Magnetohydrodynamic generator

A magnetohydrodynamic generator (MHD generator) is a magnet ohydrodynamic convert er

t hat t ransforms t hermal energy and kinet ic energy direct ly int o elect ricit y. An MHD generat or, like
a convent ional generat or, relies on moving a conduct or t hrough a magnet ic field t o generat e
elect ric current . The MHD generat or uses hot conduct ive ionized gas (a plasma) as t he moving
conduct or. The mechanical dynamo, in cont rast , uses t he mot ion of mechanical devices t o
accomplish t his.

MHD generat ors are different from t radit ional elect ric generat ors in t hat t hey operat e wit hout
moving part s (e.g. no t urbine) t o limit t he upper t emperat ure. They t herefore have t he highest
known t heoret ical t hermodynamic efficiency of any elect rical generat ion met hod. MHD has been
ext ensively developed as a t opping cycle t o increase t he efficiency of elect ric generat ion,
especially when burning coal or nat ural gas. The hot exhaust gas from an MHD generat or can heat
t he boilers of a st eam power plant , increasing overall efficiency.

Pract ical MHD generat ors have been developed for fossil fuels, but t hese were overt aken by
less expensive combined cycles in which t he exhaust of a gas t urbine or molt en carbonat e fuel
cell heat s st eam t o power a st eam t urbine.

MHD dynamos are t he complement of MHD accelerat ors, which have been applied t o pump liquid
met als, seawat er, and plasmas.

Nat ural MHD dynamos are an act ive area of research in plasma physics and are of great int erest
t o t he geophysics and ast rophysics communit ies since t he magnet ic fields of t he Eart h and Sun
are produced by t hese nat ural dynamos.

Principle

The Lorent z Force Law describes t he effect s of a charged part icle moving in a const ant
magnet ic field. The simplest form of t his law is given by t he vect or equat ion.

where

F is t he force act ing on t he part icle.

Q is t he charge of t he part icle,

v is t he velocit y of t he part icle, and

B is t he magnet ic field.

The vect or F is perpendicular t o bot h v and B according t o t he right hand rule.

Power generation

Typically, for a large power st at ion t o approach t he operat ional efficiency of comput er models,
st eps must be t aken t o increase t he elect rical conduct ivit y of t he conduct ive subst ance. The
heat ing of a gas t o it s plasma st at e or t he addit ion of ot her easily ionizable subst ances like t he
salt s of alkali met als can accomplish t his increase. In pract ice, a number of issues must be
considered in t he implement at ion of an MHD generator: generat or efficiency, economics, and
t oxic byproduct s. These issues are affect ed by t he choice of one of t he t hree MHD generat or
designs: t he Faraday generat or, t he Hall generat or, and t he disc generat or.

Faraday generator

The Faraday generat or is named for Michael Faraday's experiment s on moving charged part icles in
t he Thames River.

A simple Faraday generat or would consist of a wedge-shaped pipe or t ube of some non-
conduct ive mat erial. When an elect rically conduct ive fluid flows t hrough t he t ube, in t he presence
of a significant perpendicular magnet ic field, a volt age is induced in t he fluid, which can be drawn
off as elect rical power by placing t he elect rodes on t he sides at 90-degree angles t o t he
magnet ic field.

There are limit at ions on t he densit y and t ype of field used. The amount of power t hat can be
ext ract ed is proport ional t o t he cross-sect ional area of t he t ube and t he speed of t he
conduct ive flow. The conduct ive subst ance is also cooled and slowed by t his process. MHD
generat ors t ypically reduce t he t emperat ure of t he conduct ive subst ance from plasma
t emperat ures t o just over 1000 °C.

