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Characteristics of flow and plasma under high MHD interaction in nonequilibrium disk MHD generator using argon
Author(s) -
Tsuji Kiyoshi,
Okubo Masaaki,
Yamasaki Hiroyuki,
Niwa Yoshimitsu,
Kaneko Tetsuya
Publication year - 1996
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.4391160305
Subject(s) - magnetohydrodynamic generator , magnetohydrodynamics , adiabatic process , supersonic speed , argon , atomic physics , plasma , ionization , materials science , mechanics , nozzle , choked flow , joule heating , physics , thermodynamics , ion , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , composite material
Results of experimental studies on behavior of a supersonic flow and of a nonequilibrium plasma in a disk MHD generator are presented. The experiments with cesium seeded argon were carried out under high MHD interaction conditions. Effects of seed fractions on static pressure distributions, flow Mach numbers, electron temperatures and uniformity of discharge in the disk MHD channel were investigated. The results have shown that the flow is kept supersonic throughout the disk MHD channel when a sufficient Joule heating exists in a supersonic nozzle and the seed is fully ionized. It was found that there was an optimum seed fraction at which the power output became maximum and, at the same time, the seed was fully ionized. Furthermore, an almost uniform discharge due to the full ionization of seed was observed. It is noted that enthalpy extractions and adiabatic efficiencies were increased remarkably, and the highest enthalpy extraction of 26.5 percent was achieved for cesium seeded argon. However, adiabatic efficiencies remained still low due to large pressure losses.