>TML nightly Wed Jul 7 20:30:03 EDT 1993 Volume 58 : Issue 2
>
>
>Okay, somebody more in the know than I needs to explain this to me:
well, none of your options are correct. This is MHD in a nutshell....
You have a turbine which burns fuel (any kind of fuel will work, some better
than others). The (very, very) hot exhaust is sent thru a straight pipe with
a coil wrapped around the outside. Since the exhaust is also electrically
charged (a weak plasma) the moving charges in the pipe induce a current in the
coil. This is what produces the power. Since the exhaust is only slowed
down slightly from the power generation, it still produces thrust.
If you gear the turbine for power, you lose most, if not all, of the thrust.
If you go for straight thrust, you get very little power. MHD trades off some
of the thrust for power. Since you aren't mechanically coupling the exhaust
(via a power turbine), you get little mechanical losses, thus pretty good
efficiency.
caveat: I am not a power engineer, but I am sure I have the general concepts
correct.
PB
- ----------
Captain Sir Michael Talmoth, UPP: BA5A8B
"You see me now a veteran,
Of a thousand psychic wars,
I've been living on the edge so long,
Where the winds of Limbo roar.
- -- BOC