Magnetohydrodynamic instability in annular linear induction pump: Part II. Suppression of instability by phase shift

In the previous work, the authors showed some detailed aspects of the magnetohydrodynamic instability arising in an annular linear induction pump: the instability is accompanied with a low frequency pressure pulsation in the range of 0–10 Hz when the magnetic Reynolds number is larger than unity; the low frequency pressure pulsation is produced by the sodium vortices that come from some azimuthal non-uniformity of the applied magnetic field or of the sodium inlet velocity. In the present work, an experiment and a numerical analysis are carried out to verify the pump winding phase shift that is expected as an effective way to suppress the instability. The experimental data shows that the phase shift suppresses the instability unless the slip value is so high, but brings about a decrease of the developed pressure. The numerical results indicate that the phase shift causes a local decrease of the electromagnetic force, which results in the suppression of the instability and the decrease of the developed pressure. In addition, it is exhibited that the intensity of the double-supply-frequency pressure pulsation is in nearly the same level in the case with and without the phase shift.