Study of Nonequilibrium Disk MHD Generator with 100 MW Thermal Input Using Argon Gas

Abstract

Numerical investigations are carried out on nonequilibrium disk MHD generator with 100MW thermal input using cesium seeded argon as the working plasma, which is suitable for a future large scale experimental plant. At first, channel configuration and nominal conditions of a generator with sufficiently high performance are determined by design calculation and it is confirmed that the generator is stable and functions as designed at the nominal operating condition. Simulations of the performance of the designed generator at light-load condition are carried out and it is indicated that the segmented load connection scheme is effective to prevent the performance deterioration caused by the ionization instability. Next, simulations are carried out in the case impurities are contained in the working plasma and the influence of their concentration on the generator performance is made clear. It is also indicated that designs of the generator with high performance under the contaminated condition are feasible if the ingredients of the impurities and their concentration are known even in the case the impurity concentration is fairly high and the generator designed without impurity is not suitable for the plant.