The main pract ical problem of a Faraday generat or is t hat different ial volt ages and current s in t he
fluid short t hrough t he elect rodes on t he sides of t he duct . The most powerful wast e is from t he
Hall effect current . This makes t he Faraday duct very inefficient . Most furt her refinement s of
MHD generat ors have t ried t o solve t his problem. The opt imal magnet ic field on duct -shaped
MHD generat ors is a sort of saddle shape. To get t his field, a large generat or requires an
ext remely powerful magnet . Many research groups have t ried t o adapt superconduct ing magnet s
t o t his purpose, wit h varying success. (For references, please see t he discussion of generat or
efficiency, below.)
Hall generator

Diagram of a Hall MHD generator showing current flows

The t ypical solut ion, hist orically, has been t o use t he Hall effect t o creat e a current t hat flows
wit h t he fluid. (See illust rat ion.) This design has arrays of short , segment ed elect rodes on t he
sides of t he duct . The first and last elect rodes in t he duct power t he load. Each ot her elect rode
is short ed t o an elect rode on t he opposit e side of t he duct . These short s of t he Faraday current
induce a powerful magnet ic field wit hin t he fluid, but in a chord of a circle at right angles t o t he
Faraday current . This secondary, induced field makes current flow in a rainbow shape bet ween t he
first and last elect rodes.

Losses are less t han a Faraday generat or, and volt ages are higher because t here is less short ing
of t he final induced current .

However, t his design has problems because t he speed of t he mat erial flow requires t he middle
elect rodes t o be offset t o "cat ch" t he Faraday current s. As t he load varies, t he fluid flow speed
varies, misaligning t he Faraday current wit h it s int ended elect rodes, and making t he generat or's
efficiency very sensit ive t o it s load.

Disc generator

Diagram of a disk MHD generator showing current flows

The t hird and, current ly, t he most efficient design is t he Hall effect disc generat or. This design
current ly holds t he efficiency and energy densit y records for MHD generat ion. A disc generat or
has fluid flowing bet ween t he cent er of a disc, and a duct wrapped around t he edge. (The duct s
are not shown.) The magnet ic excit at ion field is made by a pair of circular Helmholt z coils above
and below t he disk. (The coils are not shown.)

The Faraday current s flow in a perfect dead short around t he periphery of t he disk.

The Hall effect current s flow bet ween ring elect rodes near t he cent er duct and ring elect rodes
near t he periphery duct .

The wide flat gas flow reduced t he dist ance, hence t he resist ance of t he moving fluid. This
increases efficiency.

Anot her significant advant age of t his design is t hat t he magnet s are more efficient . First , t hey
cause simple parallel field lines. Second, because t he fluid is processed in a disk, t he magnet can
be closer t o t he fluid, and in t his magnet ic geomet ry, magnet ic field st rengt hs increase as t he 7t h
power of dist ance. Finally, t he generat or is compact for it s power, so t he magnet is also smaller.
The result ing magnet uses a much smaller percent age of t he generat ed power.

Generator efficiency

The efficiency of t he direct energy conversion in MHD power generat ion increases wit h t he
magnet ic field st rengt h and t he plasma conduct ivit y, which depends direct ly on t he plasma
t emperat ure, and more precisely on t he elect ron t emperat ure. As very hot plasmas can only be
used in pulsed MHD generat ors (for example using shock t ubes) due t o t he fast t hermal mat erial
erosion, it was envisaged t o use nont hermal plasmas as working fluids in st eady MHD generat ors,
where only free elect rons are heat ed a lot (10,000–20,000 kelvins) while t he main gas (neut ral
at oms and ions) remains at a much lower t emperat ure, t ypically 2500 kelvins. The goal was t o
preserve t he mat erials of t he generat or (walls and elect rodes) while improving t he limit ed
conduct ivit y of such poor conduct ors t o t he same level as a plasma in t hermodynamic
equilibrium; i.e. complet ely heat ed t o more t han 10,000 kelvins, a t emperat ure t hat no mat erial
could st and.[1][2][3][4]

But Evgeny Velikhov first discovered t heoret ically in 1962 and experiment ally in 1963 t hat an
ionizat ion inst abilit y, lat er called t he Velikhov inst abilit y or elect rot hermal inst abilit y, quickly arises
in any MHD convert er using magnet ized nont hermal plasmas wit h hot elect rons, when a crit ical
Hall paramet er is reached, hence depending on t he degree of ionizat ion and t he magnet ic
field.[5][6][7] Such an inst abilit y great ly degrades t he performance of nonequilibrium MHD
generat ors. The prospect s about t his t echnology, which init ially predict ed awesome efficiencies,
crippled MHD programs all over t he world as no solut ion t o mit igat e t he inst abilit y was found at
t hat t ime.[8][9][10][11]
Consequent ly, wit hout implement ing solut ions t o mast er t he elect rot hermal inst abilit y, pract ical
MHD generat ors had t o limit t he Hall paramet er or use moderat ely heat ed t hermal plasmas
inst ead of cold plasmas wit h hot elect rons, which severely lowers efficiency.

