Magnetohydrodynamics

Danny Delsuc
SRJC,
Phys
43
Travis Wyatt
Y. Ataiiyan
Spring 2011

Matt Moore
Bryan Cote

Magneto Hydro Dynamics

Magnetic Field Liquid - Motion
Agenda:
Intro to Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).
Why this field is important.
History behind the creation of this field.
Mathematical analysis of its core concepts.
Overview of plasma and its part.
Current applications and devices.
Future Applications.

Magnetohydrodynamic Essentials
Magnetic Field
Perpendicular Current
Magnetic Fluid
Magnetic metals
Plasmas
Salt water
The idea of MHD is that magnetic
fields can induce currents in a
moving conductive fluid, which
create forces on the fluid. The set
of equations which describe MHD
are a combination of the NavierStokes equations of fluid
dynamics and Maxwell's
equations of electromagnetism.

Why MHD is Important

The ability to create a force between two different

mediums, without contact.
An engine that does not need a rotor or turbine to
create motion, therefore nearly eliminating engine
degradation caused from moving parts.
The resistivity caused by its various mediums is
comparably low when analyzed along side current
engines, due to MHDs utilization of fluids and
gases.
Various applications across a multitude of fields,
which will be presented in detail shortly.

The Beginning of MHD

1812: Michael Faraday creates the first
homopolar motor.
The motor ran by running an electric
current through a wire that hangs next to a
magnet.
This setup generates an
electromagnetic force that
drives the wire in circles.
To get current through the
wire, you need a connection
at both ends, so Faraday
used mercury, which allows
the loose end to move
freely.

How They Figured This Out

Dr. William Hyde Wollaston
In 1851, Dr. William Hyde Wollaston
was able to measure the voltage
induced by the tide in the English
Channel.
Michael Faraday had previously
attempted a similar experiment in
1832 by trying to measure the current
produced by water flowing past the
Waterloo Bridge as it interacts with
the Earth's magnetic field but the
equipment of the time was unable to
read to small current.
Instead of seeing how a magnetic
field and current affected salt water,
he analyzed how saltwater and
magnetic field induce a current.

How They Figured This Out

Hannes Alven
1942: First recorded to use the
wordmagnetohydrodynamics.
Magnetohydrodynamics was used
in reference to the transfer of
momentum from the Sun to the
planets, but is eventually exanded
upon to include the current field.
Received 1970 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his work on
magnetohydrodynamics.
Described a classification of waves
now known as Alfvn waves.
These waves analyze the low
travelling oscillations of a plasma in
a magnetic field.
The wave eventually changes into
themagnetosonic wavewhen the
propagation is perpendicular to the
magnetic field.
The wave is dispersionless.

Conceptually Whats Going On

A

Key
Blue Line: Magnetic Field
Purple Line: Current
Green Line: Motion

In the figure A, we have a current

that runs down the screw and into he
magnetic, traveling at a 90o andle
through the magnet and out the wire;
this current and magnetic field causes
a force thats orthogonal to both
forces, causing the magnet to spin
while it is magnetically attached to the
screw.
The same thing happens in figure B,
however, instead of the force being
exerted on the magnet, the salt water
that the magnet is submerged in
rotates instead due to the resulting
Lorentz force which is applied to the
water and not the magnet.

Mathematically Whats Going On

Series of Fundamental Equations:
Maxwells Equation of Electromagnetism
Navier-Stokes Equations of Fluid Dynamics
These differential equations can be solved
simultaneously, either analytically or numerically.

Mathematically Whats Going On

Maxwells Equations
(Almost a collection of other equations)
MicroscopicEquations
Equations
Macroscopic

Navier-Stokes Equations

Confused???

Youre Not The Only One

What Weve Simplified It To:

Right Hand Rule

Applies!

A Hidden Component: Plasma

Plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles
are ionized.
Plasmas contain charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons.
The presence of a non-negligible number of charge carriers makes the
plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields.
Due to its attributes, plasma
is sometimes considered the
fourth state of matter.
Despite plasma having
similar properties as a gas, it
may form structures such as
filaments, beams and double
layers when in the presence
of a magnetic field.
Although rarely found on
Earth, plasmas make up
over 99% of the universe

Plasma and its Part

Similar to liquid metal and salt water, plasmas

conduct electricity and are magnetic.
Since MHD requires a medium that exhibits
these attributes, plasma is a viable medium.
The picture to the left illustrates the motion of
a plasma moving along a magnetic field.
Magnetic field lines cannot move through the
plasma without generating electric forces that
resist the motion-making plasma and MHD
extremely compatible.

