European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                R  propulsion system without moving parts by William j. Broad new York times aran the United states and perhaps the soviet Union Are racing to perfect a revolutionary Type of propulsion for ships and submarines it has no moving parts is virtually silent and promises great reliability at relatively Low Cost the basis for the Advance is a Tongue twisting phenomenon known As Magnetohydrodynamics or Mhd in which magnetic Fields Are used to move water. There Are no moving parts a no motors no propellers no gears and no drive Shaft instead a superconducting Magnet More efficient and powerful than conventional magnets exerts a magnetic Force on sea water passing through its Core driving water out the Back and creating Forward motion. The technology is featured in the movie the Hunt for red october based on the Book by Tom Clancy in which an advanced soviet submarine powered by the process is hunted by the american and soviet navies. In real life scientists say Mhd propulsion might find both military and civilian uses. It might economically Power commercial ships and cargo submarines. And it might pave the Way for a new generation of military submarines that Are quieter than Ever helping them elude foes. Quot it s provocative in its simplicity Quot said Michael Petrick a scientist who directs research on the idea at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. Quot but there s lots of work that needs to be done to make it  questions to be answered include both its technical feasibility and Utility so far the idea has undergone no known Large scale trial although that is about to change. Early next year the Japan foundation for shipbuilding advancement plans to launch a 100-foot-Long, prototype Mhd powered ship that will carry up to 10 people. The lest is a sea trial for commercial operations. And the Argonne lab is spearheading a military sponsored program that centers on a 21-foot-Long, 180-Ion monster superconducting Magnet. Its trials confined to the Laboratory Are to begin Early next year. In a different project the Navy is considering sea trials for Mhd propulsion Quot the marriage of an Mhd propulsion system to underwater vehicles is a natural Quot said or. Daniel w. Swallom who manages the Navy financed program on the propulsion system at the Avo research Laboratory in Everett mass. His program s goal is an open Ocean test with a remotely piloted vehicle. The soviet Union has carried out much Basic research on this form of propulsion but intelligence experts Are at Odds on whether the russians Are applying the idea to their submarines. Magnetohydrodynamics involves magnetic Fields the mysterious propulsion system powering the submarine Sean Connery commands in the movie a the Hunt for red october is actually under development in several labs. The system Magnetohydrodynamics involves running an electric current through water in a powerful magnetic Field. The interaction of the j current and the magnetic Field produces a Strong Force on the water moving it out through the Back of thruster. If the direction of the current is reversed so is the direction of thrust. Magneto and fluids Hydro that conduct electricity and interact dynamics. The phenomenon occurs naturally in the Earth s Core giving Rise to the planet s magnetic Field. In Mhd propulsion a pair of electrodes on either Side of the thruster pass an electric current through sea water. The process does not work effectively with fresh water because it can carry Little current. At a right Angle to the current is the magnetic Field generated by the superconducting Magnet. The interaction of the magnetic Field and the current produces a Strong Force on the water moving it through the duct in the Center of the Magnet. If the polarity of the current is reversed so is the direction of thrust. The action is identical to what happens with an electric motor when its magnetic Field crosses a bundle of Copper wires carrying an electric current causing it to move and the Central Shaft of the motor to rotate. The activity in each Case revolves around charged particles. In the motor the current filled wires Are filled with moving electrons which carry a negative charge and Are strongly acted upon by the magnetic Field. In Mhd propulsion the electric current flowing through the sea water causes the formation of charged particles or ions which in a similar manner Are acted upon by the powerful Field of the superconducting Magnet. It propels both the ions and the sea water. The direction of the Force is at right angles to the matrix formed by the current and magnetic Field. This effect known As the Lorentz Force was first quantified by the dutch physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz in the late 19th Century. This form of propulsion was conceived and tested in the United states More than two decades ago but design for a Magnet powered ship the Yamato 1, being built in Japan will be propelled by superconducting magnets. The Japan foundation for shipbuilding advancement is to attach a Magnetohydrodynamics thrust system to the 100-loot-Long ship in the port of Kobe and plans tests in 1991. Adapted Iron Lon Denny photographed try Reuters not languished until the Advent of superconducting Magnet Al these can be made very powerful and very efficient 9 because when their coils Are cooled almost to also Lull Zero they lose no electricity to resistance. 9 in the late 1980s, Japan became the first nation to 9 publicly embark on a sizable program meant to achieve Mhd propulsion. Quot it s the same old Story Quot said Petrick i Argonne. Quot the idea evolves in this country but some Ort else picks it up and runs with it Quot a leading the japanese work is the foundation for 1 shipbuilding advancement a private concern working with Mitsubishi heavy industries Hitachi Posen and i Mitsui engineering and shipbuilding. The foundation is 1 believed to have spent about $31 million on the research since 1987. 1 a a they be gotten the Best people from Industry 1 government and the universities to work on this thing Quot said William j. Andahazy a staffer on the House Carmeci services committee who was once associated with the american Mhd Effort i the japanese work focuses on the 100-foot ship i whose top Speed is to be eight knots. It has two Mhd 1 thrusters on two huge fins protruding from the Craft s i according to a paper by the foundation. A thruster is made up of six magnetic modules each fitted with a be water duct some 10 inches in diameter one thruster Assembly is being built by Mitsubishi heavy industries and the other with a slightly different configuration by the Toshiba corporation. The japanese ship is simply a technology test its Small thrusters being relatively inefficient. If the tech Mai is to work commercially magnets must become lighter larger and More powerful. The japanese work has helped increase America interest in Mhd propulsion although the defense department had been studying it for Many years. At Argonne a $4 million program seeking potential Navy applications is under Way sponsored by the Pentagon defense advanced research projects Agency the Centrepiece of the labs work is a huge $12 million superconducting Magnet originally built for research on super efficient generation of electricity from Coal. The program s funds were Cut so the giant Magnet was never used Argonne is adapting the Behemoth to search for Subtle troubles that might complicate the Mhd process for Large volumes of water. J the big Magnet s water Channel 20 inches in diameter will Speed 25,000 Gallons of water per Minuti through a 75-foot closed Loop giving researchers their first clues about the feasibility of full scale Mhd propulsion. If no show stoppers crop up the next Challenge will be engineering mainly making heavy superconducting magnets much lighter and More powerful. Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes saturday june 2, 1990