Pulsed nonequilibrium MHD generator with application of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis

The proposed concept of pulsed MHD power generation is based on application of nonequilibrium plasma of noble gas heated in a special regenerative heat exchanger where the heating matrix is formed as a result of a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) producing a final ceramic material with a temperature of 2400-4000 K. SHS application for noble gas heating by gasless burning of the SHS matrix allows avoidance of the molecular contamination extinguishing the nonequilibrium ionization at the inlet of the MHD channel. The discussed proof-of-concept experimental program is based on the small-scale disk MHD facility with argon mass flow rate of 5-25 g/s. The preliminary obtained experimental results on the SHS-fuel composition burning and measurements of the SHS-matrix adiabatic temperature showed that the required temperature 2000 K of noble gas for sustaining the nonequilibrium ionization can be achieved.