Control of heat transfer in engine coolers by Lorentz forces

Abstract In engine coolers of off-highway vehicles convective heat transfer at the coolant side is a limiting factor of both efficiency and performance density of the cooler. Here, due to design restrictions, backwater areas and stagnation regions appear that are caused by flow deflections and cross-sectional expansions. As appropriate coolants, mixtures of water and glysantine are commonly used. Such coolants are characterized by their electrical conductivity of some S/m. This gives rise to control coolant flow and therefore convective heat transfer by means of Lorentz forces. These body forces are generated within the weakly conducting fluid by the interactions of an electrical current density and a localized magnetic field both of which being externally superimposed. In application this may be achieved by inserting electrodes in the cooler wall and a corresponding arrangement of permanent magnets. In this paper we perform numerical simulations of such magnetohydrodynamic flow in three model geometries that are frequently apparent in engine cooling applications: Carnot-Borda diffusor, 90° bend, and 180° bend. The simulations are carried out using the software package ANSYS Fluent. The present study demonstrates that, depending on the electromagnetic interaction parameter and the specific geometric arrangement of electrodes and magnetic field, Lorentz forces are suitable to break up eddy waters and separation zones and are thus significantly increasing convective heat transfer in these areas. Furthermore, the results show that due to the action of the Lorentz forces the hydraulic pressure losses can be reduced.