As of 1994, t he 22% efficiency record for closed-cycle disc MHD generat ors was held by Tokyo
Technical Inst it ut e. The peak ent halpy ext ract ion in t hese experiment s reached 30.2%. Typical
open-cycle Hall & duct coal MHD generat ors are lower, near 17%. These efficiencies make MHD
unat t ract ive, by it self, for ut ilit y power generat ion, since convent ional Rankine cycle power plant s
easily reach 40%.

However, t he exhaust of an MHD generat or burning fossil fuel is almost as hot as a flame. By
rout ing it s exhaust gases int o a heat exchanger for a t urbine Brayt on cycle or st eam generat or
Rankine cycle, MHD can convert fossil fuels int o elect ricit y wit h an est imat ed efficiency of up t o
60 percent , compared t o t he 40 percent of a t ypical coal plant .

A magnet ohydrodynamic generat or might also be t he first st age of a gas core react or.[12]

Material and design issues

MHD generat ors have difficult problems in regard t o mat erials, bot h for t he walls and t he
elect rodes. Mat erials must not melt or corrode at very high t emperat ures. Exot ic ceramics were
developed for t his purpose and must be select ed t o be compat ible wit h t he fuel and ionizat ion
seed. The exot ic mat erials and t he difficult fabricat ion met hods cont ribut e t o t he high cost of
MHD generat ors.

Also, MHDs work bet t er wit h st ronger magnet ic fields. The most successful magnet s have been
superconduct ing, and very close t o t he channel. A major difficult y was refrigerat ing t hese
magnet s while insulat ing t hem from t he channel. The problem is worse because t he magnet s
work bet t er when t hey are closer t o t he channel. There are also severe risks of damage t o t he
hot , brit t le ceramics from different ial t hermal cracking. The magnet s are usually near absolut e
zero, while t he channel is several t housand degrees.

For MHDs, bot h alumina (Al2O3) and magnesium peroxide (MgO2) were report ed t o work for t he
insulat ing walls. Magnesium peroxide degrades near moist ure. Alumina is wat er-resist ant and can
be fabricat ed t o be quit e st rong, so in pract ice, most MHDs have used alumina for t he insulat ing
walls.

For t he elect rodes of clean MHDs (i.e. burning nat ural gas), one good mat erial was a mix of 80%
CeO2, 18% ZrO2, and 2% Ta2O5.[13]

Coal-burning MHDs have int ensely corrosive environment s wit h slag. The slag bot h prot ect s and
corrodes MHD mat erials. In part icular, migrat ion of oxygen t hrough t he slag accelerat es corrosion
of met allic anodes. Nonet heless, very good result s have been report ed wit h st ainless st eel
elect rodes at 900 K.[14] Anot her, perhaps superior opt ion is a spinel ceramic, FeAl2O4 - Fe 3O4. The
spinel was report ed t o have elect ronic conduct ivit y, absence of a resist ive react ion layer but
wit h some diffusion of iron int o t he alumina. The diffusion of iron could be cont rolled wit h a t hin
layer of very dense alumina, and wat er cooling in bot h t he elect rodes and alumina insulat ors.[15]

At t aching t he high-t emperat ure elect rodes t o convent ional copper bus bars is also challenging.
The usual met hods est ablish a chemical passivat ion layer, and cool t he busbar wit h wat er.[13]

Economics

MHD generat ors have not been employed for large-scale mass energy conversion because ot her
t echniques wit h comparable efficiency have a lower lifecycle invest ment cost . Advances in
nat ural gas t urbines achieved similar t hermal efficiencies at lower cost s, by having t he t urbine's
exhaust drive a Rankine cycle st eam plant . To get more elect ricit y from coal, it is cheaper t o
simply add more low-t emperat ure st eam-generat ing capacit y.

