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Numerical Simulation of Power Generation Characteristics of a Disk MHD Generator with High‐Temperature Inert Gas Plasma
Author(s) -
Sakai Tadashige,
Matsumoto Masaharu,
Murakami Tomoyuki,
Okuno Yoshihiro
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
electrical engineering in japan
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.136
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1520-6416
pISSN - 0424-7760
DOI - 10.1002/eej.21237
Subject(s) - magnetohydrodynamic generator , inert gas , plasma , magnetohydrodynamics , ionization , materials science , argon , mechanics , generator (circuit theory) , nuclear engineering , computer simulation , power (physics) , thermal conductivity , atomic physics , thermodynamics , physics , engineering , nuclear physics , ion , composite material , quantum mechanics
The power generation characteristics of a disk magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) generator with high‐temperature inert gas (argon) plasma have been examined by a time‐dependent two‐dimensional numerical simulation. The numerical simulation results based on the experimental conditions show that the enthalpy extraction ratio (= electrical output power/thermal input) can reach above 10%, which surely supports the reasonability of the experimental results. Proper selection of working conditions, especially the inlet total gas temperature, is necessary, since the gas temperature dominantly determines the electrical conductivity in the generator, unlike the conventional seeded plasma MHD generator. It is also found that the plasma is not in the recombination process but in the ionization process, where the ionization degree moderately increases along the flow. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 179(3): 23–30, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21237