OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver for magnetohydrodynamic open cycles, applied to the Sakhalin pulsed magnetohydrodynamic generator (PMHDG)

TL;DR

This paper develops an OpenFOAM-based CFD model for simulating magnetohydrodynamic power generators, specifically applied to the Sakhalin pulsed MHD generator, incorporating electric, magnetic, and fluid dynamic effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel CFD model in OpenFOAM for MHD generators that accounts for electric and magnetic interactions in a turbulent, compressible plasma flow.

Findings

Validated model against Sakhalin PMHDG data

Simulated 3D plasma flow and electric characteristics

Provided detailed scalar and distribution profiles

Abstract

In the current study, we present a mathematical and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for simulating open-cycle linear Faraday-type continuous-electrode channels of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generators, operating on combustion plasma. The model extends the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations to account for the electric properties of the flowing plasma gas and its reaction to the applied magnetic field. The model takes into account various effects, such as the Lorentz force, turbulence, compressibility, and energy extraction from the plasma, and it adopts an electric potential technique along with the low magnetic Reynolds number (Rem) approximation. The model is numerically implemented using the multiphysics open-source computer programming environment "OpenFOAM," which combines the finite volume method (FVM) and the object-oriented programming (OOP) concept. The capabilities of the model are demonstrated by simulating the supersonic channel of the large-scale pulsed MHD generator (PMHDG) called "Sakhalin", with the aid of collected data and empirical expressions in the literature about its tested operation. Sakhalin was the world's largest PMHDG, with a demonstrated peak electric power output of 510 MW. Sakhalin operated on solid-propellant plasma (SPP), and it had a single supersonic divergent Faraday-type continuous-electrode channel with a length of 4.5 m. We check the validity of the model through comparisons with independent results for the Sakhalin PMHDG. Then, we process our three-dimensional simulation results to provide scalar characteristics of the Sakhalin channel, one-dimensional profiles along the longitudinal centerline, and three-dimensional distributions in the entire channel.