Design of marine vehicle powered by magnetohydrodynamic thruster

Cherng-Shyong Chan^{1, 2} , Jia-Hong Cheng² , Cing-Hui Zeng³ , Jen-Rung Huang⁴ , Yu-Hsuan Chen² , Yen-Ju Chen³ , Thi Trang Pham⁵ , Wei-Hsiang Chao⁶ , Jen-Tzong Jeng⁵ , Tsung-Long Liu^{2, 4} , Kuan-Cheng Pan^{2, 4} , Yan-Hom Li^{2, 3} , Ching-Yao Chen²

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
³ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, National Defense University, Taiwan R.O.C.
⁴ Department of Power Vehicle and Systems Engineering, Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, National Defense University, Taiwan R.O.C.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C.
⁶ Materials and Electro-Optics Research Division, National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan R.O.C.

Abstract
The present study outlines the design of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) thruster system which is capable to power a 3-meter ship model cruising at a speed of V = 0.5 m/s using the Lorentz force generated by the electric field and magnetic field in conducting seawater. Based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of a modified Delft 372 catamaran model, the thrust needed to achieve the targeted cruising speed is first estimated. To achieve the estimated magnitude of the thrust, dimensions of thruster modules are designed based on numerical simulations of magnetic field, for better distributions of the strength and uniformity of the magnetic field. Additional CFD simulations of the flows through the thruster module, coupled with magnetic and electric fields, are conducted to realize the hydrodynamics. Consequently, several configurations of thruster modules are manufactured and experimented. A particular configuration of a shielded two-unit module is chosen to power the ship model. Finally, a complete system of MHD-1 marine vehicle, including a ship model, multiple MHD thruster modules and power suppliers, is assembled and tested. The system is shown capable to cruise closely to the targeted speed. Figs 13, Refs 24.