Visualizing motions of magnetic fluid spikes for a novel particle-collecting device

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel method to collect fine and coarse particles dispersed in the air using magnetic fluid to improve atmospheric environment. Magnetic fluids are set in the 50 × 50 × 10 mm rectangular channel. Plain flour particles ranging from 2.5 to 450 μm are used as model particles. Then, filtration efficiency of 40% is obtained as a maximum value. We propose a unique method to visualize and quantitatively evaluate the interaction between wind and magnetic fluid which found to be an important factor for the enhancement of the particle-collecting efficiency. Generally, it is difficult to measure the magnetic fluid flow since it is not transparent against light. In our developed method, we use LED light sheet which is low cost unlike lasers. Furthermore, there is no need to add anything into the magnetic liquid and no need to dilute the liquid. It is found that the spikes are flown by the stream depending on the magnetic field strength. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].