Interaction of micro-fluid structure in a pressure-driven duct flow with a nearby placed current-carrying wire: A numerical investigation

Abstract

High population density in major cities has led to compact designs of residential multi-story buildings. Consequently, it is a natural choice of the architects to suggest the location of high-voltage wires close to the ducts with contaminated air. This observation results in the motivation for this study, i.e., the understanding of the complicated interaction of the Lorentz force (due to the current-carrying wire) with the micropolar flow in the vertical direction in the duct, with polluted air (containing dust particles) being modeled as a micropolar fluid, which is driven by some external pressure gradient. Therefore, this study focuses on an incompressible and electrically conducting micropolar fluid flow through a rectangular vertical duct, in the presence of a current-carrying wire placed outside the flow regime. The governing equations, after being translated into a dimensionless form, are solved numerically using a finite volume approach. The velocity, microrotation, and temperature fields thus obtained are examined. It has been noted that the strong magnetic force caused by the wire may distort the flow symmetry and slows down the flow. Furthermore, in the absence of wire, particles spinning in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions occupy the same amount of space in the duct, thus incorporating a sort of equilibrium in the duct. However, the imposed variable magnetic field adds to the spinning of particles in one part of the duct, while simultaneously suppressing it in the other region.