High voltage, nonequilibrium MHD disk generators [for space power applications]

This study shows that a nonequilibrium disk magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy converter with a gas-cooled nuclear reactor prime mover can be optimized to provide a high-voltage output, eliminating the need for a mass/size penalizing transformer, and to maintain the attractive energy conversion efficiency and high-power-density features of the MHD power conversion system. It is concluded that, in the multimegawatt range, high-voltage nonequilibrium disk generators are feasible, and the caesium seed fraction at which these high voltages are predicted, corresponds to the range in which stable operation in the corresponding caesium-seeded noble gas disk generators has been identified