A coal-fueled MHD generat or is a t ype of Brayt on power cycle, similar t o t he power cycle of a
combust ion t urbine. However, unlike t he combust ion t urbine, t here are no moving mechanical
part s; t he elect rically conduct ing plasma provides t he moving elect rical conduct or. The side
walls and elect rodes merely wit hst and t he pressure wit hin, while t he anode and cat hode
conduct ors collect t he elect ricit y t hat is generat ed. All Brayt on cycles are heat engines. Ideal
Brayt on cycles also have an ideal efficiency equal t o ideal Carnot cycle efficiency. Thus, t he
pot ent ial for high energy efficiency from an MHD generat or. All Brayt on cycles have higher
pot ent ial for efficiency t he higher t he firing t emperat ure. While a combust ion t urbine is limit ed in
maximum t emperat ure by t he st rengt h of it s air/wat er or st eam-cooled rot at ing airfoils; t here are
no rot at ing part s in an open-cycle MHD generat or. This upper bound in t emperat ure limit s t he
energy efficiency in combust ion t urbines. The upper bound on Brayt on cycle t emperat ure for an
MHD generat or is not limit ed, so inherent ly an MHD generat or has a higher pot ent ial capabilit y for
energy efficiency.

The t emperat ures at which linear coal-fueled MHD generat ors can operat e are limit ed by fact ors
t hat include: (a) t he combust ion fuel, oxidizer, and oxidizer preheat t emperat ure which limit t he
maximum t emperat ure of t he cycle; (b) t he abilit y t o prot ect t he sidewalls and elect rodes from
melt ing; (c) t he abilit y t o prot ect t he elect rodes from elect rochemical at t ack from t he hot slag
coat ing t he walls combined wit h t he high current or arcs t hat impinge on t he elect rodes as t hey
carry off t he direct current from t he plasma; and (d) by t he capabilit y of t he elect rical insulat ors
bet ween each elect rode. Coal-fired MHD plant s wit h oxygen/air and high oxidant preheat s would
probably provide pot assium-seeded plasmas of about 4200 °F, 10 at mospheres pressure, and
begin expansion at Mach 1.2. These plant s would recover MHD exhaust heat for oxidant preheat ,
and for combined cycle st eam generat ion. Wit h aggressive assumpt ions, one DOE-funded
feasibilit y st udy of where t he t echnology could go, 1000 MWe Advanced Coal-Fired MHD/St eam
Binary Cycle Power Plant Concept ual Design, published in June 1989, showed t hat a large coal-
fired MHD combined cycle plant could at t ain a HHV energy efficiency approaching 60 percent —
well in excess of ot her coal-fueled t echnologies, so t he pot ent ial for low operat ing cost s exist s.

However, no t est ing at t hose aggressive condit ions or size has yet occurred, and t here are no
large MHD generat ors now under t est . There is simply an inadequat e reliabilit y t rack record t o
provide confidence in a commercial coal-fuelled MHD design.

U25B MHD t est ing in Russia using nat ural gas as fuel used a superconduct ing magnet , and had an
out put of 1.4 megawat t s. A coal-fired MHD generat or series of t est s funded by t he U.S.
Depart ment of Energy (DOE) in 1992 produced MHD power from a larger superconduct ing
magnet at t he Component Development and Int egrat ion Facilit y (CDIF) in But t e, Mont ana. None
of t hese t est s were conduct ed for long-enough durat ions t o verify t he commercial durabilit y of
t he t echnology. Neit her of t he t est facilit ies were in large-enough scale for a commercial unit .

Superconduct ing magnet s are used in t he larger MHD generat ors t o eliminat e one of t he large
parasit ic losses: t he power needed t o energize t he elect romagnet . Superconduct ing magnet s,
once charged, consume no power and can develop int ense magnet ic fields 4 t eslas and higher.
The only parasit ic load for t he magnet s are t o maint ain refrigerat ion, and t o make up t he small
losses for t he non-supercrit ical connect ions.

