| Total Exhaust Containment System for MHD Power Systems (1998) | |||||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||||
| This effort investigated the feasibility of a revolutionary approach to open cycle space power system exhaust containment. This approach makes use of state of the art U.S. materials technology and unique designs developed at STD Research Corporation to control the effects of effluents from open cycle MHD generators operating in space by bagging all the MHD exhaust products in light weight impermeable containers. Theoretical models for the operation of the Total Exhaust Containment System (TECS) were developed and used to design subscale laboratory simulators. Because of the prohibitive cost of building a complete integrated TECS subscale simulator, the feasibility of the concept was verified by investigating experimentally the performance of each component as sub-assemblies in the high-enthalpy flow facilities at STD Research Corporation. The test program revealed that the materials chosen prior to contract award were adequate for the task, and that the designs for each component fulfilled their role as expected. From those tests and the theoretical scaling laws that were developed in this program, it is estimated that the weight of the TECS system relevant to the STD Research Corporation MHD Space Power System (100 MWe/500 seconds) is between 5250 and 6250 kg, or between 21 and 25% of the fuel plus oxidant mass, depending on selection of the molecular barrier material. This effluent/reaction control and containment concept can also be applied to other space or earth-bound open-cycle power generation systems. | |||||||||||
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