Experimental Evaluation of Mhd Generators Operating at High Hall Coefficients

摘要

A flexible, combustion-driven, MHD-generator test facility is being constructed to allow investigations of various generator operating parameters, generator configurations and designs, and component materials. The plasma source is a combustion chamber in which toluene or another suitable fuel is burned with gaseous oxygen diluted with nitrogen. Potassium hydroxide seed is injected with the fuel to produce the necessary plasma conductivity. The gas stream is accelerated in a supersonic nozzle and then flows through the Hall channel. The channel is constructed of water-cooled, Inconel rings suitably grooved for the zirconia electrode material. The magnet is an iron-core design with coils wound of hollow conductor to permit water cooling for high-power operation. The magnet has the capability of operating at field strengths to 23,000 gauss. Operation of the generator at a gas mass flow of 1.5 pounds per second, seed concentration of 0.2 mole percent potassium, channel static temperature of 2200K and pressure of 0.28 atmospheres, field strength of 15 kilogauss, Mach number of 2.5, and a Hall coefficient of 3.4 will be investigated initially. (Author)