Three-phase alternating current liquid metal vortex magnetohydrodynamic generator

• Main Authors: Siddharth Raj Gupta, J. Ashley Taylor, Tom Krupenkin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
• Series: iScience
• Subjects: physics; electricity; engineering; energy engineering; mechanical engineering; electrical property
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422100612X

Summary: Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generators directly convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. However, due to production of low amplitude voltages at low fluid velocities, they are not useful for electronic devices requiring power at watt scale. This work introduces vortex MHD, capable of producing voltages on scale of volts and generating power on a scale of watts. This is achieved by using Galinstan, a highly conductive metallic fluid, which remains liquid at room temperature. The proposed device comprises an impeller and set of copper coils positioned in a ferromagnetic housing. Three-phase AC current is passed in the coils producing a rotating magnetic field. The interaction of a moving conductive fluid and rotating magnetic field governed by Faraday's law of induction serves as a mechanism of electrical current generation. The study investigates the system performance and, in particular, variation of power with respect to system parameters like fluid inlet velocity and stator current.