Rapporteur report: MHD electric power plants

Five US papers from the Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on MHD Electrical Power Generation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are summarized. Results of the initial parametric phase of the US effort on the study of potential early commercial MHD plants are reported and aspects of the smaller commercial prototype plant termed the Engineering Test Facility are discussed. The alternative of using a disk geometry generator rather than a linear generator in baseload MHD plants is examined. Closed-cycle as well as open-cycle MHD plants are considered

Engineering test facility design definition

The Engineering Test Facility (ETF) is the major focus of the Department of Energy (DOE) Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Program to facilitate commercialization and to demonstrate the commercial operability of MHD/steam electric power. The ETF will be a fully integrated commercial prototype MHD power plant with a nominal output of 200 MW sub e. Performance of this plant is expected to meet or surpass existing utility standards for fuel, maintenance, and operating costs; plant availability; load following; safety; and durability. It is expected to meet all applicable environmental regulations. The current design concept conforming to the general definition, the basis for its selection, and the process which will be followed in further defining and updating the conceptual design

A summary of the ECAS MHD power plant results

The performance and the cost of electricity (COE) for MHD systems utilizing coal or coal derived fuels are summarized along with a conceptual open cycle MHD plant design. The results show that open cycle coal fired recuperatively preheated MHD systems have potentially one of the highest coal-pile-to-bus bar efficiencies (48.3%) and also one of the lowest COE of the systems studied. Closed cycle, inert gas systems do not appear to have the potential of exceeding the efficiency of or competing with the COE of advanced steam plants

The potential of nuclear MHD electric power systems

Comparison of turbo-MHD cycle with Brayton-MHD and turboelectric cycle

Analytical Investigations of Coil-System Design Parameters for a Constant-Velocity Traveling Magnetic Wave Plasma Engine

Coil-system design parameters for constant velocity traveling-magnetic-wave plasma engin

NASA Lewis H2-O2 MHD program

Performance and power costs of H2-O2 combustion powered steam-MHD central power systems are estimated. Hydrogen gas is assumed to be transmitted by pipe from a remote coal gasifier into the city and converted to electricity in a steam MHD plant having an integral gaseous oxygen plant. These steam MHD systems appear to offer an attractive alternative to both in-city clean fueled conventional steam power plants and to remote coal fired power plants with underground electric transmission into the city. Status and plans are outlined for an experimental evaluation of H2-O2 combustion-driven MHD power generators at NASA Lewis Research Center

H2-O2 combustion powered steam-MHD central power systems

Estimates are made for both the performance and the power costs of H2-O2 combustion powered steam-MHD central power systems. Hydrogen gas is assumed to be transmitted by pipe from a remote coal gasifier into the city and converted to electricity in a steam MHD plant having an integral gaseous oxygen plant. These steam MHD systems appear to offer an attractive alternative to both in-city clean fueled conventional steam power plants and to remote coal fired power plants with underground electric transmission into the city

Light bulb heat exchanger for magnetohydrodynamic generator applications - Preliminary evaluation

The light-bulb heat-exchanger concept is investigated as a possible means of using a combustion heat source to supply energy to an inert gas MHD power generator system. In this concept, combustion gases flow through a central passage which consists of a duct with transparent walls through which heat is transferred by radiation to a radiation receiver which in turn heats the inert gas by convection. The effects of combustion-gas emissivity, transparent-wall-transmissivity, radiation-receiver emissivity, and the use of fins in the inert gas coolant passage are studied. The results indicate that inert gas outlet temperatures of 2500 K are possible for combustion temperatures of 3200 K and that sufficient energy can be transferred from the combustion gas to reduce its temperature to approximately 2000 K. At this temperature more conventional heat exchangers can be used

Performance optimization of an MHD generator with physical constraints

A method to optimize the Faraday MHD generator performance under a prescribed set of electrical and magnet constraints is described. The results of generator performance calculations using this technique are presented for a very large MHD/steam plant. The differences between the maximum power and maximum net power generators are described. The sensitivity of the generator performance to the various operational parameters are presented

MHD performance calculations with oxygen enrichment

The impact of oxygen enrichment of the combustion air on the generator and overall plant performance was studied for the ECAS-scale MHD/steam plants. A channel optimization technique is described and the results of generator performance calculations using this technique are presented. Performance maps were generated to assess the impact of various generator parameters. Directly and separately preheated plant performance with varying O2 enrichment was calculated. The optimal level of enrichment was a function of plant type and preheat temperature. The sensitivity of overall plant performance to critical channel assumptions and oxygen plant performance characteristics was also examined