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Magnetohydrodyna mics
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Rohit Rajan B4803B55 Registration number: 10807058

Submitted to: Mr. Arvind chandan

Acknowledgement
I hereby acknowledge the help of my seniors who happen to be my roommates. I am very grateful to the LPU library of course. However the books in the library did not helped me in exactly writing this, but helped in building the concept. The work under is mainly from the knowledge that I earned from the internet. Sites like Wikipedia and Google were very helpful to making this term paper of electrical science. I personally thank to Shikhar one of my classmate for his priceless help in completion of this term paper. Thank you all..

Magnetohydrodynamics
Introduction to the topic
Magnetohydrodynamics, or MHD, is a branch of the science of the dynamics of matter moving in an electromagnetic field, especially where currents established in the matter by induction modify the field, so that the field and dynamics equations are coupled. It treats, in particular, conducting fluids, whether liquid or gaseous, in which certain simplifying postulates are accepted. These are, generally, that the Maxwell displacement current is neglected, and the fluid may be treated as a continuum, without mean-free-path effects. It is distinguished from the closely related plasma dynamics in which these postulates are relaxed, but there is still a large intermediate area in which similar treatment is possible. Solid matter is generally excluded from MHD, but it should be realized that the same principles apply. Electrical conduction in metals and the Hall Effect are two examples. In an electric motor, the magnetic field produced by the armature current affects the operation of the motor in an important way, so that the mechanical and electrical analyses are coupled, just as in MHD. Electromagnetic forces are an essential part of motors and generators, though they generally do not produce significant elastic deformations, and the motions occur with the help of rotating and sliding contacts. Homo-polar generators (ones that produce DC currents) are, indeed, closely related to MHD analogues. MHD was originally applied to astrophysical and geophysical problems, where it is still very important, but more recently to the problem of fusion power, where the application is the creation and containment of hot plasmas by electromagnetic forces, since material walls would be destroyed. Astrophysical problems include solar structure, especially in the outer layers, the solar wind bathing the earth and other planets, and interstellar magnetic fields. The primary geophysical problem is planetary magnetism, produced by currents deep in the planet, a problem that has not been solved to any degree of satisfaction.

Some mathematics
Effect on electromagnetic field due to moving fluid
First of all lets see what happens to the electric field when the fluid is moving. So here we shall presume that the fluid velocity v is given, and study the consequent behavior of the electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic field is described by Maxwell's equations. We will postulate that the permeability = 1, so that B and H are the same thing. We will arbitrarily choose to denote the field by B, and measure it in gauss. It satisfies div B = 0, and curl B = (4/c)J, where J is the current density in esu/s-cm2 and c = 3 x 1010 cm/s, approximately. The displacement current (1/c)D/t is neglected here, so that conduction current is the only source of B. The displacement current can be considered when necessary, but this is very seldom required, and it is usually quite negligible. The curl equation gives div J = 0, which is consistent with no free electric charge . The electric field E, measured in stat volt/cm, will be assumed to satisfy div E = 0, so there will be no free charge density, consistently with the preceding paragraph. However, curl E = (1/c)B/t, so the changing magnetic field will be the source of the electrical field. The conduction current density J = [E + (1/c)v x B]. The second term is the apparent electric field E' in a coordinate system moving with the material at velocity v cm/s. This is a first-order relativistic effect, and velocities are low enough that it is a good approximation. We will seldom need the displacement D = E, where is the dielectric constant. If we do need the displacement, we must be aware that may be significantly greater than 1. Now the magnetic curl equation becomes curl B = (4/c)E + (4/c2)v x B, or E = (c/4) [curl B - (1/c)v x B]. The electric curl equation then gives us the time derivative of B: B/t = (c2/4)div grad B + curl (v x B), where we have expanded curl curl B and used div B = 0. The first term gives us the diffusion equation for B, with diffusivity D = c2/4, while the second term describes the dragging of the field lines by the fluid, as we shall see. If is much greater than , a frequency characteristic of the time variation of the motions (conductivity in esu has dimensions 1/s) then the required J can be obtained with only a very small E'. The first term in the equation we just derived will be much smaller than the second, which will take over the duty of supplying the time rate of change of B. In this case, we have approximately that E = (1/c)v x B, so the electric field is determined jointly by the fluid velocity and the magnetic field. At the opposite limit, of low conductivity, J 0 and the fields are almost unaffected by the fluid motion. The dimensionless magnetic Reynolds number, RM = VL/D = VL(4) is a criterion for the relative importance of magnetic and inertial effects. V is a velocity, and L a length, characteristic of the situation as with the usual Reynolds number. If it is large, magnetic effects may be expected to be prominent. We may say that the conductivity is "infinite" when RM is large. This result has a very important consequence. Consider the time rate of change of the magnetic flux through a surface S with boundary curve C that moves with the fluid. This rate, (d/dt)BndS, has two components. One is the change due to the change of B through S in dt, considering C fixed, and the other is the net flux added when each point of C moves a distance vdt, divided by dt. The first is (B/t)ndS, while the second is (v x dlB. Interchanging dot and cross, it becomes (B x v)dl. Now we can use Stokes's Theorem,

