commgrp@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (09/09/88)
>I recall reading somewhere, a few years ago, that magnetohydrodynamic >electric power generators suffered from plasma/contact-surface >deterioration... >However, isn't it possible to conduct electricity without direct >contact? ...Couldn't the magnetic field of the MHD be RF modulated so >that the electrical power could be tapped by a capacitive, indirect >method. Wouldn't this solve the erosion problem? Is anyone doing >this in MHD systems? >-- >- John M. Logajan Whatever happened to MHD? It was the big buzzword in late 1960s, what everyone would be driving next year. Jet engines didn't work until they figured out how to use compressed air to keep the flame from touching the walls of the combustion chambers. Maybe MHD needs an analogous process. Last I read about MHD was an article in Aviation Week or Defense Electronics a few years ago. Air Force was experimenting with airborne EMP gun for destroying enemy radios. Explosive cartridge propels ionized argon through MHD generator which is the power supply for the EMP. The article didn't say what happens to the plane's avionics. Imagine finding a surplus EMP gun at a hamfest, and firing it outside an IRS computing center! :^) -- Frank reid@gold.bacs.indiana.edu "A megajoule is roughly equivalent to a stick of dynamite." -- Tom Clancy, _The Cardinal of the Kremlin_