Because of t he high t emperat ures, t he non-conduct ing walls of t he channel must be const ruct ed
from an exceedingly heat -resist ant subst ance such as yt t rium oxide or zirconium dioxide t o
ret ard oxidat ion. Similarly, t he elect rodes must be bot h conduct ive and heat -resist ant at high
t emperat ures. The AVCO coal-fueled MHD generat or at t he CDIF was t est ed wit h wat er-cooled
copper elect rodes capped wit h plat inum, t ungst en, st ainless st eel, and elect rically conduct ing
ceramics.

Toxic byproducts

MHD reduces t he overall product ion of hazardous fossil fuel wast es because it increases plant
efficiency. In MHD coal plant s, t he pat ent ed commercial "Econoseed" process developed by t he
U.S. (see below) recycles pot assium ionizat ion seed from t he fly ash capt ured by t he st ack-gas
scrubber. However, t his equipment is an addit ional expense. If molt en met al is t he armat ure fluid
of an MHD generat or, care must be t aken wit h t he coolant of t he elect romagnet ics and channel.
The alkali met als commonly used as MHD fluids react violent ly wit h wat er. Also, t he chemical
byproduct s of heat ed, elect rified alkali met als and channel ceramics may be poisonous and
environment ally persist ent .
History

The first pract ical MHD power research was funded in 1938 in t he U.S. by West inghouse in it s
Pit t sburgh, Pennsylvania laborat ories, headed by Hungarian Bela Karlovit z. The init ial pat ent on
MHD is by B. Karlovit z, U.S. Pat ent No. 2,210,918, "Process for t he Conversion of Energy", August
13, 1940.

World War II int errupt ed development . In 1962, t he First Int ernat ional Conference on MHD Power
was held in Newcast le upon Tyne, UK by Dr. Brian C. Lindley of t he Int ernat ional Research and
Development Company Lt d. The group set up a st eering commit t ee t o set up furt her
conferences and disseminat e ideas. In 1964, t he group set up a second conference in Paris,
France, in consult at ion wit h t he European Nuclear Energy Agency.

Since membership in t he ENEA was limit ed, t he group persuaded t he Int ernat ional At omic Energy
Agency t o sponsor a t hird conference, in Salzburg, Aust ria, July 1966. Negot iat ions at t his
meet ing convert ed t he st eering commit t ee int o a periodic report ing group, t he ILG-MHD
(int ernat ional liaison group, MHD), under t he ENEA, and lat er in 1967, also under t he Int ernat ional
At omic Energy Agency. Furt her research in t he 1960s by R. Rosa est ablished t he pract icalit y of
MHD for fossil-fueled syst ems.

In t he 1960s, AVCO Everet t Aeronaut ical Research began a series of experiment s, ending wit h
t he Mk. V generat or of 1965. This generat ed 35 MW, but used about 8 MW t o drive it s magnet . In
1966, t he ILG-MHD had it s first formal meet ing in Paris, France. It began issuing a periodic st at us
report in 1967. This pat t ern persist ed, in t his inst it ut ional form, up unt il 1976. Toward t he end of
t he 1960s, int erest in MHD declined because nuclear power was becoming more widely available.

In t he lat e 1970s, as int erest in nuclear power declined, int erest in MHD increased. In 1975,
UNESCO became persuaded t he MHD might be t he most efficient way t o ut ilise world coal
reserves, and in 1976, sponsored t he ILG-MHD. In 1976, it became clear t hat no nuclear react or in
t he next 25 years would use MHD, so t he Int ernat ional At omic Energy Agency and ENEA (bot h
nuclear agencies) wit hdrew support from t he ILG-MHD, leaving UNESCO as t he primary sponsor
of t he ILG-MHD.

Former Yugoslavia development

Over more t han a t en-year span, engineers in former Yugoslavian Inst it ut e of Thermal and Nuclear
Technology (ITEN), Energoinvest Co., Sarajevo, had built t he first experiment al Magnet o-
Hydrodynamic facilit y power generat or in 1989. It was here it was first pat ent ed.[16][17]
U.S. development

In t he 1980s, t he U.S. Depart ment of Energy began a vigorous mult iyear program, culminat ing in a
1992 50 MW demonst rat ion coal combust or at t he Component Development and Int egrat ion
Facilit y (CDIF) in But t e, Mont ana. This program also had significant work at t he Coal-Fired-In-
Flow-Facilit y (CFIFF) at Universit y of Tennessee Space Inst it ut e.

