Separation of magnetic particles in channel flows by BEM

Abstract

AbstractIn‐line separation of suspensions can become difficult in case of particles with comparable values of densities. For flows in micro devices in such cases gravitational settling is inefficient, and other separation techniques must be applied. In case of magneto active particles, the action of Kelvin magnetic force in a non‐uniform magnetic field could be used in order to achieve a higher degree of particles separation. The contribution therefore deals with Euler‐Lagrangian formulation of dilute two‐phase flows. The Boundary element based computational algorithm solves the incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations written in velocity‐vorticity formulation. The non‐uniform magnetic field is defined analytically for the case of a set of long thin wires. The particle trajectories are computed by applying the 4th order Runge‐Kutta method. The computed test case consists of a narrow channel with laminar flow of suspension under Re = 1 − 10. Particle trajectories under the influence of a non‐uniform magnetic field are computed for the case of magnetite and aluminium particles suspended in water. The efficiency of separation on basis of particle trajectories for different values of Re number and magnetic field strength is performed, clearly indicating superior separation of magneto active particles. (© 2012 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)