Discharge on cooled copper electrodes in a combustion product plasma

Experiments were conducted to investigate the characteristics of an electric discharge in a combustion-product plasma jet with a velocity of $350$ m/s over cooled copper cylindrical electrodes for a temperature of $2600^{\circ}$C, taking account of erosion produced in the plasma by the discharge. An easily-ionizable agent $\rm CH_3\rm COOK~(0.1$ wt$\%)$ was added to plasma and experiments were conducted at $200$ A for $8$ h, $135$ A for $50$ h, and $100$ A for $20$ min. The number of cathode spots and the magnitude of the electromigration coefficient were studied as functions of discharge current in the range $0$–$180$ A. The problem considered here is relevant to MHD generator technology.