Magnetohydrodynamic Power Generation

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation process is basically based on the physics background of space plasma. The basic principle is the Faradays Law of electromagnetic induction. In this device plasma (Ionized gas) is the working fluid similar to the mechanism that happening in the magnetosphere of our earth’s atmosphere. Except here the process is controlled and we increase the fluid density and pressure to get maximum efficiency in the generating power. Most problems come from the low conductivity feature in the gas at high temperature. High temperature gaseous conductor at high velocity is passed through a powerful magnetic field and a current is generated and extracted by placing electrodes at suitable position in the gas stream, and hence the thermal energy of gas is directly converted in to electrical energy. In this paper the process involved in MHD power generation will be discussed in detail along with the simplified analysis of MDH system and recent developments in magnetohydrodynamics and their related issues.