DESIGN , FABRICATION AND TESTING OF

MAGNATOHYDRODYNAMIC GENERATOR
USING BIOGASS (mixture of 60% Methane and
40% carbon dioxide) AS FUEL
MINOR PROJECT REPORT
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE
OF

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

Mechanical
SUBMITTED BY: UNDER GUIDANCE:

ANMOL SINGH (1311553) Dr. PARAMJIT SINGH BILGA

AMANDEEP SINGH (1311541) Er.Jagjit kaur

HARJINDER SINGH(1311591)

JASPAL SINGH (1311605)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

GURU NANAK DEV ENGINEERING COLLEGE, LUDHIANA
MAY, 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are highly grateful to the Director, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering
College (GNDEC), Ludhiana, for providing this opportunity to carry out the present
minor project work
The constant guidance and encouragement received from Dr. Sehjpal Singh,
Professor. and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, GNDEC Ludhiana has
been of great help in carrying out the present work and is acknowledged with
reverential thanks.
The authors would like to express a deep sense of gratitude and thanks profusely to
Dr. Paramjit Singh Bilga, Professor, Er. Davinder Singh Bhogal, Asstt. Professor,
Department of Mechanical, GNDEC, who was our minor project guides. Without the
wise counsel and able guidance, it would have been impossible to complete the in
this manner.

The help rendered by Mr Kamaljit Singh, Technician, Mr. Balbir, Mechanic, Mr.
Kulwant Singh, Attendant, Mr. Bahadur Singh, Attendant, Heat Engines Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, GNDEC, for experimentation is greatly
acknowledged.

The author express gratitude to other faculty members of Mechanical Engineering

Department, GNDEC and Head and Staff of Workshops, GNDEC for their

intellectual support throughout the course of this work.

Finally, the authors are indebted to all whosoever have contributed in this minor
project work.

ANMOL SINGH (1311553)

AMANDEP SINGH (1311541)

JASPAL SINGH (1311605)

HARJINDER SINGH (1311591)

 CONTENTS
Page No.
Candidate's Declaration i
Acknowledgement ii
List of Figures xvi
List of Table xxii
Nomenclature xxvi

Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

Chapter 2 : LITERATURE SURVEY (optional)

Chapter 3 : PRESENT WORK

2.1 Problem Formulation

2.2 Objectives

2.3Methodology

REFERENCES

APPENDICES
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction-A magnetohydrodynamic generator (MHD generator) is

a magnetohydrodynamic device that transforms thermal energy and kinetic
energy into electricity. MHD generators are different from traditional electric
generator in that they operate at high temperatures without moving parts. Therefore,
in this process, substantial fuel economy can be achieved due to elimination of link
process of producing mechanical energy and again converting into electrical energy.

Principal of magnetohydrodynamic-The principal of mhd power generation is

very simple and is based on faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, which states
that when a conductor and a magnetic field moves relative to each other then voltage
is induced in the conductor , which results in flow current across the terminals
As the name implies, the magneto hydro dynamics generator shown in the figure
below, is concerned with the flow of a conducting fluid in the presence of magnetic
and electric fields. In conventional generator or alternator, the conductor consists of
copper windings or strips while in an MHD generator the hot ionized gas or
conducting fluid replaces the solid conductor. A pressurized, electrically conducting
fluid flows through a transverse magnetic field in a channel or duct. Pair of
electrodes are located on the channel walls at right angle to the magnetic field and
connected through an external circuit to deliver power to a load connected to it.
Electrodes in the MHD generator perform the same function as brushes in a
conventional DC generator. The MHD generator develops DC power and the
conversion to AC is done using an inverter.

