Theoretical study of the performance characteristics of a resistive electrode with a connection at the extreme edge

The performance characteristics of a resistive segmented electrode with a connection at the extreme edge opposite the edge where the current usually concentrates are studied for a Faraday-type MHD generator with thermal equilibrium ionization by using two-dimensional current distributions obtained numerically. Results show that the use of the resistive segmented electrodes now being planned for an open-cycle MHD channel is very effective against the various undesirable phenomena caused by the Hall effect and the power inevitably dissipated in the resistive material will not be a great disadvantage when the MHD generator is operated with higher conversion efficiencies.