An Estimation of Correlation Currents in Partialy Ionized Plasma with Fluid Fluctuations

Abstract

The correlations between fluctuations of the flow and those of the electromagnetic fields in a partially ionized plasma were numerically investigated. The currents due to prescribed flow field fluctuations were calculated by the generalized Ohm's law. The time-averaged flow fields were assumed to obey the 1/7-th power law. Intensities of the velocity and temperature fluctuations were given as functions of the distance from the solid wall of the duct. The Reynolds' stresses and the turbulent heat fluxes were also taken into account in evaluating fluctuations of velocity and temperature. Conventional methods ignore these factors in calculating the correlation of electromagnetic fluctuations with.those of flow fields. This paper has shown that such a conventional method is valid only for the time-averaged electrical quantities of the plasma. It has also been shown that the externally-applied nonuniform magnetic field, known as the shaped B-field configuration (SFC), is effective in suppressing the Joule dissipation in the presentce of these fluctuations.