The power generated per unit length by MHD generator is approximately given by,

Where u is the fluid velocity, B is the magnetic flux density, σ is the electrical
conductivity of conducting fluid and P is the density of fluid.
It is evident from the equation above that for the higher power density of an MHD
generator there must be a strong magnetic fieldof 4-5 tesla and high flow velocity of
conducting fluid besides adequate conductivity.
+

MHD cycles and working–The MHD cycles can be of two types,

1) Open cycle MHD. 2) Closed cycle

Open Cycle MHD System

In open cycle MHD system, atmospheric air at very high temperature and pressure is
passed through the strong magnetic field. Coal is first processed and burnet in the
combustor at a high temperature of about 2700°C and pressure about 12 atp with
pre-heated air from the plasma. Then a seeding material such as potassium carbonate
is injected to the plasma to increase the electrical conductivity. The resulting mixture
having an electrical conductivity of about 10 Siemens/m is expanded through a
nozzle, so as to have a high velocity and then passed through the magnetic field of
MHD generator. During the expansion of the gas at high temperature, the positive
and negative ions move to the electrodes and thus constitute an electric current. The
gas is then made to exhaust through the generator. Since the same air cannot be
reused again hence it forms an open cycle and thus is named as open cycle MHD.
Closed Cycle MHD System

As the name suggests the working fluid in a closed cycle MHD is circulated in a
closed loop. Hence, in this case inert gas or liquid metal is used as the working fluid
to transfer the heat. The liquid metal has typically the advantage of high electrical
conductivity. Hence the heat provided by the combustion material need not be too
high. Contrary to the open loop system there is no inlet and outlet for the
atmospheric air. Hence the process is simplified to a great extent, as the same fluid is
circulated time and again for effective heat transfer
 BACKGROUND

The first practical MHD power research was funded in 1938 in the U.S. by
westinghouse in its Pittsburgh, laboratories, headed by Hungarian bela karlovitz. The
initial patent on MHD is by B. Karlovitz, U.S. Patent No. 2,210,918, "Process for the
Conversion of Energy", August 13, 1940.

World war II interrupted development. In 1962, the First International Conference

on MHD Power was held in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK by Dr. Brian C. Lindley of
the International Research and Development Company Ltd. The group set up a
steering committee to set up further conferences and disseminate ideas. In 1964, the
group set up a second conference in Paris, France, in consultation with the European.

Since membership in the ENEA was limited, the group persuaded the Interationaa to
sponsor a third conference, in Salzburg, Austria, July 1966. Negotiations at this
meeting converted the steering committee into a periodic reporting group, the ILG-
MHD (international liaison group, MHD), under the ENEA, and later in 1967, also
under the International Atomic Energy Agency. Further research in the 1960s by R.
Rosa established the practicality of MHD for fossil-fueled systems.

In the 1960s, AVCO Everett Aeronautical Research began a series of experiments,

ending with the Mk. V generator of 1965. This generated 35 MW, but used about
8MW to drive its magnet. In 1966, the ILG-MHD had its first formal meeting in
Paris, France. It began issuing a periodic status report in 1967. This pattern persisted,
in this institutional form, up until 1976. Toward the end of the 1960s, interest in
MHD declined because nuclear power was becoming more widely available.

In the late 1970s, as interest in nuclear power declined, interest in MHD increased.
In 1975,UNESCO became persuaded the MHD might be the most efficient way to
utilise world coal reserves, and in 1976, sponsored the ILG-MHD. In 1976, it
became clear that no nuclear reactor in the next 25 years would use MHD, so the
International atomic agency and ENEA (both nuclear agencies) withdrew support
from the ILG-MHD, leaving UNESCO as the primary sponsor of the ILG-MHD.

Bosnian development

Over more than a ten-year span, Bosnian engineers in Bosnia, in the Institute of
Thermal and Nuclear Technology (ITEN), Energoinvest Co., Sarajevo, had built the
first experimental Magneto-Hydrodynamic facility power generator in 1989. It was
here it was first patented.
U.S. development

In the 1980s, the U.S.DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY began a vigorous multiyear

program, culminating in a 1992 50MW demonstration coal combustor at the
Component Development and Integration Facility (CDIF) in BUTTE MONTIO.
This program also had significant work at the Coal-Fired-In-Flow-Facility (CFIFF) a
UNIVERSITY OF TENESSEE SPACE INSTITUTE.

