A study on how nonfuel components of coal will affect the electron and alkali seed chemistry in a high temperature coal combustion system like those envisioned for direct fired MHD generators is described. Three specific problems are being considered. The first problem area is to characterize the formation of negative ions due to electron attachment processes in the combustion flow. While some stable negative ions may be formed from hydrocarbon combustion species (OH, HCO/sup -//sub 3/), the bulk of the stable negative ions are expected to be formed from oxidized inorganic coal slag constituents (CO/sup -//sub 2/, PO/sup -//sub 2/, AlO/sup -//sub 2/, etc). Negative ion formation can reduce the conductivity of the MHD plasma, particularly at the low temperature end of the MHD channel, thus decreasing the efficiency of power generation. This phenomena is expected to be particularly severe in electrode boundary layers, and particular attention will be paid to conditions characteristic of flow along the electrodes. The second problem area involves the role slag condensation may play in determining the electron density through recombination, also adversely affecting conductivity in the core flow. The competitive balance between thermionic emission from slag droplets and electron/ion recombination on the droplet surfaces …

To obtain picosecond photographs of nanosecond radiation sources, a six-frame ultra-high speed radiation camera based on hydrated electron absorption phenomena has been developed. A time-dependent opacity pattern is formed in an acidic aqueous cell by a pulsed radiation source. Six time-resolved picosecond images of this changing opacity pattern are transferred to photographic film with the use of a mode-locked dye laser and six electronically gated microchannel plate image intensifiers. Because the lifetime of the hydrated electron absorption centers can be reduced to picoseconds, the opacity patterns represent time-space pulse profile images.

The technical and economic feasibility of generating electricity from solar energy is being studied. Collector experiments included heliostat tests. Hardware preparation and assembly constituted the steam generator work. The thermal storage subsystem research experiment, which featured thermal energy storage in a sodium nitrite/sodium hydroxide phase-change mixture, was discontinued. Analytical and design work on the electrical generation subsystem and plant integration progressed satisfactorily. (MHR)