The performance of helium seeded with uranium in a magnetohydrodynamic generator
Performance of helium seeded with uranium in magnetohydrodynamic generator
Bishop, A. R.↗
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Combined turbine-magnetohydrodynamic Brayton cycle power system for space and ground use
Development of combined turbine-magnetohydrodynamic generator operating in Brayton cycle with NERVA nuclear reactor for space and ground applications
Nichols, L. D.↗
The effect of wall friction on magnetohydrodynamic generator performance
The effect of wall friction on magnetohydrodynamic generator performance is determined by introduction of a wall friction factor into the one-dimensional generator equations. This addition should be useful in improving generator analysis and determining optimum generator geometry. The curves presented can be used to determine the effects of changes in wall friction and generator performance. Wall friction has an increasing effect on the Mach number increases and a decreasing effect as the pressure drop across the generator increase.
Bishop, A. R.↗
Hall current effects in the Lewis magnetohydrodynamic generator
Data obtained in a magnetohydrodynamic generator are compared with theoretical values calculated by using the Dzung theory. The generator was operated with cesium-seeded argon as the working fluid. The gas temperature varied from 1800 to 2100 K, the gas pressure from 19 to 22 N/sq cm, the Mach number from 0.3 to 0.5, and the magnetic field strength from 0.2 to 1.6 T. The analysis indicates that there is incomplete seed vaporization and that Hall current shorting paths (through the working fluid to ground at both the entrance and exit of the channel) limit generator performance.
Nichols, L. D.↗
Numerical calculation of the lunar wake in a magnetohydrodynamic model.
Following previous interpretation, a model is developed which has the solar wind flowing directly into the lunar surface and the magnetic field passing unimpeded through the moon. The collapse of the plasma void behind the moon is calculated numerically using the equations of magnetohydrodynamics. The model is three-dimensional, allowing complete calculations to be made without special restrictions on the magnetic field direction. A cursory quantitative comparison with data shows agreement to be satisfactory. The calculations indicate that the rate of collapse of the void does not depend strongly on the solar wind-magnetic field angle. The penumbral decrease depends very strongly on both the solar wind-magnetic field angle and the angle of passage through the wake.
Beers, B. L.↗
Investigation of a liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic power system.
Liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic power conversion is being investigated for nuclear-electric propulsion. A liquid-metal MHD converter has no moving mechanical parts and requires a heat source temperature of only 1300 K. Cycle efficiencies of 5% to 8% for single-stage converters and 10% for multistage converters appear attainable. The specific weight of a 240 kWe MHD power plant has been estimated as 30 kg/kWe with shielding for unmanned science missions.
Elliott, D. G.↗
Solar wind interaction with the earth's magnetic field. II - Magnetohydrodynamic bow shock.
The earth's bow shock has been investigated as a magnetohydrodynamic discontinuity using the plasma and magnetic data supplied by the European satellite Heos 1. The jumps of the fluid parameters through the shock have been studied as a function of the Mach number and of the geometry of the shock surface. The solar wind specific heat ratio has been found to be equal to 1.75 or 2.25, depending on the presence or absence of upstream waves. Computations of the shock velocity performed for 23 crossings gave an average speed of about 85 km/sec.
Formisano, V.↗
Liquid metal magnetohydrodynamics (LMMHD) technology transfer feasibility study. Volume 1: Summary
The potential application of liquid metal magnetohydrodynamics (LMMHD) to central station utility power generation through the period to 1990 is examined. Included are: (1) a description of LMMHD and a review of its development status, (2) LMMHD preliminary design for application to central station utility power generation, (3) evaluation of LMMHD in comparison with conventional and other advanced power generation systems and (4) a technology development plan. One of the major conclusions found is that the most economic and technically feasible application of LMMHD is a topping cycle to a steam plant, taking advantage of high temperatures available but not usable by the steam cycle.
Phen, R. L.↗
Aligned magnetohydrodynamic solution for solar wind flow past the earth's magnetosphere
Exact numerical solutions of the MHD equations for a perfect dissipationless gas with aligned magnetic field are given for conditions representative of steady supersonic solar wind flow past an axisymmetric model of the earth's magnetosphere. The solution is based on use of a transformation that relates without approximation the equations of magnetohydrodynamics to those of gasdynamics of a pseudogas that has an unusual equation of state. The results confirm the applicability of the previously existing gasdynamic solutions for the typically modest intensities of the interplanetary magnetic field that lead to Alfven Mach numbers of about 10 or greater. For smaller values, however, significant effects are indicated with the flanks of the bow wave moving away from the earth and the nose moving toward the earth. The results are consistent with direct observations in space.
Spreiter, J. R.↗
Criterion for propagation of magnetohydrodynamic waves An equivalence
It is shown that the requirement that a magnetohydrodynamic wave propagate over a distance equal to a large number of wavelengths without substantial attenuation is equivalent to the requirement that the lateral velocity of displacement of the field lines far exceed a characteristic velocity. This latter velocity is the velocity of slippage of the field lines with respect to the medium.
De, B. R.↗
High-beta turbulence in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics
Incompressible turbulent flows were investigated in the framework of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Equilibrium canonical distributions are determined in a phase whose coordinates are the real and imaginary parts of the Fourier coefficients for the field variables. The magnetic field and fluid velocity have variable x and y components, and all field quantities are independent of z. Three constants of the motion are found which survive the truncation in Fourier space and permit the construction of canonical distributions with three independent temperatures. Spectral densities are calculated. One of the more novel physical effects is the appearance of macroscopic structures involving long wavelength, self-generated, magnetic fields ("magnetic islands"). In the presence of finite dissipation, energy cascades to higher wave numbers can be accompanied by vector potential cascades to lower wave numbers, in much the same way that in the fluid dynamic case, energy cascades to lower wave numbers accompany entropy cascades to higher wave numbers.