This program combined four parts:

1. An integrated MHD topping cycle, with channel, electrodes and current

control units developed by AVCO, later known as Textron Defence of Boston.
This system was a Hall effect duct generator heated by pulverized coal, with a
potassium ionisation seed. AVCO had developed the famous Mk. V generator,
and had significant experience.
2. An integrated bottoming cycle, developed at the CDIF.
3. A facility to regenerate the ionization seed was developed by TRW. Potassium
carbonate is separated from the sulphate in the fly ash from the scrubbers. The
carbonate is removed, to regain the potassium.
4. A method to integrate MHD into preexisting coal plants. The Department of
Energy commissioned two studies. Westinghouse Electric performed a study
based on the Scholtz Plant of Gulf Power in sneads florido. The MHD
Development Corporation also produced a study based on the J.E. Corrette
Plant of the Montana Power Company of billing montana.

Initial prototypes at the CDIF were operated for short durations, with various coals:
Montana Rosebud, and a high-sulphur corrosive coal, Illinois No. 6. A great deal of
engineering, chemistry and material science was completed. After final components
were developed, operational testing completed with 4,000 hours of continuous
operation, 2,000 on Montana Rosebud, 2,000 on Illinois No. 6. The testing ended in
1993.

Japanese development

The Japanese program in the late 1980s concentrated on closed-cycle MHD. The
belief was that it would have higher efficiencies, and smaller equipment, especially
in the clean, small, economical plant capacities near 100 megawatts (electrical)
which are suited to Japanese conditions. Open-cycle coal-powered plants are
generally thought to become economical above 200 megawatts.

The first major series of experiments was FUJI-1, a blow-down system powered
from a shock tube at the Tokya Istitute of Technology. These experiments extracted
up to 30.2% of enthalpy, and achieved power densities near 100 megawatts per cubic
meter. This facility was funded by Tokyo Electric Power, other Japanese utilities,
and the Department of Education. Some authorities believe this system was a disc
generator with a helium and argon carrier gas and potassium ionization seed.

In 1994, there were detailed plans for FUJI-2, a 5MW (electrical) continuous closed-
cycle facility, powered by natural gas, to be built using the experience of FUJI-1.
The basic MHD design was to be a system with inert gases using a disk generator.
The aim was an enthalpy extraction of 30% and an MHD thermal efficiency of 60%.
FUJI-2 was to be followed by a retrofit to a 300 MWe natural gas plant.

Australian development

In 1986, Professor Hugo Karl Messerle at The University of Sydney researched coal-
fueled MHD. This resulted in a 28 MWe topping facility that was operated outside
Sydney. Messerle also wrote one of the most recent reference works (see below), as
part of a UNESCO education program.

A detailed obituary for Hugo is located on the Australian Academy of Technological

Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) website.

Italian development

The Italian program began in 1989 with a budget of about 20 million $US, and had
three main development areas:

1. MHD Modelling.
2. Superconducting magnet development. The goal in 1994 was a prototype 2 m
long, storing 66MJ, for an MHD demonstration 8 m long. The field was to be
5teslas, with a taper of 0.15 T/m. The geometry was to resemble a saddle
shape, with cylindrical and rectangular windings of niobium-titanium copper.
3. Retrofits to natural gas powerplants. One was to be at the Enichem-Anic
factor in Ravenna. In this plant, the combustion gases from the MHD would
pass to the boiler. The other was a 230 MW (thermal) installation for a power
station in Brindisi, that would pass steam to the main power plant.

Chinese development

A joint U.S.-China national programme ended in 1992 by retrofitting the coal-fired

No. 3 plant in Asbach. A further eleven-year program was approved in March 1994.
This established centres of research in:

1. The Institute of Electrical Engineering in the Chinese Academy of science,

Beijing, concerned with MHD generator design.
 2. The shanghai Power Research Institute, concerned with overall system and
superconducting magnet research.
3. The Thermoenergy Research Engineering Institute at the Nanja Southest z
concerned with later developments.

