Electrode arrangement in mhd equipment

Claim 1

IN COMBINATION IN AN MHD GENERATOR HAVING A DUCT FOR ACCOMMODATING FLOW OF AN IONIZED ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE GAS AND HAVING AN ELECTRICAL COIL ADJACENT THE DUCT FOR ESTABLISHING A MAGNETIC FIELD THROUGH THE DUCT TRANSVERSE OF THE GAS STREAM, THE GAS FORMING AN AERODYNAMIC BOUNDARY LAYER ADJACENT THE WALLS OF THE DUCT OF A THICKNESS PROPORTIONAL TO THE DISTANCE ALONG THE DUCT TRAVERSED BY THE GAS, A PLURALITY OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ELECTRODES SPACED AT INTERVALS TRANSVERSE OF AND LONGITUDINALLY OF THE DUCT, THE LENGTH OF SAID ELECTRODES BEING GRADUATED TO EXTEND THROUGH THE BOUNDARY LAYER AND INTO ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GAS, SAID ELECTRODES IN ANY GIVEN PLANE TRANSVERSE OF THE DUCT BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LENGTH, SAID ELECTRODES BEING POSITIONED AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE DUCT NORMAL TO BOTH THE MAGNETIC FIELD AND THE DIRECTION OF GAS FLOW, MOVEMENT OF THE GAS RELATIVE TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD INDUCING AN ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE BETWEEN SAID OPPOSED ELECTRODES.