Abstract
Results of experimental study on performance of the supersonic closed loop with a disk MHD generator are described. The high temperature (> 1900K) argon circulation was carried out successfully during 2.4 hours. The heat gain and loss of argon was investigated, and a large heat loss was found at the diffuser and the exhausting duct although an energy efficiency of recuperator was high. The large heat loss was ascribed to water cooling at the diffuser and the exhausting duct. At the same time, the enhancement of heat transfer coefficient was suggested. The argon temperature and the heat loss calculated under an assumption of four times larger heat transfer coefficient have shown a good agreement with experimental ones. The pressure ratio inside the loop was discussed, and the result has indicated that the total pressure at the upstream of nozzle throat is decided by the total temperature and the mass flow. On the other hand, the total pressure at the downstream is determined by the total mass in the loop and the total pressure at the upstream. The first power generation was carried out, and a good correlation between the load resistance and the Hall voltage was observed. However, the power output remained very small.
