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A magnetohydrodynamic generator (MHD generator) is a magnetohydrodynamic converter that transforms thermal energy and kinetic energy directly into electricity. An MHD generator, like a conventional generator, relies on moving a conductor through a magnetic field to generate electric current. The MHD generator uses hot conductive ionized gas (a plasma) as the moving conductor. The mechanical dynamo, in contrast, uses the motion of mechanical devices to accomplish this.
MHD generators are different from traditional electric generators in that they operate without moving parts (e.g. no turbine) to limit the upper temperature. They therefore have the highest known theoretical thermodynamic efficiency of any electrical generation method. MHD has been extensively developed as a topping cycle to increase the efficiency of electric generation, especially when burning coal or natural gas. The hot exhaust gas from an MHD generator can heat the boilers of a steam power plant, increasing overall efficiency.
Practical MHD generators have been developed for fossil fuels, but these were overtaken by less expensive combined cycles in which the exhaust of a gas turbine or molten carbonate fuel cell heats steam to power a steam turbine.
MHD dynamos are the complement of MHD accelerators, which have been applied to pump liquid metals, seawater, and plasmas.
Natural MHD dynamos are an active area of research in plasma physics and are of great interest to the geophysics and astrophysics communities since the magnetic fields of the Earth and Sun are produced by these natural dynamos.