Power Generator

Magneto hydro dynamic power generation is a new system of electric

power generation that provides a way of generating electricity directly from a fast moving stream of ionised gases without the need for any moving mechanical parts - no turbines and no rotary generators.
Magneto hydro dynamics is concerned with the flow of conducting fluid in

the presence of magnetic and electric field.The fluid may be gas at elevated temp.or liquid metal like sodium or potassium.
This system is said to be of high efficiency and low pollution.
An MHD Generator is a device for converting heat energy directly to

electrical energy without a conventional Electric Generator. Here MHD converter system is a heat engine, in which heat taken up at a higher temp. is partly converted into useful(electric) work and the remainder is rejected.
Out of total energy in the world, 80% is from hydal and remaining 20% is

from nuclear, thermal, solar and from magneto hydro dynamics generators.

A simple magneto hydro dynamic generator consists of a gas nozzle.

The gas nozzle is a combustion chamber that injects a pulse of gas

into the channel/duct. The walls of the channel act as an electrode.

The induced electric current is fed to the load by an external

circuit that supplies the generated electricity to the desired destination.

The MHD generators can be constructed in various designs like the

Faraday generator, Hall generator and disc generator.

Faraday generator was the first designed MHD generator. It was

made by Michael Faraday in 1831. The Faraday generator used copper disks and a horse-shoe magnet to generate electricity.

The principle of MHD generation is discovered by faraday: when an electric conductor moves across a magnetic field, a voltage is induced in it which produces an electric current. In MHD generators, the solid conductors are replaced by a gaseous conductor; an ionized gas. If a gas is passed at a high velocity through a powerful magnetic field, a current is generated and can be extracted by placing electrodes in a suitable position in the stream.

An electric conductor moving through a magnetic field experiences a

retarding force as well as an induced electric field and current. This effect is a result of Faradays law of Electromagnetic induction. Induced EMF is given by :E ind = U * B , where , U=velocity of conductor , B=magnetic field intensity The induced current density is :J ind = E ind , where , = electric conductivity The Retarding Force on the conductor is the Lorentz Force is given by:F ind = J ind * B The movement of the force through a displacement(mechanical work) is converted to electrical work(current flow) by means of electromagnetic induction principle.

BASIC PRINCIPLE OF MHD CONVERSION

The direct flow of kinetic energy into electrical energy by the flow

of an electrically conducting fluid is usually a gas or a gas liquid combination through a stationery magnetic field. If the flow is at right angles to the magnetic field direction, an electromotive force is induced in the direction at right angles to both flow and field directions.

 The conducting flow fluid is forced between the plates with a kinetic energy

and pressure diffrential sufficient to overcome the magnetic induction force Find. An Ionized gas is employed as the conducting fluid. Ionization is produced either by thermal means i.e. by an elevated temp.or by seeding with substance like cesium or potassium vapours which ionize at relatively low temp. The atoms of the seed element split electrons. The presence of the negatively charged electrons makes the carrier gas an electrical conductor. The other way is to incorporate a liquid metal into a flowing carrier gas. Since the metal is a good electrical conductor, the gas metal mixture can be used as the working fluid in an MHD generator.

 Thermal efficiency of MHD generator is given as :-

th = work output/heat input

Typical efficiencies of MHD generators are around 10 to 20 percent mainly due to the heat lost through the high temperature exhaust.

Several factors that reduce the efficiency are : I. Dissipation of energy in the internal resistance of the ionized gas. II. A space charger barrier at the electrode surface. III. Heat transfer through the electrode and insulator walls. IV. Various losses assosiated with fluid friction. V. Hall Effect losses resulting in current induction in the direction of the flow. The Hall Effect causes a voltage gradient in a direction perpendicular to the applied magnetic field and current flow.

 The very high Faraday output current flows across the plasma duct into

the load reacts with the applied magnetic field creating a Hall Effect current perpendicular to the Faraday current, along the axis of the plasma, resulting in lost energy. The total current generated will be the vector sum of the transverse (Faraday) and axial (Hall effect) current components.Hall effect current will constitute an energy loss.
Various configurations of electrodes have been devised to capture both

the Faraday and Hall effect components of the current to improve the overall MHD conversion efficiency.
One method is to split the electrode pair into a series of segments side by

side (parallel) but insulated from eachother, with the segmented electrode pairs connected in series to achieve a higher voltage and lower current. Instead of the electrodes being opposite to eachother, perpendicular to the plasma stream, they are skewed at a slight angle from perpendicular to be the vector sum of the Faraday and Hall effect currents.