This program combined four part s:

1. An int egrat ed MHD t opping cycle, wit h channel, elect rodes, and current cont rol unit s
developed by AVCO, lat er known as Text ron Defence of Bost on. This syst em was a Hall
effect duct generat or heat ed by pulverized coal, wit h a pot assium ionisat ion seed. AVCO
had developed t he famous Mk. V generat or, and had significant experience.

2. An int egrat ed bot t oming cycle, developed at t he CDIF.

3. A facilit y t o regenerat e t he ionizat ion seed was developed by TRW. Pot assium carbonat e is
separat ed from t he sulphat e in t he fly ash from t he scrubbers. The carbonat e is removed, t o
regain t he pot assium.

4. A met hod t o int egrat e MHD int o preexist ing coal plant s. The Depart ment of Energy
commissioned t wo st udies. West inghouse Elect ric performed a st udy based on t he Scholt z
Plant of Gulf Power in Sneads, Florida. The MHD Development Corporat ion also produced a
st udy based on t he J.E. Corret t e Plant of t he Mont ana Power Company of Billings, Mont ana.

Init ial prot ot ypes at t he CDIF were operat ed for short durat ions, wit h various coals: Mont ana
Rosebud, and a high-sulphur corrosive coal, Illinois No. 6. A great deal of engineering, chemist ry,
and mat erial science was complet ed. Aft er t he final component s were developed, operat ional
t est ing complet ed wit h 4,000 hours of cont inuous operat ion, 2,000 on Mont ana Rosebud, 2,000
on Illinois No. 6. The t est ing ended in 1993.

Japanese development

The Japanese program in t he lat e 1980s concent rat ed on closed-cycle MHD. The belief was
t hat it would have higher efficiencies, and smaller equipment , especially in t he clean, small,
economical plant capacit ies near 100 megawat t s (elect rical) which are suit ed t o Japanese
condit ions. Open-cycle coal-powered plant s are generally t hought t o become economical above
200 megawat t s.

The first major series of experiment s was FUJI-1, a blow-down syst em powered from a shock
t ube at t he Tokyo Inst it ut e of Technology. These experiment s ext ract ed up t o 30.2% of
ent halpy, and achieved power densit ies near 100 megawat t s per cubic met er. This facilit y was
funded by Tokyo Elect ric Power, ot her Japanese ut ilit ies, and t he Depart ment of Educat ion.
Some aut horit ies believe t his syst em was a disc generat or wit h a helium and argon carrier gas and
pot assium ionizat ion seed.

In 1994, t here were det ailed plans for FUJI-2, a 5 MWe cont inuous closed-cycle facilit y, powered
by nat ural gas, t o be built using t he experience of FUJI-1. The basic MHD design was t o be a
syst em wit h inert gases using a disk generat or. The aim was an ent halpy ext ract ion of 30% and an
MHD t hermal efficiency of 60%. FUJI-2 was t o be followed by a ret rofit t o a 300 MWe nat ural
gas plant .

Australian development

In 1986, Professor Hugo Karl Messerle at The Universit y of Sydney researched coal-fueled MHD.
This result ed in a 28 MWe t opping facilit y t hat was operat ed out side Sydney. Messerle also
wrot e one of t he most recent reference works (see below), as part of a UNESCO educat ion
program.

A det ailed obit uary for Hugo is locat ed on t he Aust ralian Academy of Technological Sciences and
Engineering (ATSE) websit e.[18]

Italian development

The It alian program began in 1989 wit h a budget of about 20 million $US, and had t hree main
development areas:

1. MHD Modelling.

2. Superconduct ing magnet development . The goal in 1994 was a prot ot ype 2 m long, st oring
66 MJ, for an MHD demonst rat ion 8 m long. The field was t o be 5 t eslas, wit h a t aper of
0.15 T/m. The geomet ry was t o resemble a saddle shape, wit h cylindrical and rect angular
windings of niobium-t it anium copper.

