Abstract: “The quest for cleaner, cheaper and reliable energy has motivated the development of magnetic confinement fusion reactor technology as a possible means of harnessing the energy produced by nuclear fusion for power generation. However, the magnetohydrodynamic effects act to reduce the thermal-hydraulic performance of the duct flows within the cooling blankets. The present paper reports the investigation of the duct flow with current injection as a vortex promoter for the enhancement of the convection heat transfer. The results indicate a maximum enhancement of approximately 70% over the duct flow without current injection for the highest current amplitude investigated. The competing effects of the Lorentz force and Hartmann damping result in a non-monotonic trend of Nusselt number with respect to friction parameter, while increasing Reynolds number results in a monotonic increase of Nusselt number.”

Keywords: MHD, quasi-2-d, heat transfer, vortex promoter