or less), appear feasible at temperatures from 1700 to 2400K. Sensible power generation levels at lower temperatures require very large diameter tubes, and therefore are not feasible. (Author).