Yamato 1 is an experimental vessel built in the early 1990s by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries , a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi . The vessel is equipped with a magnetohydrodynamic drive based on an MHD generator . The generator circuit includes superconductors cooled by liquid helium . The engine creates a driving force due to the MHD effect, applying a magnetic field to the electrically conducting fluid. The working fluid for the ship's MHD generators (there are two of them in the design) is sea water . The propulsion system has no moving parts.
The vessel was tested in the harbor of Kobe in June 1992 and (despite higher estimates) reached a maximum speed of about 15 km / h. The result of the work is proof of the principal applicability of MHD propulsion on water transport. However, the complexity and high cost of construction with small practical results currently hinders the development of this technology.
Yamato 1 Exposed in Kobe, Japan
Front end of Yamato 1
A MHD thruster from Tokyo
Links
- Magnetohydrodynamic and the Mitsubishi Yamato (Eng.) (Checked September 2, 2009)
- Popular Science November 1992 Superconductivity Goes To Sea (Eng.) (Checked September 2, 2009)
- Popular Mechanics August 1990 100 MPH Jet Ships (Eng.) (Checked September 2, 2009)