Editing Magnetohydrodynamic generator (section)

== History ==
The first practical MHD power research was funded in 1938 in the U.S. by [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1886)|Westinghouse]] in its [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] 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 held a second conference in Paris, France, in consultation with the [[European Nuclear Energy Agency]].

Since membership in the [[European Nuclear Energy Agency|ENEA]] was limited, the group persuaded the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] 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{{nbsp}}MW, but used about 8&nbsp;MW 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 that MHD might be an 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 Energy Agency]] and [[European Nuclear Energy Agency|ENEA]] (both nuclear agencies) withdrew support from the ILG-MHD, leaving [[UNESCO]] as the primary sponsor of the ILG-MHD.

=== Former Yugoslavia development ===
Engineers in former Yugoslavian Institute of Thermal and Nuclear Technology (ITEN), Energoinvest Co., Sarajevo, built and patented the first experimental Magneto-Hydrodynamic facility power generator in 1989.<ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.1016/0196-8904(94)90061-2 | volume=35 | issue=4 | title=The correct quasi-one-dimensional model of the fluid flow in a Faraday segmented MHD generator channel | year=1994 | journal=Energy Conversion and Management | pages=281–291 | last1 = Bajović | first1 = Valentina S.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.1016/0196-8904(96)00036-2 | volume=37 | issue=12 | title=A reliable tool for the design of shape and size of Faraday segmented MHD generator channel | year=1996 | journal=Energy Conversion and Management | pages=1753–1764 | last1 = Bajović | first1 = Valentina S.}}</ref>

=== U.S. development ===
In the 1980s, the [[U.S. Department of Energy]] began a multiyear program, culminating in a 1992 50&nbsp;MW demonstration coal combustor at the Component Development and Integration Facility (CDIF) in [[Butte, Montana]]. This program also had significant work at the Coal-Fired-In-Flow-Facility (CFIFF) at [[University of Tennessee Space Institute]].

This program combined four parts:

# 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.
# An integrated bottoming cycle, developed at the CDIF.
# 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.
# 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, Florida]]. The MHD Development Corporation also produced a study based on the J.E. Corrette Plant of the Montana Power Company of [[Billings, Montana]].

Initial prototypes at the CDIF 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 the 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. {{cn|date=April 2020}}

=== 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 economic above 200 megawatts.

The first major series of experiments was FUJI-1, a blow-down system powered from a shock tube at the [[Tokyo Institute 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 5&nbsp;[[MWe]] 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{{nbsp}}MWe natural gas plant.

=== Australian development ===
From the 1980s, Professor Hugo Messerle at The University of Sydney researched coal-fueled MHD. This resulted in a 28{{nbsp}}MWe topping facility that was operated outside Sydney. Messerle also wrote a key reference work on MHD, as part of a UNESCO education program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=1045 |title=MESSERLE, Hugo Karl|website=Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723020349/https://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=1045 |archive-date=2008-07-23}}.</ref>

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

# MHD Modelling.
# Superconducting magnet development. The goal in 1994 was a prototype 2{{nbsp}}m long, storing 66{{nbsp}}[[megajoule|MJ]], for an MHD demonstration 8{{nbsp}}m long. The field was to be 5{{nbsp}}[[tesla (unit)|teslas]], with a taper of 0.15{{nbsp}}T/m. The geometry was to resemble a saddle shape, with cylindrical and rectangular windings of niobium-titanium copper.
# 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{{nbsp}}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.{{Citation needed|reason=Dubious, Asbach is in Germany|date=September 2017}} A further eleven-year program was approved in March 1994. This established centres of research in:

# The Institute of Electrical Engineering in the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]], Beijing, concerned with MHD generator design.
# The [[Shanghai Power Research Institute]], concerned with overall system and superconducting magnet research.
# The Thermoenergy Research Engineering Institute at the Nanjing's [[Southeast University]], concerned with later developments.

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

=== Russian developments ===
[[File:Modern MHD generator U25.JPG|thumb|U-25 scale model]]
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.<ref name=HANDBOOK78>Donald G. ink, H. Wayne Beatty (ed), ''Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, 11th Edition'', Mc Graw Hill, 1978 {{ISBN|0-07-020974-X}} page 11–52</ref> By 1994, Russia had developed and operated the coal-operated facility U-25, at the High-Temperature Institute of the [[Russian Academy of Science]] in Moscow. U-25's bottoming plant was 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. In 1986 the first industrial power plant with MHD generator was built, but in 1989 the project was cancelled before MHD launch and this power plant later joined to [[Ryazan Power Station]] as a 7th unit with ordinary construction.