and combine the two contributions as one volume integral, which is [B/t - curl (v xB)]ndS = 0! The flux passing through a curve C moving with the fluid is constant, or the curve never "cuts" magnetic flux: the magnetic field is rigidly attached to the fluid, "frozen in," and moves with it. In this case, we can use Faraday's Law to obtain an expression for the time rate of change of the magnetic field. From the expression for E we obtained above, we find B/t = curl v x B. When we use this expression, we imply that we are dealing with the case of high magnetic Reynolds numbers, or "infinite" conductivity, when the magnetic field is frozen in. The fluid can always move freely along the magnetic lines of force. These are not real lines, of course, but are merely a vivid representation of the direction and intensity of the magnetic field. When the magnetic Reynolds number is smaller, the lines of force only act as a drag of greater or less strength on the fluid that moves perpendicularly to them. Also, note that this always depends on the time scale. The magnetic field may be frozen in for milliseconds, but not for hours. The only liquid metal that can be used easily in laboratory experiments is mercury. From its conductivity (given above), the diffusivity of the magnetic field is 7827 cm2/s, a rather high value. The field will diffuse out of a mercury sphere 1 cm in radius to 1/e in a time of only 13 s, which makes the effect rather difficult to observe. Liquid sodium is better, with higher conductivity and smaller density, but is very nasty to work with. Measurements have been made on both these conducting liquids. The ponderomotive force exerted per unit volume on a current density J esu/cm2 in a magnetic field B gauss is f = (1/c)J x B dyne/cm3. The force is perpendicular to both the current density and the magnetic field. A wire carrying a current of 1 A is acted upon by a force of only 0.1 dyne/cm in a field of 1 gauss. To get an idea of this magnitude, a centimeter of #22 AWG copper wire weighs 28.4 dyne, so it would require 284 gauss to support the wire's own weight. Nevertheless,

these forces can be increased to practically useful values by increasing the magnetic field and the number of turns of wire. Magnetic fields of up to about 20,000 gauss are available with ferromagnetic materials to help. The direction of the force can be visualized most easily by considering on which side of the wire the sum of the applied fields and the fields caused by the current is larger, as shown in the diagram at the left. This increased flux pushes the wire in the direction of the weaker field. If we move a wire in a magnetic field, and the motional emf causes a current to flow, then the force on this current opposes our moving of the wire. That is, we do mechanical work Fv per unit time, and this work appears as electrical work EI per unit time, conserving energy. One never occurs without the other, and the directions of the emf and the mechanical force are such as to support this, as shown in the diagram. Some time ago, NASA stupidly tried to generate power by moving a wire attached to a satellite in the earth's magnetic field, and thought they would get it for free! The mechanical reaction was unexpected and violent, and we have heard nothing more of this scheme. The motional emf looks a lot like the magnetic term in the Lorentz force on a point charge, and there is a connection between them. However, the Lorentz expression is exact (for E and B in a given inertial system), while the formula for motional emf is an approximation for velocities much less than c. It is appropriate to consider the Faraday homo-polar disc generator at this time, since MHD analogies of it may exist. This is a conducting disk with sliding contacts at the axle and rim, which is rotated in a magnetic field normal to the plane of the disc. If the magnetic field is into the page, and the disc rotates clockwise, then the rim becomes positive relative to the axle. The radial electric field at a radius r is E = r B/c, so the generated emf is Ba2/2c, where a is the radius of the disc and is the angular velocity of rotation. A table model 6" in diameter rotating at 1000 rpm in 1000 gauss will generate only 29.45 mV, but a 5 ft. model rotating in 10,000 gauss at 1000 rpm will generate a respectable 29.45 V. No practical homo-polar generator of this kind has ever been designed, but there is nothing wrong with the idea.