3. Ret rofit s t o nat ural gas powerplant s. One was t o be at t he Enichem-Anic fact or in Ravenna.
In t his plant , t he combust ion gases from t he MHD would pass t o t he boiler. The ot her was a
230 MW (t hermal) inst allat ion for a power st at ion in Brindisi, t hat would pass st eam t o t he
main power plant .

Chinese development

A joint U.S.-China nat ional programme ended in 1992 by ret rofit t ing t he coal-fired No. 3 plant in
Asbach. A furt her eleven-year program was approved in March 1994. This est ablished cent res of
research in:
 1. The Inst it ut e of Elect rical Engineering in t he Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing,
concerned wit h MHD generat or design.

2. The Shanghai Power Research Inst it ut e, concerned wit h overall syst em and
superconduct ing magnet research.

3. The Thermoenergy Research Engineering Inst it ut e at t he Nanjing's Sout heast Universit y,

concerned wit h lat er development s.

The 1994 st udy proposed a 10 W (elect rical, 108 MW t hermal) generat or wit h t he MHD and
bot t oming cycle plant s connect ed by st eam piping, so eit her could operat e independent ly.

Russian developments

U-25 scale model

In 1971, t he nat ural-gas-fired U-25 plant was complet ed near Moscow, wit h a designed capacit y
of 25 megawat t s. By 1974 it delivered 6 megawat t s of power.[19] By 1994, Russia had developed
and operat ed t he coal-operat ed facilit y U-25, at t he High-Temperat ure Inst it ut e of t he Russian
Academy of Science in Moscow. U-25's bot t oming plant was act ually operat ed under cont ract
wit h t he Moscow ut ilit y, and fed power int o Moscow's grid. There was subst ant ial int erest in
Russia in developing a coal-powered disc generat or. In 1986 t he first indust rial power plant wit h
MHD generat or was built , but in 1989 t he project was cancelled before MHD launch and t his
power plant lat er joined t o Ryazan Power St at ion as a 7t h unit wit h ordinary const ruct ion.

See also

Comput at ional magnet ohydrodynamics

Elect rohydrodynamics

Elect romagnet ic pump

Ferrofluid

Magnet ic flow met er

Magnet ohydrodynamic t urbulence

 MHD sensor

Plasma st abilit y

Shocks and discont inuit ies (magnet ohydrodynamics)

Portal: Energy

References

1. Kerrebrock, Jack L.; Hoffman, Myron A. (June 1964). "Non-Equilibrium Ionizat ion Due t o
Elect ron Heat ing. Theory and Experiment s" (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/20190819083451/
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Further reading

Sut t on, George W.; Sherman, Art hur (July 2006). Engineering Magnetohydrodynamics. Dover
Civil and Mechanical Engineering. Dover Publicat ions. ISBN 978-0486450322.

Hugo K. Messerle, Magnetohydrodynamic Power Generation, 1994, John Wiley, Chichest er, Part
of t he UNESCO Energy Engineering Series (This is t he source of t he hist orical and generat or
design informat ion).

Shioda, S. "Result s of Feasibilit y St udies on Closed-Cycle MHD Power Plant s", Proc. Plasma
Tech. Conf., 1991, Sydney, Aust ralia, pp. 189–200.

R.J. Rosa, Magnetohydrodynamic Energy Conversion, 1987, Hemisphere Publishing, Washingt on,
D.C.

G.J. Womac, MHD Power Generation, 1969, Chapman and Hall, London.

External links

MHD generat or Research at t he Universit y of Tennessee Space Inst it ut e (ht t ps://web.archive.

org/web/20060709223121/ht t p://www.ut si.edu/news/release12-1-04mhdgenerat or.ht ml)
(archive) - 2004

Model of an MHD-generat or at t he Inst it ut e of Comput at ional Modelling, Akademgorodok,

Russia (ht t p://icm.krasn.ru/sect ion.php?id=5&page=lab23devices&lang=eng) - 2003
The Magnet ohydrodynamic Engineering Laborat ory Of The Universit y Of Bologna, It aly (ht t p://
www.die.ing.unibo.it /Labs/MHD/MHlabE.ht m) - 2003

High Efficiency Magnet ohydrodynamic Power Generat ion (ht t p://www.solarmhd.com) - 2015