Enhancement of magnetohydrodynamic mixing in a viscoplastic fluid by employing cylindrical pillar electrode arrays—A numerical study

Abstract

In this work, we have conducted three dimensional numerical investigations into improvement of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixing in viscoplastic fluids. The proposed device employs cylindrical micropillars as electrodes to generate strong Lorentz forces, enough to promote yielding of the viscoplastic fluid. Thereafter, the generated magnetohydrodynamic flow is used to intensify the process of non-reactive and reactive mixing. The cylindrical pillar electrodes, when activated, generate micro-vortices which result in rapid transport of both non-reactive and reactive species. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the pillar based MHD systems for handling of mixing in viscoplastic fluids. The results presented in this work will serve as a benchmark for the modeling and fabrication of MHD devices dedicated for mixing of viscoplastic fluids which will find applications in areas like chemical analysis, synthesis and biomedical analysis.