Conductive liquid pumping system
AssigneeBlue Origin Manufacturing, LLC
InventorPatrick Michael McGarey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for transporting or pumping a conductive liquid, such as a molten metal, are presented. The system may include a rifled tube that includes a helical structure on its inside surface and an electric coil that can generate a magnetic field inside the rifled tube. The magnetic field may induce a circumferential force on the conductive liquid inside the rifled tube. The helical structure may redirect a circumferential flow of the conductive liquid resulting from the circumferential force to an axially-directed flow in the rifled tube. In this way, conductive liquid may be pumped by a magnetic field without the use of an applied electric current in the conductive liquid.
Claims20
A method for transporting an electrically conductive liquid, the method comprising:
- placing the conductive liquid in a rifled tube having a cylindrical interior and including a helical groove or helical protrusion integral with an inside surface of the rifled tube;
- applying a magnetic field to the conductive liquid to induce a circumferential force on the conductive liquid so as to generate a circumferential flow of the conductive liquid within the cylindrical interior and about an axis of the rifled tube, the circumferential flow being redirected by the helical groove or protrusion to produce an axially-directed flow;
- and
- using the helical groove or helical protrusion formed in the inside surface of the rifled tube and bounding the cylindrical interior to redirect the circumferential flow of the conductive liquid to the axially-directed flow in the rifled tube.
A method for pumping an electrically conductive liquid (ECL), the method comprising:
- placing the ECL in a magnetically transparent tube having a cylindrical interior and including a helical groove or helical protrusion integral with an inside surface of the magnetically transparent tube;
- applying a circumferential force on the ECL with a magnetic field to generate a circumferential flow of the ECL within the cylindrical interior and about an axis of the magnetically transparent tube, the circumferential flow being redirected by the helical groove or helical protrusion to produce an axially-directed flow within the cylindrical interior;
- and
- redirecting the circumferential flow to the axially-directed flow by using the helical groove or helical protrusion formed in the inside surface of the magnetically transparent tube and bounding the cylindrical interior.
A system for transporting an electrically conductive liquid, the system comprising:
- a rifled tube that is configured to carry the conductive liquid, wherein the rifled tube has a cylindrical interior and includes a helical groove or helical protrusion integral with an inside surface of the rifled tube;
- a multi-phase AC coil wrapped around the rifled tube and configured to carry two or more electric currents;
- and
- a controller to apply the two or more electric currents to the multi-phase AC coil so as to generate a magnetic field that induces a circumferential flow of the conductive liquid within the cylindrical interior and about an axis of the rifled tube, the circumferential flow being redirected by the helical groove or helical protrusion to produce an axially-directed flow within the cylindrical interior.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.