FARADAY MHD GENERATOR

HALL MHD GENERATOR DISC MHD GENERATOR

Faraday Magneto hydro dynamic Generator

Hall Magneto hydro dynamic Generator

 A disc generator has fluid flowing between the center of a disc,

and a duct wrapped around the edge.

The magnetic excitation field is made by a pair of circular

Helmholtz coils above and below the disk.

The Faraday currents flow in a perfect dead short around the

periphery of the disk.

The Hall effect currents flow between ring electrodes near the

center and ring electrodes near the periphery.

Advantage of this design is that the magnet is more efficient.

Open

cycle MHD generators

Involves the use of combustion products seeded by alkaline compounds

such as potassium carbonate

Closed

cycle MHD generator

Involves an inert gas which is heated in a high temperature heat

exchanger of the ceramics pebble or cored-brick type and seeded with an alkaline metal such as cesium vapor.
Further sub classified as:

* Seeded Inert Gas Systems * Liquid Metal Systems

Large amount of power is generated. It has no moving parts, so more reliable. The closed cycle system produces power free of pollution. It has the ability to reach the full power level as soon as started. The size of the plant is considerably smaller than conventional

fossil fuel plants. Direct conversion of heat into electricity permits to eliminate the gas turbine or both the boiler and the turbine. This elimination reduces losses of energy. These systems permit better fuel utilization. The conversion efficiency of an MHD system is around 50% as compared to les than 40% for the most efficient steam plants.

 MHD Generators

MHD Turbines
MHD Power Plants MHD Sensors

Gas Conductivity is denoted by

It is one of the parameters in the expression of the Power generated. It impends the progress of the MHD generation. Reasonable conductivity is a difficult task to attain. Reasonable Conductivity refers to a value b/w about 10 & 100

mhos/m. The gas has to be made sufficiently conducting to utilize it as a working fluid. In other words it has to be ionized - a process in which electrons are removed from an atom. Conduction is due to the free electrons and positive ions which move under the effect of a magnetic field.

There are several types of Ionization :i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii.

Thermal Ionization Magnetically Induced Ionization Radio Frequency Wave Induced Ionization Radioactivity Photoionization Electron Beam Ionization Flames

 Thermal Ionization
It is the most important method of ionizing the plasma. Ionization is obtained by imparting enough thermal energy to the gas. It is directly dependent upon the temperature.

Magnetically Induced Ionization

A dc voltage is applied across a gas at reduced pressure to create an electric field which will supply energy to electrons.

Radio frequency waves

It can be used to produce a low amount of ionization in a gas. This is not effectively enough for MHD Generation.
The other methods are yet to be developed to be of practical use.

The gas must be made a conductor by ionizing some fraction of it. If the temp. of the gas is raised, the constituents atoms have increased kinetic energy, with the result that ionizing collisions become more portable. The major ionization mechanism is electron atom collisions, represented by the formula A + e- = A+ + 2e-

 Refracting materials required due to the

high temp. of plasma(2700 C).

Several parts of generator :i. ii.

ELECTRODES CHANNEL or DUCT WALL

 Thermal Shock Resistance Electrical Conductivity Corrosion Resistance Erosion Resistance Oxidation Reduction resistance Melting Point of materials Density

For Electrode : High conductivity and High Temp. Electrically conductive and structurally stable.

For Duct Liner : Cooler than electrodes. Must be electrical insulator. Must be thermal insulator.

 Zirconia Based Materials

Chromite Based Materials Aluminate Based Materials

Nickel Oxide Based Materials

 Steam cooled walls which are made of insulated

laminations of very thin nickel or stainless steel are used.

The electrodes which are required to emit a cupious

stream of electrons are required to withstand regorous environment.

Water cooled copper electrodes have been used. Ceramic materials offer superior chemical stability

towards oxidation and corrosion by alkali seed materials.

 MHD generators have not been employed for large scale mass energy

conversion because other techniques with comparable efficiency have a lower lifecycle investment cost.
Coal-fired MHD combined cycle plant could attain a HHV energy

efficiency approaching 60 percent -- well in excess of other coal-fueled technologies, so the potential for low operating costs exists.
Superconducting magnets are used in the larger MHD generators to

eliminate one of the large parasitic losses: the power needed to energize the electromagnet.
MHD reduces overall production of hazardous fossil fuel wastes

because it increases plant efficiency.