Magnetohydrodynamic propulsion for beginners

[collins class]

Came across the following tooling around the net which describes building an MHD propelled model boat.
Magnetohydrodynamic Propulsion for the Classroom

It also debunks the use of MHD for silent submarine propulsion due the separation of hydrogen and oxygen from water molecules and other ionisation issues.

Thought someone might be interested in building a LiPo/MHD powered Typhoon though

Byron

[raalst]

Thanks for posting this.
I

Thanks for posting this.
I always like to know more about technology.

maybe, someday some engineer makes a small
pump this way. No moving parts !

[jsl]

Very very VERY interesting information.

That

[color=#000000]Very very VERY interesting information.

That really caught my undivided attention. I just had to save a copy for some cold dark winter night where I have nothing interesting to do..

The article is very interesting, but I'm sure it can be perfected a bit and run in fresh water. The ionization voltage would have to be high, and the strongest possible permenent magnets should be found.

Oh dear... All these strange thoughts stirring in my head ]

[collins class]

I found another cool page

I found another cool page on the subject EMP Ship

Some interesting stuff]http://www.rexresearch.com/emships/rice345.gif[/img]

Cheers
Byron

PS come on people I know someone out there is dying to build this

[collins class]

I found another interesting page

I found another interesting page in Thailand Electromagnetic propulsion.

It appears to me someone built an MHD powered ship if this webpage is correct]http://www.rit.ac.th/homepage-sc/charud/specialnews/spectial2/pic2/magnetic%20boat/manetic3.jpg[/img]

[gerwalk]

That's an excellent paper. I

That's an excellent paper. I found it couple of month ago and I already have the materials to start a prototype just to see how it works.

The photo Collins Class posted is from the Yamato, a MHD vessel the japanese constructed a long time ago. Very interesting demonstrator but also showed some of the drawbacks of the MHD propulsion.

Generation of chlorine gas is of more concern than Hydrogen or oxygen gas. Is corrosive and can be easily detected with chemical detectors (not very stealthty) It is also a powerfull oxidizer and will corrode everything around.

From the article]. The best field-portable,
superconducting electromagnet used on a fullscale
Japanese experimental MHD ship only
developed about 4 T.4,5 Therefore, the magnet technology
is not yet available. Conversely, if we limit
ourselves to 4.0 T and the same geometry, in order to
drive our Trident-class submarine, a current of
540,000 A is needed.

[scott t]

Here is a thought for

Here is a thought for a magentic drive.
Rubber covered steel spheres would be driven through a imersed tube by a mag-lev type drive. (rail gun)
The spheres would force the water in the tube to be pushed out the rear of the tube for thrust.
The spheres would be recirculated back to the front of the tube for another shot.

Scott

[collins class]

That's an excellent paper. I

That's an excellent paper. I found it couple of month ago and I already have the materials to start a prototype just to see how it works.

The photo Collins Class posted is from the Yamato, a MHD vessel the japanese constructed a long time ago. Very interesting demonstrator but also showed some of the drawbacks of the MHD propulsion.

Generation of chlorine gas is of more concern than Hydrogen or oxygen gas. Is corrosive and can be easily detected with chemical detectors (not very stealthty) It is also a powerfull oxidizer and will corrode everything around.

From the article]. The best field-portable,
superconducting electromagnet used on a fullscale
Japanese experimental MHD ship only
developed about 4 T.4,5 Therefore, the magnet technology
is not yet available. Conversely, if we limit
ourselves to 4.0 T and the same geometry, in order to
drive our Trident-class submarine, a current of
540,000 A is needed.

Hi Gerwalk!

I hope if you put the MHD model together you will post some pics and some video.

The power to weight ratio of MHD propulsion does not look good until we get much more efficient electricity producing systems, like for example antimatter conversion.

The equations don't look good but I still think someone should build one just to see it. Fitting the cooling system for the superconducting magnets in the model could be a problem as well.

Byron

[collins class]

BTW for some more cool

[color=#000000]BTW for some more cool tech I came across, have a look at forum]

[collins class]

Found some interesting further references

Found some interesting further references to the Yamamoto 1, the Japanese MHD ship.

http://www.mesj.or.jp/mesj_e....p46.pdf

and



The PDF has a lot of cool stuff in it.

Byron

[gerwalk]

Well I finally find some

Well I finally find some time to experiment with this idea. I made a very rude device consisting in two copper electrodes (~1cm2) and two rare earth magnets. I used a sodium bromide solution (I had no sodium chloride at the lab!!) as the electrolyte and a variable power supply (DC). The good thing about the sodium bromide was that it produced bromine which is soluble in water (this is better IMHO than releasing chorine gas from a sodium chloride solution!). The water turned a blueish-green color due to the bromine and the dissolution of the dissolution of the copper anode.

And...It worked!!

Diagram]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/Gerwalker/MagnetoH/magnetoschem.jpg[/img]



Video (sorry for the bad quality of the images but I think it shows the water flowing)]http://www.cashmoneyuploads.com/view/v7171/[/url]

14V (aprox) reverse direction]http://www.cashmoneyuploads.com/view/v7172/[/url]

Full power reverse]http://www.cashmoneyuploads.com/view/v7174/[/url]

[petn7]

tres bien!

tres bien!