Brief Plasma
Theory
All plasma is not created equal.
Since plasma needs to be first ionized in order
to be created, it is subject to variation due to the
ionization process.
To compensate for this variation, the term
"plasma density" by itself usually refers to the
"electron density", that is, the number of free
electrons per unit volume.
The degree of ionization of a plasma is the
proportion of atoms that have lost (or gained)
electrons, and is controlled mostly by the
temperature.
The degree of ionization, is defined as = ni/(ni + na) where ni is the number density of
ions and na is the number density of neutral atoms.
Due to the complexity by which plasmas are analyzed, their behavior is can be seen
through two different models:
Fluid Model: One simple fluid model, magnetohydrodynamics, treats the plasma as
a single fluid governed by a combination of Maxwell's equations and the Navier
Stokes equations.
Kinetic Model: is based on representing the smoothed distribution function on a grid
in velocity and position. The other, known as the particle-in-cell (PIC) technique,
follows the trajectories of a large number of individual particles. Kinetic models are
generally more computationally intensive than fluid models.

Current Applications: Engineering

Tokamak Magnetic Confinement

International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor: France

Fusion reactions combine

lightatomic nucleisuch
ashydrogento form heavier
ones such ashelium.
To overcome the electrostatic
repulsion between them, the
neutral atoms are heated by
tens of millions of degrees
until they exist in a plasma
state.
Magnetic confinement fusion
attempts to create the
conditions needed for fusion
energy production by using
theelectrical conductivityof
the plasma to contain it with
magnetic fields.
This can be thought of as a
balance betweenmagnetic
pressureand plasma
pressure, or in terms of

Current Applications: Medicine

Currently being developed for cancer treatment.

Treatment begins by injecting a patient intravenously with a drug thats either
encapsulated into a magnetic microsphere (or nanosphere) or conjugated on the
surface of the micro/nanosphere.
A megnetic field is then applied to the target site of the patient, thus allowing them
to deliver the drug locally.
Very high concentration of chemotherapeutic agents can be achieved near the
target site without any toxic effect to normal surrounding tissue or to whole body.

Current Applications: Geophysics

MHD is used to predict the inverting of the Earths magnetic poles.
Based on the MHD equations, Glatzmaier and Paul Roberts have made a
supercomputer model of the Earth's interior.
Beneath the Earth's mantle, lies the core which is made up of two parts - the solid
inner core and liquid outer core - both have significant quantities of iron.
The liquid outer core moves in the presence of the magnetic field and eddies.
These eddies develop a magnetic field which boosts Earth's original magnetic field
This process which is self-sustaining, is called the geomagnetic dynamo.

Current Applications: Transportation

Built in the early 1990s by "The Mitsubishi

Group" , in place of a propeller or paddle wheel,
the Yamato 1 uses jets of water produced by a
magnetohydrodynamic propulsion system
Inside each thruster, the seawater flows into six
identical tubes, arranged in a circle like a cluster
of rocket engines.
The tubes are individually wrapped in saddle
shaped superconducting magnetic coils made of
niobium titanium alloy filaments packed into wires
with copper cores and shells.
Liquid helium cools the coils to 452.13F, just
a few degrees above absolute zero, keeping
them in a superconducting state in which they
have almost no resistance to electricity.
Electricity flowing through the coils generates
powerful magnetic fields within the thruster
tubes.
When an electric current is passed between a
pair of electrodes inside each tube, seawater is
forcefully ejected from the tubes, jetting the
craft forward.

Future Applications: Flight

University of Florida mechanical and
aerospace engineering associate
professor Subrata Roy has submitted a
patent application for a circular, spinning
aircraft design.
The vehicle will be powered by a
magnetohydrodynamics
Electrodes will cover each of the vehicles
surfaces and ionize the surrounding air
into plasma.
The force created by passing an electrical
current through this plasma pushes
around the surrounding air, and that
swirling air creates lift and momentum and
provides stability against wind gusts.

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