Experimental Study on Alternating Magnetic Field Magnetohydrodynamic Pump

An experimental apparatus to investigate AC MHD pump was established, which mainly consists of a rotary permanent magnet with 4 poles an annular channel, a motor, a shaft and a platform. The magnet generates a field similar to sinusoid with the maximum of 0.9 T in the channel when it is rotated up by the motor to simulate an AC magnetic field. This moving magnetic field acts on the conductive fluid in the channel, and produces an electromagnetic force to move the fluid in the same direction as that of the magnet rotating. Experiments were carried out to investigate the performance of the pump. Flow velocity in the annular channel was measured for different conductivities and rotating speeds of the magnet. The results show that the flow rate and pressure increase as the magnetic field strength, fluid conductivity and frequency of the magnetic field increase.