Plasma behavior in a non-equilibrium disk MHD generator with a spatially non-uniform seed fraction

The influence of azimuthal non-uniformity of the seed fraction on plasma structure and performance in a non-equilibrium disk MHD generator is investigated with a two dimensional r-theta numerical simulation. It is found that a locally high seed fraction causes mainly non-uniformity of gas-dynamical properties, whereas a locally low seed fraction develops a non-uniform plasma. Both locally high and low seed fractions reduce generator performance considerably. These results suggest a spatially uniform seed fraction should be required for high power generation. (C) 1999 Scripta Technica.