The 1994 study proposed a 10 MW (electrical, 108 MW thermal) generator with the
MHD and bottoming cycle plants connected by steam piping, so either could operate
independently.

Russian developments

U-25

In 1971 the natural-gas fired U-25 plant was completed near Moscow, with a
designed capacity of 25 megawatts . By 1974 it delivered 6 megawatts of power. By
1994, Russia had developed and operated the coal-operated facility U-25, at the
High-Temperature Institute of the Russian Academy of Scince in Moscow. U-25's
bottoming plant was actually operated under contract with the Moscow utility, and
fed power into Moscow's grid. There was substantial interest in Russia in developing
a coal-powered disc generator.
PALSMA
Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter, the others
being solid, liquid, and gas. A plasma has properties unlike those of the other
states.It is an electrically neutral medium of unbound positive and negative
particles (i.e. the overall charge of a plasma is roughly zero). It is important
to note that although they are unbound, these particles are not ‘free’ in the
sense of not experiencing forces. When the charges move, they generate
electric currents with magnetic fields, and as a result, they are affected by
each other’s fields.

Degree of ionization
For plasma to exist, ionization is necessary. The term "plasma density" by
itself usually refers to the "electron density", that is, the number of free
electrons per unit volume. The degree of ionization of a plasma is the
proportion of atoms that have lost or gained electrons, and is controlled
mostly by the temperature. Even a partially ionized gas in which as little as
1% of the particles are ionized can have the characteristics of a plasma (i.e.,
response to magnetic fields and high electrical conductivity). The

degree of ionization,  , is defined as  , where   is the number

density of ions
and   is the number density of neutral atoms. The electron density is
related to this by the average
charge state   of the ions through  , where   is the number
density of electrons.

 The degree of plasma ionization is determined by the electron

temperature relative to the ionization energy(and more weakly by the
density), in a relationship called the Saha equation. At low temperatures,
ions and electrons tend to recombine into bound states atoms and the
plasma will eventually become a gas.
WHY PLASMA IS USED IN MHD GENERATOR

As we know that power generated per unit length by MHD generator is

approximately given by,

Where u is the fluid velocity, B is the magnetic flux density, σ is the electrical
conductivity of conducting fluid and P is the density of fluid.
From above it is show that the power by MHD generator is directly
proportional to the electrical conductivity of fluid flowing through the MHD
generator.
The electrical conductivity of exhaust of any fuel (coal ,diesel etc) is not to
high .so the expected power does not produce by MHD generator
Plasma is state of matter (solid ,liquid , gas) in which the atom are exist in
+ ve charged ions and electrons which are not free to move until it experienced a
required force to flow in definite direction. Meant to say that the electrical
conductivity of plasma is more than normal air or gas and hence the power
production through the MHD generator is more that why the plasma is used in
MHD generator .
HOW TO INCREASE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF
WORKING FLUID

In open cycle generator the air is act as working fluid but in closed cycle
MHD generator commonly argon or helium is act as working fluid. In case of
open cycle before subjecting the air into combustion chamber first it will pass
through the air pre heater to heat the air and then pass through the strong
magnetic field to make the plasma then combustion is take is take place in
the combustion chamber then are some
seeding element seeded in the hot gases to increase the conductivity of fluid.
After completion of cycle these seeded elements are recover before
subjecting the hot gasses to atmosphere and again reuse.
But in case of closed cycle these seeded elements are permanently
seeded because same gas is use again and again.
 CHAPTER-2 (PRESENT WORK)

OBJECTIVES-
1-Our first objective to run the MHD generator on BIOGAS (mixture of 60%
Methane and 40% carbon dioxide)
2-From the exhaust of MHD generator run a BIOGAS TURBINE.
3-To analysis over all efficiency of with respect to different parameter (electrical
conductivity,