Rotary Magnetohydrodynamic Micropump Based on Slug Trapping Valve

A novel rotary magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) (RMHD) micropump is presented in this paper in order to both benefit exclusive advantages from the MHD micropumps and eliminate the current obstacles in their implementation. Lorentz force, which is the actuation mechanism in RMHD, is used to propel a mercury slug in a circular microchannel in order to suck the working fluid from the inlet and pump it to the outlet. This idea is integrated with a valve which prevents the working fluid from passing through, while allowing the mercury slug to pass, during each pumping loop. The performance of a fabricated RMHD is evaluated, considering parameters such as pressure difference, running duration, electric current, and magnetic flux density. The results of these experiments are compared to a developed theoretical model. Furthermore, the performance of RMHD is compared to other micropumps, which shows a 516% improvement over the next best MHD micropump presented to date.