Effects of a transverse magnetic field on separation of a binary mixture of
incompressible viscous thermally and electrically conducting fluids confined
between two stationary parallel plates are examined. Both the plates are
maintained at constant temperatures. It is assumed that one of the
components, which is rarer and lighter, is present in the mixture in a very
small quantity. The equations governing the motion, temperature and
concentration in Cartesian coordinate are solved analytically. The solution
obtained for concentration distribution is plotted against the width of the
channel for various values of non-dimensional parameters. It is found that
the effect of transverse magnetic field is to separate the species of rarer
and lighter component by contributing its effect directly to the temperature
gradient and the pressure gradient. The effects of increase in the values of
Hartmann number, magnetic Reynolds number, barodiffusion number, thermal
diffusion number, electric field parameter and the product of Prandtl number
and Eckert number are to collect the rarer and lighter component near the
upper plate and throw away the heavier component towards the lower plate.
The problem discussed here derives its application in the basic fluid
dynamics separation processes to separate the rare component of the
different isotopes of heavier molecules where electromagnetic method of
separation does not work.
MHD couette flow with heat transfer between two horizontal plates in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field