Experimental study on plasma jet deflection and energy extraction with MHD control

This paper presents an integrated research scheme for vector deflection and energy extraction in a gas plasma jet under Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) control. A MHD-controlled thrust-vector test rig was used to conduct the experimental research. A gas plasma was obtained by injecting ionization seeds of Cs₂CO₃ into the combustion chamber via artificially forced ionization. The effects of the gas temperature and ionization seed mass fraction on the plasma jet deflection and energy extraction were experimentally verified under an applied magnetic field. The experimental results were analyzed theoretically. The results showed that the deflection amplitude of the gas plasma jet and the extracted voltage signal intensity increased with increasing gas temperature and the ionization seed mass fraction. The extracted dynamic voltage signals proved that the ionization seeds of Cs₂CO₃ induced gas ionization at 1173 K. The experiment verified that it is feasible to simultaneously achieve jet deflection and extract energy under the action of an external magnetic field.