Numerical Simulation of Power Generation Characteristics of a Disk MHD Generator with High-Temperature Inert Gas Plasma

摘要

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.