Effect on fluid velocity field due to electromagnetic field

Now we shall assume that the electromagnetic fields are given, and study their effects on the fluid motion. The decrease in the mass of fluid contained in a volume V is equal to the mass flux across the surface S bounding V. We take the positive direction of the normal to S as outward, so the outward mass flux of fluid of density across S is (S)vndS. By the divergence theorem, this is equal to the volume integral (V)div ()vdV, which must equal (d/dt)(V)dV = (V)(/t)dV. Hence, we have the differential equation of continuity /t + div(v) = 0. Any flow must necessarily satisfy this equation. The density may be a function of temperature and pressure: = (T,p), which is the equation of state. To avoid the complexities of thermodynamics, we assume that the flow processes are either isothermal (slow) or adiabatic (fast). Unless it is significant for the problem at hand, we shall not explicitly indicate the thermodynamic nature of the process. The bulk modulus k is defined by d/ = -dp/k, where k has the dimensions of the pressure p. The fractional change in density must be small for this linear approximation to be valid. For an isothermal process in an ideal gas, p = RT/M, where M is the molecular weight of the gas. In this case, k = p, and holds over a wide range of p. For an adiabatic process, p- = constant, where is the ratio of the specific heat at constant pressure to the specific heat at constant volume, and is greater than 1. For adiabatic processes, k = p. For liquids, it is often satisfactory to set = constant, since the density is nearly independent of pressure and temperature. The small changes that then occur will not influence the flow significantly. In this case, the equation of continuity becomes div v = 0. The dynamics follows from Newton's Second Law, which is applied to an infinitesimal element of the fluid of mass dV moving with velocity v. The mass of this element (dV) times its acceleration, (dv/dt), will be equal to the net force acting upon it exerted by neighboring elements, or by external influences (fdV). The total time derivative must take into account the convection of the element, so d/dt = /t + vgrad, which will be familiar to every student of hydrodynamics. This gives the equation of motion dv/dt = f. This is a nonlinear equation because of the appearance of the velocity in d/dt, which gives a term proportional to the square of the velocity. For slow motions, it is usual to neglect this term, which makes the equations more easily soluble. Now we consider the various force terms. An important force in any fluid is the pressure force -grad p, where the isotropic pressure p is a scalar function of position. To derive this equation, consider the force on the surface S of a volume V. The total force is -(S)pndS (the normal points outward, the pressure presses inward!). By a theorem related to the divergence theorem (see the cover of Jackson), this is equal to -(V)(grad p)dV, which gives the desired result. The viscous forces, proportional to the rate of shear, are given by div grad v, where is the dynamic viscosity in poise (dyne-s/cm2). These are the two forces arising from neighboring fluid particles. A common external force is gravity, giving a force density of g, where the vector g points in the direction of the force. At the surface of the earth this is downward, of course. Another is the Coriolis force 2 xv, where is the angular velocity of the rotating coordinate system to which v is referred. For the earth, = 7.29211 x 10-5 rad/s. There is also the centrifugal force in this case, but on the earth it is usually included in the gravity. The external force of most interest to us is the ponderomotive force (1/c)J x B, which we discussed in connection with the electromagnetic equations. This is the term that couples the fields and the matter in MHD. It is worth noting that this force is always perpendicular to the magnetic field. Let us write the equation of motion, using indices, as dvi /dt = fi + (1/c)ijkJjBk, where fi represents all the non-electromagnetic forces. Now substitute

