Magnetohydrodynamic Light Source with a High‐Temperature Current Sheet

Abstract

Mathematical modeling of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) light source based on the physical phenomenon of a C sheet has been performed. The disk scheme of an MHD energy converter where the radiator is a high‐temperature current sheet resulting from the interaction of the gas flow with the magnetic field has been selected as the light source. The calculations have been carried out within the framework of the unsteady equations of magnetic hydrodynamics for a viscous compressible heat‐conducting gas with allowance for radiative heat transfer and turbulence. The process of formation of the current sheet in the presence of the radiative heat exchange and the outgoing radiation has been studied. It has been shown that the radiation from the C sheet is reabsorbed in colder regions of the flow; however this does not lead to the smearing of the current region and no constriction of the current is observed. The integral characteristics of the radiation, including those of the outgoing‐radiation flux, have been calculated.