Abstract
Power can be extracted from the ionized fluid surrounding a re-entering space vehicle using magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles, provided an appropriate system of magnetic fields, thermal protection, and current collection electrodes can be designed and manufactured. Given computational fluid dynamics results for a re-entering spacecraft presented elsewhere (1), this paper examines possible electrode configurations and the implications that these will have for power generation. For practical electrode designs and realistic magnetic fields it is shown that current recirculation, which is detrimental to power generation and to thermal management, will generally arise. The necessity for fully-coupled CFD-MHD calculations is also demonstrated.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages | 5233-5243 |
Number of pages | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2005 |
Event | 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit - Reno, NV, United States Duration: Jan 10 2005 → Jan 13 2005 |
Other
Other | 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit |
---|---|
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Reno, NV |
Period | 1/10/05 → 1/13/05 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Engineering