Jj = (Ej + (1/c)jlmvlBm) in this equation and simplify, using the formula for the contraction of two anti-symmetric densities. The result is dvi/dt = fi + (/c)ijkEjBk (/c2)BkBkvi + (/c2)vkBkBi. Note the summation indices carefully in this equation. Let BkBk = B2, the square of the magnitude of the magnetic field. The second term can be written (B/c)2wi, where wi = ijkEjBk/B2 is a velocity in the direction of E x B. The final two terms can be written -(B/c)2[vi - vkBkBi/B2]. This can be recognized as the component of the fluid velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field, vpi. Finally, then, the equation of motion becomes dvi/dt = fi - Q(vpi - wi), where Q is the dragging coefficient (B/c)2. This shows that the effect of the magnetic field on the fluid motion is to exert a force perpendicular to the magnetic field that tends to make the normal velocity equal to w, the "E x B drift." The higher the conductivity, the stronger is this force, and the more closely the magnetic field is dragged by the fluid (or viceversa). However, the motion of the fluid along the magnetic field is unaffected. We can also substitute for Ji in the ponderomotive force its expression in terms of the magnetic curl equation, Ji = (c/4)ijkjBk. Note that we are making no assumption concerning the conductivity. Easy algebra gives us (1/4)(BkkBi - BkiBk). It is important to keep straight what the partials operate upon in expressions like this. Now, iB2 = i(BkBk) = 2BiBk, so we can write the force density as -i(B2/8) + (1/4)BkkBi. The first term is the force due to a magnetic pressure pm = B2/8. This stress is familiar from the Maxwell stresses as the compressive stress normal to the direction of the field. It should be remembered that the Maxwell stresses do not give a pressure field, but that there is a tensile stress of the same magnitude in the direction of the field instead of a pressure. The interpretation of the second term is less obvious. Both Jackson and Cowling waffle on this, mentioning things that are not even true, and wishing the term would go away. However, it will not, and does play an important role. Since we made no assumption about the conductivity, the equation holds even with zero conductivity, when there is no magnetic force at all. In this case, the second term exactly cancels the magnetic pressure term, since now iBk = kBi.

If the conductivity is nonzero, then this term cancels the part of the magnetic pressure force that is along the lines of induction, since the field cannot cause any force in this direction on the fluid, as well as the force that allows the lines of induction to slip through the fluid. To see this more clearly, consider a magnetic field in the 3-direction. The only nonzero contribution to this term will be (1/4)B33B3, which clearly cancels the force in the 3direction from the magnetic pressure term. Other variations are necessary to correct the transverse forces, and these are not easy to illustrate in general. We can now see quite clearly the purpose of the correction term (1/4)Bgrad B in the equation of motion. Where the flow is nonviscous, and the correction term is zero, and the magnetic field is frozen in the fluid, the equation of motion becomes simply dvi/dt = -i(p + pm + ), where is the potential of forces like gravity. From this equation we can study a kind of magnetohydrostatics in the steady state, adding the magnetic pressure to the ordinary pressure. In any case, however, we must take care that the correction term is indeed zero, or the results will not be valid. We must also have high conductivity, or the transverse forces will also cancel in the steady state. Suppose we have pipe flow with a constant axial magnetic field B(r). We presume that the axial current is zero, and in this case, the correction term is zero. In the steady state, p + pm = constant, so if p = po on the axis, where B = 0, then p will drop to zero at the radius where pm = po, or B = (8po). This is the principle of magnetic confinement. For a pressure of 1 atm, a magnetic field of 5044 gauss is required. A solenoid would have to have 4000 A-t/cm to create this axial field, which would not be easy to do. The usual "pinch" effect is confinement by the magnetic field produced by the longitudinal current flow itself. In this case, in the steady state -dp/dr = d(B2/8)/dr + B2/4r. The correction term appears quite prominently. The magnetic field is in rings around the current. Jackson shows that under certain reasonable assumptions, if the fluid is confined within some radius R, then the average pressure p = (1/2)(I/Rc)2, where I is the total current. The magnetic field at radius R will be 2I/cR. This again gives p = B2/8. If R = 1 cm, Jackson calculates that some 90,000 A would be required to pinch a typical 14-atm plasma.

As noted in Jackson, it is easy to see why magnetic confinement is unstable. If we consider the current restricted to a smaller cross-section, a "pinch," then the smaller radius means a larger magnetic field B = 2I/cr. This means a larger magnetic pressure, which further pinches the pinch. If the current

deviates from a straight path in a "kink," then the lines of induction are brought closer together (B is increased) on the inside of the kink, and the opposite occurs on the outside. This further kinks the kink. These instabilities dismayed the people trying to confine plasma in a possible fusion reactor.

