Analyse the electrical characteristics of an MagnetoHydroDynamic generator for maximizing the thermal efficiency

Abstract

In this study, a Faraday type MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) generator is studied to consider the effect of electrical characteristics to the thermal efficiency. The generator performance is specified by optimizing the cycle efficiency with respect to the load parameter and by optimizing output power density with respect to seed fraction and operating pressure. As the calculation results, the value of load parameter, which maximizes the thermodynamic efficiency, is independent of the regenerator efficiency, but dependent on Mach number and the compressor efficiency. It can also be seen that there is no need for a high entrance Mach number more than 5 because the increases in thermal efficiency are insignificant.