Basic Study on MHD Power Generation System by Using High Density Liquid-Metal Two-Phase Natural Circulation

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Fundamental characteristics of an advanced energy conversion system using high density two-phase natural circulation combined with liquid-metal MHD power generation were investigated theoretically and experimentally.The cycle analysis performed to examine the sensitivities of the performance characteristics to the system parameters such as system temperatures, void fraction and gas-liquid slip ratio at the two-phase flow section, efficiencies of the components for the various combinations of the working fluids, shows that the cycle efficiency of the present system is competitive with those of the conventional steam-turbine and gas-turbine cycles. More than 50 - 60 % of cycle efficiency may be expected for the heat source with 1000 C.It is, however, found that the cycle efficiency depends strongly on the gas-liquid slip ratio at the two-phase flow section and also on generator efficiency.In the basic experiments on the heavy metal two-phase natural circulation performed by woods-metal and nitrogen gas, the effect of the MHD power load on the gas-liquid slip ratio or the void fraction at the two-phase flow section were investigated. It is found from the present experiment that the void fraction at the two-phase flow is mainly determined by the force balance between the pressure drop at the generator and the buoyancy of the two-phase section.The results of the present study are encouraging for future studies in the application of the present system to high temperature nuclear power plants.