Improvement in Performance of Non-equilibrium Disk MHD Generator by means of Radio-Frequency Plasma Control

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In order to realize the high performance non-equilibrium disk MHD generator working under the wide range operating conditions, the plasma properties at the generator inlet should be controlled and optimized in response to the various operating conditions. From this viewpoint, the objectives of the present research are to improve the generator performance and expand the acceptable range of operating conditions by means of the radio-frequency plasma control (rf pre-ionization).First of all, the power generation experiments with the rf pre-ionization temperatures, the output power was increased by the rf pre-ionization. Moreover, this increase exceeded the supplied rf power, and was more markedly observed for the low inlet stagnation temperature where no plasma was produced only by the Joule heating attributed to a self-excited electromotive force. Thus, it was verified that the acceptable range of the stagnation temperature was expanded by the rf pre-ionization.Furthermore, the power generation experiments with He/Cs working fluid were conducted for the wide range of seed fractions and load resistances. It was confirmed that the output power was increased not only at the low seed fraction but also at the optimal or high seed fractions by the rf pre-ionization. The increase in the output power was verified for low load resistances leading less Joule heating. The plasma behavior and the generator performance under applying rf electromagnetic field were also examined with two-and three-numerical simulations.As a result of the present research, "Improvement in Performance of Non-equilibrium Disk MHD Generator by means of Radio-Frequency Plasma Control" was successfully demonstrated, and the fruitful results obtained here surely contribute to the advancement in the research and development of the non-equilibrium plasma MHD electrical power generation.