Analytical investigation of critical phenomena in MHD power generators

Technical Report · Thu Jul 31 00:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6720834· OSTI ID:6720834

Critical phenomena in the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) High Performance Demonstration Experiment (HPDE) and the US U-25 Experiment, are analyzed. Also analyzed are the performance of a NASA-specified 500 MW(th) flow train and computations concerning critica issues for the scale-up of MHD Generators. The HPDE is characterized by computational simulations of both the nominal conditions and the conditions during the experimental runs. The steady-state performance is discussed along with the Hall voltage overshoots during the start-up and shutdown transients. The results of simulations of the HPDE runs with codes from the Q3D and TRANSIENT code families are compared to the experimental results. The results of the simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data. Additional critica phenomena analyzed in the AEDC/HPDE are the optimal load schedules, parametric variations, the parametric dependence of the electrode voltage drops, the boundary layer behavior, near electrode phenomena with finite electrode segmentation, and current distribution in the end regions. The US U-25 experiment is characterized by computational simulations of the nominal operating conditions. The steady-state performance for the nominal design of the US U-25 experiment is analyzed, as is the dependence of performance on the mass flow rate. A NASA-specified 500 MW(th) MHD flow train is characterized for computer simulation and the electrical, transport, and thermodynamic properties at the inlet plane are analyzed. Issues for the scale-up of MHD power trains are discussed. The AEDC/HPDE performance is analyzed to compare these experimental results to scale-up rules.

• Research Organization: STD Research Corp., Arcadia, CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AI01-77ET10769
• OSTI ID: 6720834
• Report Number(s): DOE/NASA/0179-1; NASA-CR-165143; STDR-80-22
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
MHD GENERATOR AEDC
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
MHD GENERATOR U-25
MHD GENERATORS
SCALING LAWS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
COMBUSTORS
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
DIMENSIONS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRODES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOW MODELS
FLOW RATE
FRICTION
GRAPHS
HALL EFFECT
HEAT TRANSFER
MACH NUMBER
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MHD CHANNELS
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE
PLASMA
PLASMA SEEDING
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
SHUTDOWNS
SKIN EFFECT
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
STAGNATION
START-UP
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
TABLES
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
THEORETICAL DATA
THERMAL EFFICIENCY
TRANSIENTS
VOLTAGE DROP
CURRENTS
DATA
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DISTRIBUTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INFORMATION
LAYERS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
NUMERICAL DATA
SIMULATION
TESTING
VELOCITY
300102* - MHD Generators- Performance & Testing
300101 - MHD Generators- Design & Development