MHD and the sun

The only conducting fluids available for laboratory experiments are mercury and liquid sodium, both inconvenient for different reasons. It is very difficult to reach large magnetic Reynolds numbers in laboratory experiments, and so to verify important theoretical results with any accuracy. There is another MHD laboratory available, however, and that is the Sun. The surface of the sun is a hot, relatively dense plasma where the magnetic Reynolds number is very large, so the magnetic field is well and truly frozen into this fluid. However, we cannot change the experimental parameters, and we do not know what is going on below the level that we can see, so it is a less than perfect laboratory. Nevertheless, there are many interesting and varied phenomena that show the influence of MHD very well. The visible surface of the sun is the photosphere, a fuzzy surface that we can see a little ways into, as into a cloud. It is composed of 90% hydrogen, 10% helium, with all the other elements as traces. Here energy rising from below encounters a steep declining temperature gradient as the surface layers cool by radiation into space. Convective instability produces active convection, with cells ("granules") averaging 700 miles in diameter, hot plasma rising in the center and sinking at the periphery after cooling a little. We observe a temperature of about 6000K looking straight down, closer to 5000K at the limb where we look obliquely and not so deep. The plasma emits a black-body spectrum, acting as an almost perfect emitter. The plasma cools rapidly above this level, becoming less dense and more transparent. In its lower temperature of about 4500K, neutral atoms absorb their characteristic lines, creating the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum. This region is called the reversing layer, and extends some hundreds of miles vertically. In solar eclipses, the moon covers the photosphere and the lower part of the reversing layer, but the upper part of this region is seen in its bright red H radiation at 656.3 nm. which dominates the flash spectrumobserved at this instant, when all the solar Fraunhofer lines become bright emission lines. For this reason, this region is called the chromosphere, the lower part of the solar atmosphere. Above the reversing layer, the chromosphere becomes rarer and hotter, merging with the whitish corona above 13,000 miles. This is a rare plasma, in which the particles have very high kinetic energies, characteristic of 106K, but there is no thermal equilibrium here, so temperature is a doubtful concept. The magnetic Reynolds number is high throughout the solar atmosphere, and matter clings to the lines of force, sliding along them freely. The Sun is almost perfectly spherical, subtending an angle of about 32' at mean distance. The equator is inclined 7 to the ecliptic, and we see the north pole in September, the south pole in March, from our position 1.495977 x 1013 cm distant. At the top of the atmosphere, we receive 1.37 x 106 erg/scm2, which corresponds to a total luminosity of 3.8 x 1033 erg/s. The average density of the sun is 1.4 g/cm2, about the same as Jupiter's. Its total mass is 2 x 1033 g, which makes its surface gravity about 28 times stronger than earth's. It is curious that its equatorial period of rotation is 25 days (27 days, as seen from earth that is revolving about the sun), but it rotates more and more slowly towards the poles. At a latitude of 45, the rotational period is 28 days, and has been said to approach 33 days at the poles. This difference in rotational periods is noted without much comment in astronomy texts, but it is really an extraordinary thing. In an ordinary liquid body, viscous forces would transfer angular momentum to the polar regions until they rotated at the same speed. In the sun, this momentum transfer also must occur, but the polar regions do not speed up.

This means that some mechanism transfers angular momentum back to the equatorial regions at the same rate, and this mechanism can only be some magnetohydrodynamic effect, perhaps only in the outer layers of the sun. One side effect of this process may even be the appearance of sunspots when the necessary magnetic fields reach the sun's surface. Sunspots, indeed, are evidence of solar magnetic fields. Magnetic flux enters or leaves the sun vertically at a sunspot, and the field magnitude can be thousands of gauss. We have already mentioned how this hinders convection in the region of high field, making the area cooler and darker than surrounding areas. The magnetic field of sunspots was discovered by Hale in 1908, and has been an interesting field of speculation since then. Sunspots occur in pairs of opposite polarity at roughly the same latitudes, so it seems that the field pierces the surface, bends over, and descends again in the companion spot. Polarities of the leading and following spots are reversed in the opposite hemisphere, and the polarities reverse in each successive 11.2-year sunspot cycle. The cycle is actually 22.4 years long, with two maxima in each cycle. No explanation is known for this cycle, but it is almost certainly magnetohydrodynamic. Sunspots do not occur in polar or in equatiorial regions, but are restricted to mid-latitudes. Each maximum begins at high latitudes, and approaches the equator as the cycle progresses. The bigger the sunspot, the longer it lives. Large sunspots can live for weeks, and appear to cross the sun's disc more than once, but most do not. An average sunspot is 1000 miles in diameter, while a really large one could hold the earth. There is a number of phenomena surrounding sunspots and associated with the chromosphere and corona that make magnetic fields manifest. There are spicules and faculae and flocculae, coronal streamers and rays, all apparently supported by magnetic fields. The most impressive and long-lived are the filaments or prominences, best seen in elevation at the limb of the sun in their reddish H light, great arches of luminous matter supported by the magnetic field. The field itself seems to be the longest-lived of all the spot phenomena. The form of the coronal streamers suggested a dipole field, but the sun has no strong general field, which cannot be stronger than a gauss or two. Originally, the sun was suspected of having a general field as large as 25 gauss, but that has proved erroneous.

