A magnetohydrodynamic device with concentric ring electrode configuration for mixing intensification—numerical and experimental investigations

In this work, we have presented a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) device with concentric ring electrode configuration, capable of intensifying the process of mixing. The basic principle involves generating MHD flow in the regions enclosed by ring electrode pairs, causing the flow to undergo direction reversal between two adjacent regions. Such a flow pattern results in high degree of stretching of the fluid elements. Through numerical and experimental investigations, we have studied the mixing behavior of a test species in MHD flow and the effect of various operating or control parameters on device performance and conducted comparative analysis of performances of different ring electrode configurations. Experiments have been conducted on a prototype made using three-dimensional (3D) printing, and the experimental observations are found to be in excellent agreement with numerical predictions.