What type of study is this?

This is a Observational study (also classified as: Experiment, CFD modelling).

September 10, 2025

Seawater magnetohydrodynamic pumps and thrusters: experiment, model and upscaling

YDYves DelannoyInstitut polytechnique de Grenoble ILIván López‐MonteroUniversidad Complutense de Madrid AZAlexandre ZapataInstitut polytechnique de Grenoble

Key Points

The experiment shows that Joule dissipation significantly impacts the efficiency of MHD pumps using seawater.
Analytical and numerical models were developed to predict pump efficiency and thruster performance for various configurations.
By upscaling the system, the required magnetic field strength and MHD channel size were determined for targeted efficiency levels.
This research highlights the potential of MHD propulsion, while also addressing the limitations associated with seawater's conductivity.

Abstract

Naval magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) propulsion is faced with the high level of Joule dissipation associated with the low electrical conductivity of seawater, reducing the efficiency of the pump at the heart of an MHD thruster. An MHD pump experiment is discussed in this paper, together with its CFD modelling. A simple analytical model is also written for conduction MHD pumps, then for a boat equipped with such a pump working as an MHD thruster. The numerical and analytical results are compared to our pump experiment and to a small-scale boat model. By upscaling, we show how strong should be the magnetic field, and how large the MHD channel to obtain a given efficiency for the pump or a given cruise speed for the boat. Tables 2, Figs 8, Refs 7.

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