First hypersonic scramjet combustor magnetohydrodynamic electric generator

Thats a mouthful. Before this discovery electric power generation on future Scramjet powered craft was an engineering problem. A turbine jet can power a generator because there is a spinning shaft, but a scramjet has no moving parts other than pumps and valves. General atomics has solved the problem with a system that has no moving parts.

San Diego, CA (SPX) Mar 15, 2007
A team led by General Atomics (GA) successfully tested a new method for generating electrical power on board a hypersonic vehicle. A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator was operated to produce electrical power using the exhaust stream from a prototype hypersonic scramjet combustor simulating flight at Mach 8 conditions.

This is the world's first successful demonstration of a hypersonic MHD generator. This will lead the way for future development of this technology as a viable means to provide multi-megawatt MHD auxiliary power systems for air-breathing hypersonic vehicles.

More....
Space-Travel dot com

The high flying pilotless laser/death ray will be arriving soon.

[edit on 15-3-2007 by Malichai]

So they put a turbo on it, except the other side of this turbo has brushes. Interesting, I need to learn more about scramjets. I just have basic knowledge of turboprops and turbofans and to a lesser extent turbojets.

Originally posted by Talonhumper
So they put a turbo on it, except the other side of this turbo has brushes. Interesting, I need to learn more about scramjets. I just have basic knowledge of turboprops and turbofans and to a lesser extent turbojets.

No turbo. No moving parts. The plasma moving through a magnetic field drives the current.

Found this in the Anonymous postings maybe some one can answer it as I never watched the movie. thx guys

Original Anonymous Post By: anon_103631
This anonymous post is in response to ATS thread: First hypersonic scramjet combustor magnetohydrodynamic electric generator

wasn't the magnetohydrodynamic drive in the Hunt for Red October? aka the caterpillar

Wow I wonder how long before they have an operational scramjet.

Originally posted by Canada_EH
Found this in the Anonymous postings maybe some one can answer it as I never watched the movie. thx guys

Original Anonymous Post By: anon_103631
This anonymous post is in response to ATS thread: First hypersonic scramjet combustor magnetohydrodynamic electric generator

wasn't the magnetohydrodynamic drive in the Hunt for Red October? aka the caterpillar

Interestingly enough, yes. It was in the movie, but not the book. This made for some odd dangly bits.

In the book, "the caterpillar" was a ducted turbine sort of thing, only the Russian version had a problem with some sort of cavitation at the blade roots, I guess sort of analogous to compressor stall in a jet engine. So it had this rhythmic knock to it, which is picked up on by the Dallas.

In the movie, "the caterpillar" was an MHD drive, but those don't have issues with noise. So the writers kept the noise from the turbine, which they needed for the plot, and stuck in an MHD drive, which likely came from the Naval advisor for the movie.

At any rate, MHD drives for subs did exist. It takes a LOT of power, it's not really that efficient, and it has two pesky problems: Hell's own magnetic field, which makes you stand out for the detectors, and an unmaskable bubble trail that can be seen on sonar for quite a distance.

But it is really quiet. No moving parts at all.

Originally posted by Canada_EH
Found this in the Anonymous postings maybe some one can answer it as I never watched the movie. thx guys

Original Anonymous Post By: anon_103631
This anonymous post is in response to ATS thread: First hypersonic scramjet combustor magnetohydrodynamic electric generator

wasn't the magnetohydrodynamic drive in the Hunt for Red October? aka the caterpillar

In the movie what you saw was a form of MHD propulsion.

The new discovery is an MHD electrical generator.

One propels a submarine through the water, and the other generates electrical power from the exhaust of a scramjet. Both with no moving parts.

One relates to the other only in that you have an energy exchange with a fluid medium using electromagnetic fields. Kinetic energy out for the submarine, and electrical energy in for the scramjet.

Originally posted by Wildbob77
Wow I wonder how long before they have an operational scramjet.

They have been testing scramjets for decades. Some say we have a super secret scramjet powered spyplane called Aurora that has been operating for many years. But no operational manned craft have ever been shown to the public.