Experimental and computational investigation of an electromagnetic pump used for manufacturing aluminium parts

D. Morinigo^{1, 2} - M. A. Rodrigues² - A. Rivas² - O. Duque¹ - V. Vazquez² - J. A. Maroto² - R. Cuesta²

¹ Electrical Engineering Department, University of Valladolid, Paseo del Cauce s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
² CIDAUT Foundation, Boecillo Technology Park, P.209, 47151 Boecillo, Valladolid, Spain

Abstract
An experimental and computational investigation was carried out on an electromagnetic pump for molten aluminum. The electromagnetic pump is a MHD device to drive molten metals by means of electromagnetic fields and without mechanical parts in contact with the metal at high temperature. An exact computer simulation of the electromagnetic pump would require the simultaneous solution of electromagnetic and fluid dynamics problems. However, in this study we divide the simulation into two independent stages. First, the electromagnetic system is simulated by ANSYS considering the secondary of the pump as a solid. This simulation is experimentally validated in a test bed with a solid secondary replacing the molten metal. Secondly, a 3D field of electromagnetic forces provided by the ANSYS simulation is imported into the FLUENT CFD code to simulate the fluid dynamic problem, considering now the secondary of the pump as a liquid. This second simulation is also experimentally validated by measuring the static head provided by the pump. This simulation process is valid only if the electromagnetic system and the fluid dynamic problem are uncoupled, which has been verified by calculating the magnetic Reynolds number and the interaction parameter. Tables 4, Figs 14, Refs 15.