Fyfe, D.↗
High-beta turbulence in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics
Equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics are used to study incompressible turbulent flows in a specified geometry where all the field quantities vary with only two spatial dimensions. The procedures adopted are basically those of Kraichnan (1967), in which classical equilibrium ensembles are built around constants of the motion identified from the Fourier-transformed equations of motion. Once the constants of the motion are identified, the statistical formulation of the problem is presented in a phase space whose coordinates are the real and imaginary parts of the Fourier coefficients. Canonical ensembles are constructed in this phase space by classical arguments. The theory developed permits isolation of some qualitatively new gross physical effects which have so far not been calculated. One of the more novel physical effects is the appearance of macroscopic structures involving long-wavelength, self-generated, magnetic fields for a wide range of initial parameters.
Fyfe, D.↗
Two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence - Cylindrical, non-dissipative model
Incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence is treated in the presence of cylindrical boundaries which are perfectly conducting and rigidly smooth. The model treated is non-dissipative and two-dimensional, the variation of all quantities in the axial direction being ignored. Equilibrium Gibbs ensemble predictions are explored assuming the constraint of constant axial current (appropriate to tokamak operation). No small-amplitude approximations are made. The expectation value of the turbulent kinetic energy is found to approach zero for the state of maximum mean-square vector potential to energy ratio. These are the only states for which large velocity fluctuations are not expected.
Montgomery, D.↗
A magnetohydrodynamic theory for the lunar response to time variations in a spatially uniform ambient magnetic field
An analytic theory based on principles of magnetohydrodynamics is derived for interpreting the lunar magnetic response to magnetic field fluctuations in the lobes of the geomagnetic tail. Only the case of magnetic perturbations parallel to a spatially uniform ambient magnetic field is treated. The theoretical frequency-dependent MHD transfer function depends on both the lunar electrical conductivity profile and the Alfven speed of the tail lobe plasma. For circular frequencies much less than the Alfven speed/lunar radius, the MHD transfer function reduces to the vacuum transfer function, while at higher frequencies the finite propagation speed of magnetic disturbances affects the response. These characteristics of the MHD transfer function are in qualitative agreement with observation. A carefully selected set of magnetic field transient events could be used together with this theory to infer lunar electrical conductivity profiles and the tail lobe plasma density (via its dependence on the Alfven speed).
Hood, L. L.↗
Global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the two-dimensional magnetosphere
The time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic interaction of the solar wind with a two-dimensional dipole magnetic field has been simulated using a novel Lagrangian particle type of MHD code that can treat local low density or vacuum regions without numerical instability. This enables one to simulate the time-dependent magnetic tail. When the solar wind field is southward, a magnetic field line topology consistent with Dungey's model emerges in steady state. The tail, however, is short, and the x-points are only slightly shifted from their vacuum locations, because of strong numerical resistivity. Different configurations resulting from different relative orientations of the solar wind magnetic field and dipole axis are also presented. While the magnetic field is relatively steady, the density and flow in the magnetosheath are turbulent, as are the bow shock and magnetopause; the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability may account for these phenomena. We also model a 'substorm' as the passage of a rotational discontinuity in the solar wind over the dipole. Both 90 and 180 deg shifts to a southward solar wind field cause a violent readjustment of the magnetic tail which eventually settles down to the Dungey configuration.
Leboeuf, J. N.↗
The effect of velocity overshoot on the performance of magnetohydrodynamic subsonic diffusers
The effect of velocity overshoot, a velocity distribution encountered in magnetohydrodynamic channels with peak velocity near the wall instead of at the center, on the performance of two-dimensional subsonic diffusers was investigated. For the simplified conditions analyzed in this paper it was found that the ratio of peak-to-centerline velocity increases along the diffuser for a diffuser half angle greater than some critical value. It was also found that irrespective of the accompanying inlet temperature distribution the wall shear stress and the wall heat flux is substantially larger when the inlet velocity profile has an overshoot than that for a fully developed turbulent inlet velocity profile.
Greywall, M. S.↗
A magnetohydrodynamic model for corotating interplanetary structures
A model is developed which treats interplanetary structures as a small-scale incompressible Alfvenic fluctuation superposed on a large-scale background flow, and uses the complete magnetohydrodynamic equations and the full energy equation to describe the interplanetary structures. For steady-state corotating structures the model assumes the background flow to be field aligned, and the nonlinear system is treated as being composed of two subsets: one dealing with the expansion of the solar wind in stream tubes, the other with the interaction between neighboring stream tubes. The expansion subset has a singularity at Parker's critical radius, and the interaction subset has a singularity at the Alfvenic point. Concerning the region where the flow velocity is super-Alfvenic, the characteristic equation is derived, and a general method of numerical solution for the three-dimensional problems based on the characteristics theory is discussed. In addition, a viscous WKB solution of the microscale system is presented.
Whang, Y. C.↗
Solar-driven liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic generator
A solar oven heated by concentrated solar radiation as the heat source of a liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic (LMMHD) power generation system is proposed. The design allows the production of electric power in space, as well as on Earth, at high rates of efficiency. Two types of the solar oven suitable for the system are discussed.
Lee, J. H.↗