Two-dimensional Numerical Simulation of a Pulsed Heat Source High Temperature Inert Gas Plasma MHD Electrical Power Generator

Performance of a pulsed heat source high temperature inert gas plasma MHD electrical power generator, which can be one of the candidates of space-based laser-to-electrical power converter, is examined by a time dependent two dimensional numerical simulation. In the present MHD generator, the inert gas is assumed to be ideally heated to about $10^4K$ pulsed-likely within short time(${\sim}1{\mu}s$) in a stagnant energy input volume, and the energy of high temperature inert gas is converted to the electricity with the medium of pure inert gas plasma without seeding. The numerical simulation results show that an enthalpy extraction ratio(=electrical output energy/pulsed heat energy) of several tens of % can be achieved, which is the same level as the conventional seeded non-equilibrium plasma MHD generator. Although there still exist many phenomena to be clarified and many problems to be overcome in order to realize the system, the pulsed heat source high temperature inert gas MHD generator is surely worth examining in more detail.