Magnetohydrodynamics

Travis SRJC, Phys 43 Danny Delsuc

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 Navier-
Stokes 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 MHD’s 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
word magnetohydrodynamics.
• 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 Alfvén waves.
• These waves analyze the low travelling
oscillations of a plasma in a magnetic
field.
• The wave eventually changes into
the magnetosonic wave when the
propagation is perpendicular to the
magnetic field.
• The wave is dispersionless.
Conceptually What’s Going On
Key
•Blue Line: Magnetic Field
A •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 that’s orthogonal to both
forces, causing the magnet to spin
B 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 What’s Going On

Series of Fundamental Equations:

•Maxwell’s Equation of Electromagnetism
•Navier-Stokes Equations of Fluid Dynamics
These differential equations can be solved
simultaneously, either analytically or numerically.
Mathematically What’s Going On
Maxwell’s Equations
(Almost a collection of other equations…)

‘Microscopic’ Equations
‘Macroscopic’ Equations
Navier-Stokes Equations
Confused???
You’re Not The Only One…
What We’ve 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, α is defined as α = 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
light atomic nuclei such
as hydrogen to form heavier ones
such as helium.
•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 the electrical conductivity of
the plasma to contain it with
magnetic fields.
•This can be thought of as a balance
between magnetic pressure and
plasma pressure, or in terms of
individual particles spiraling along
magnetic field lines.
 Current Applications: Medicine

•Currently being developed for cancer treatment.

•Treatment begins by injecting a patient intravenously with a drug that’s 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 Earth’s 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 –452.13°F,
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
 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 vehicle’s
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.
 References
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