Yamato 1, is a boat built in the early 1990s by Kawasaki. It uses a magnetohydrodynamic drive, driven by a liquid helium-cooled superconductor, and can travel at 15 km/h (8 knots). The Yamato 1 was the first working prototype of its kind. It was completed in Japan in 1991, by the Ship & Ocean Foundation (later known as the Ocean Policy Research Foundation). The ship was first successfully propelled in Kobe harbor in June 1992. Yamato 1 is propelled by two MHD thrusters that run without any moving parts. MHD works by applying a magnetic field to an electrically conducting fluid. The electrically conducting fluid used in the MHD thruster of the Yamato 1 is seawater.[1] In the 1990s, Mitsubishi built several prototypes of ships propelled by an MHD system. These ships were only able to reach speeds of 15 km/h, despite higher projections.
See also
- Magnetohydrodynamic drive
- Lorentz force, relates electric and magnetic fields to propulsion force
- Magnetohydrodynamics
- Electrohydrodynamics
References
- ^ "Silent Running" - Penn State Science newsletter
- Operation of the Thruster for Superconducting Electromagnetohydrodynamic propulsion Ship "YAMATO 1"
- Development of a Super-Conducting Propulsion Ship (1985-1998)
