Testing and evaluation of MHD materials and substructures. Quarterly technical progress report, October-December 1978

Abstract

Mississippi State University's MHD research group has constructed a Test Stand that can simulate the environment in any of the various substructures of the coal-fired baseline MHD power plant. The Test Stand has been successfully operated under total computer control with air heating and oil combustion. A series of short-term shakedown tests has been performed and the Test Stand is now being operated, with slag injection, for longer durations of time in order to deposit the slag throughout the system and especially on the annular boiler walls, and also to eliminate any bugs in the systems that would cause a shutdown during long-term operation. After this preliminary testing has been completed, the Test Stand will be utilized to simulate the gas-slag-seed stream and gas-side temperature conditions that will be present in the baseline plant's radiant boiler. Thermal and gas chemistry modeling work has been continued in order to develop comprehensive programs that will predict the properties of the gas-slag-seed stream, the heat transfer characteristics, and the performance of the Test Stand, annular boiler and the radiant furnace test section. The Test Stand and annular boiler have been constructed, and a major effort for this quarter has been to increase themore » operational time for the test runs. Efforts have also been concentrated on improving the mixing of the seed and the slag with the hot combustion gas stream. A water-cooled condensation probe, an air-cooled materials testing probe, and gas sampling and analysis equipment are being readied for use with long-term runs, along with such diagnostic instruments as a sodium line reversal unit, a laser transmissometer, and a laser doppler velocimetry system.« less