Solar flares are probably the result of some process of MHD acceleration of plasma in the active regions that breed sunspots. They are very hot, beginning with a blast of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the earth in a few minutes, creating extra ionization in the upper atmosphere. Then a jet of plasma is ejected that reaches the earth in about a day, causing ionospheric currents and ionization with magnetic storms, strong earth currents, disturbances to radio communication and the aurora borealis.

Application Geophysics
The fluid core of the Earth and other planets is theorized to be a huge MHD dynamo that generates the Earth's magnetic field due to the motion of liquid iron.

Astrophysics
MHD applies quite well to astrophysics since over 99% of baryonic matter content of the Universe is made up of plasma, including stars, the interplanetary medium (space between the planets), the interstellar medium (space between the stars), nebulae and jets. Many

astrophysical systems are not in local thermal equilibrium, and therefore require an additional kinematic treatment to describe all the phenomena within the system. Sunspots are caused by the Sun's magnetic fields, as Joseph Larmor theorized in 1919. The solar wind is also governed by MHD. The differential solar rotation may be the long term effect of magnetic drag at the poles of the Sun, an MHD phenomenon due to the Parker spiral shape assumed by the extended magnetic field of the Sun. Previously, theories describing the formation of the Sun and planets could not explain how the Sun has 99.87% of the mass, yet only 0.54% of the angular momentum in the solar system. In a closed system such as the cloud of gas and dust from which the Sun was formed, mass and angular momentum are both conserved. That conservation would imply that as the mass concentrated in the center of the cloud to form the Sun, it would spin up, much like a skater pulling their arms in. The high speed of rotation predicted by early theories would have flung the proto-Sun apart before it could have formed. However, magnetohydrodynamic effects transfer the Sun's angular momentum into the outer solar system, slowing its rotation. Breakdown of ideal MHD (in the form of magnetic reconnection) is known to be the cause of solar flares, the largest explosions in the solar system. The magnetic field in a solar active region over a sunspot can become quite stressed over time, storing energy that is

released suddenly as a burst of motion, X-rays, and radiation when the main current sheet collapses, reconnecting the field.

Engineering
MHD is related to engineering problems such as plasma confinement, liquid-metal cooling of nuclear reactors, and electromagnetic casting (among others). The first prototype of this kind of propulsion was built and tested in 1965 by Steward Way, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Way, on leave from his job at Westinghouse Electric, assigned his senior year undergraduate students to develop a submarine with this new propulsion system. In early 1990s, Mitsubishi built a boat, the 'Yamato.' which uses a magnetohydrodynamic drive, is driven by a liquid heliumcooled superconductor, and can travel at 15 km/h. MHD power generation fueled by potassiumseeded coal combustion gas showed potential for more efficient energy conversion (the absence of solid moving parts allows operation at higher temperatures), but failed due to cost prohibitive technical difficulties. In micro-fluidic devices, the MHD pump is so far the most effective for producing a continuous, non-pulsating flow in a complex micro-channel design. It was used to implement a PCR protocol. I am here mainly concerned with the last one i.e. engineering.

A magnetohydrodynamic drive or MHD propulsor, is a method for propelling seagoing vessels using only electric and magnetic fields with no moving parts, using Magnetohydrodynamics.

The major problem with MHD is that with current technologies it is more expensive and much slower than a propeller driven by an engine. The extra expense is from the large generator that must be driven by an engine. Such a large generator is not required when an engine directly drives a propeller. A number of experimental methods of spacecraft propulsion are based on magnetohydrodynamic principles. In these the working fluid is usually plasma or a thin cloud of ions. Some of the techniques include various kinds of ion thruster, the magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, and the variable specific impulse magneto plasma rocket.

Principle
An electric current is passed through seawater in the presence of an intense magnetic field, which interacts with the magnetic field of the current through the water. Functionally, the seawater is then the moving, conductive part of an electric motor. Pushing the water out the back accelerates the vehicle in the forward direction. MHD is attractive because it has no moving parts, which means that a good design might be silent, reliable, efficient, and inexpensive.

References:
1. An introduction to Magnetohydrodynamics by P. H Roberts 2. Magnetohydrodynamics by Eric Weisstein's World of Physics And last but not the least I took help from the prescribed text book. I would like to mention the name of internet sites like Google and Wikipedia.