This type of meeting at half-yearly intervals was introduced some time ago to promote the quick exchange of experience between the different groups working in this field of energy conversion. The problems in which they are involved are of plasma physics and technology together with the related economic aspects. The program was divided int o 6 sessions: (1) Status of and results from closed-cycle and blow-down experiments; (2) Plasma properties; instabilities in non-equilibrium plasmas; (3) Current distribution; boundary layers and end losses; (4) Design concepts of large MHD generators; (5) Aspects of nuclear MHD power plants; and (6) General discussion. At every session the most recently completed work or current investigations formed the main topics of the papers and so the meeting provided an opportunity to review the present status in each field. This paper reports some of the highlights and makes some concluding remarks on the present status of closed-cycle MHD energy conversion.
Preliminary study of the performance characteristics of a mhd generator for the compact fusion advanced rankine cycle