Linear Permanent-Magnet Pump and Stirrer for Molten Aluminium

A new type of contactless stirrer and/or pump has been developed for Aluminium industry.Large scale synchronously rotating permanent magnet cylinders,which are magnetized orthogonal to the axes,are used to create travelling magnetic field in Aluminium furnace through a thick bottom or wall,which induces stirring in a liquid metal pool similarly to traditional AC three-phase inductors.Flowrate of up to 600 tons per hour can be achieved with negligible energy dissipation even if the total wall thickness of the furnace is 30 cm.The advantage of the permanent magnet inductor is much lower energy consumption-maximum energy consumption of the stirrer to produce sufficiently high mechanical torque does not exceed 20 kW even for 600 ton per hour stirrer.Produced metal flow is quite similar to that,which is achieved by the AC three-phase induction stirrers offered by ABB and other companies.AC three-phase inductors exhibit very high Joule losses in the coils of the machine,but the permanent magnet system working at frequency in the range from 0.5 Hz to 2 Hz produces negligible Joule losses both in liquid Aluminium as well as in stainless steel plate of the furnace bottom enclosure and in the permanent magnet material itself,so relatively weak air cooling is sufficient.The linear permanent magnet stirrer has been experimentally tested on a small scale lab model in a shallow pool of InGaSn eutectic. The tests confirm the predicted flow intensities and flow pattern,and give sufficient results for validation of the large scale flow simulations.Principal schematics of investigated system and the free surface deformation of the liquid metal due to action of the stirrer are shown below.The linear permanent magnet system may be used also as a contactless pump for liquid Aluminium in two-chamber furnaces,for tapping the liquid metal or for transportation and precision dozing.If high flow rate is required simultaneously with considerable elevation of the liquid metal level,the wall thickness of the channel should be lower and frequency of the travelling magnetic field higher comparing to the case of stirring application.Two sided pump has also been considered for a fiat channel,promising two times higher magnetic field induction and four times higher delivered pressure head.Seeing in perspective wide range applications of the proposed system a patent has been obtained.

In-Situ Analyzing the Influence of Thermoelectromagnetic Convection on the Nucleation Ahead of the Advancing Interface During Directional Solidification

Sn-3wt%Pb alloy was directionally solidified without and with a 0.08T transverse magnetic field(TMF),and real-time recorded by in-situ synchrotron X-ray imaging.Results indicate that TMF shortened the distance from the location of nucleation to the advancing interface,and accelerated the growth rate of the equiaxed crystal,which caused the columnar-to-equiaxed transition(CET)finally.The thermoelectromagnetic convection(TEMC)in front of the interface and around the crystal’s dendritic branch should respond to changes of the distance and the growth rate.

Thermo-Electric Motions and Structures Generated by Static Magnetic Fields During the Solidification of Metallic Alloys

Thermo-electric currents in the presence of static magnetic fields generate significant electromagnetic forces(TEM forces).The thermo-electric currents are due to the Seebeck effect when temperature gradients exist in the material. Those forces may produce various phenomena like pumping,stirring in liquid metals as well as solid motions,stresses in the solid metal.Those effects may be encountered especially during the solidification of metallic materials because of the existence of significant temperature gradients.In liquid metals the application of a static magnetic field enhances TEM convection at moderate intensity but also damps it when it is strong enough.This means that there exists a maximum of the convection which occurs when the Hartmann layers are comparable to the considered length scale.However,the smaller the length scales are(for example when primary or secondary dendrite arm spacings are considered),the higher the magnetic field strength which is needed to damp the TEM convection.So far,many solidification experiments on various types of alloys(e.g.,Sn-Pb,Al-Cu,Al-Si,Al-Ni etc.)have been carried out.The experiments have shown that TEM convection occurs both in the liquid bulk but also in the deep mushy zone.TEM convection may strongly influence the meso-macrosegregation patterns,the solidification structures and the grain boundaries leading to the striking grain boundary structure of the mushy zone.The flow pattern and accordingly the segregations may be controlled by changing the orientation of the applied magnetic field,i.e.,axial or transverse.We have shown that very high magnetic field strengths,up to 16 T,are needed to damp the TEM convection.Heuristic numerical and analytical investigations show that the TEM force density is very important in the liquid,but can be even more important in the solid.Indeed,for high Hartmann number,the electric currents are confined in a small skin layer near the solid boundaries leading to a decay of the flow.However,the situation is different in the solid,since the force is still important and is not confined.This is confirmed experimentally,since the solidified structures are subject to a much greater rate of dislocations and twinning effects.Furthermore,the TEM forces on the solid promote the appearance of direct Columnar-to-Equiaxed Transitions thanks to the possible enhanced fragmentation of the dendrites.Such mechanisms have been recently partly observed by X-ray in situ observations,where channel formation effects as well as detachment of grains along with horizontal motions were observed.