Liquid metal flow through a thin walled elbow in a plane perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field

Abstract

This paper presents analytical solutions for the liquid-metal flow through two straight pipes connected by a smooth elbow with the same inside radius. The pipes and the elbow lie in a plane which is perpendicular to a uniform, applied magnetic field. The strength of the magnetic field is assumed to be sufficiently strong that inertial and viscous effects are negligible. This assumption is appropriate for the liquid-lithium flow in the blanket of a magnetic confinement fusion reactor, such as a tokamak. The pipes and the elbow have thin metal walls. The flow tends toward the inside surface of the elbow, approaching a vortex about the center of curvature of the elbow. This flow migration away from the uniform fully developed flow in the pipes leads to voltage variations along the pipes. These voltage variations drive four electric current circulations in planes perpendicular to the magnetic field. These current circulations produce significant pressure variations in the cross sections of the pipes and elbow. A long length of pipe is required on both sides of the elbow for the completion of the circuits for these electric current circulations and for the decay of the disturbances to the fully developed flow in the straight pipes. All pressure drops and rises due to the three-dimensional electric current circulations cancel. The total pressure drop is the same as that for fully developed flow in a single straight pipe with the same length. While the analysis treats pipes and elbows with circular cross sections, the absence of a pressure drop in addition to that for fully developed flow is true for any smooth elbow.