Heat transfer in a disk MHD generator under the influence of a Lorentz force

Heat fluxes from a supersonic high-temperature inert gas flow to electrodes in a disk MHD generator are measured under the strong influence of Lorentz forces. When we compare heat fluxes from the inert gas flow to the electrodes with and without magnetic field, it has been observed that strong MHD interaction significantly increases heat fluxes especially in the middle region of the disk generator. This increase of heat fluxes shows a strong correlation with a rise of the static pressure induced by the MHD interaction. By raising the inlet temperature of the inert gas, the region with strong MHD interaction expands upstream because of the shortening of the ionization relaxation region. For the same static pressure rise, helium shows more significant increase of heat fluxes than argon, which may be ascribed to an unstable fluctuated helium plasma.