The flow structure of a bubble-driven liquid-metal jet in a horizontal magnetic field

Static magnetic fields are known to be suitable for damping mean flow and turbulent motion in an electrically conducting liquid. In this paper, an experimental study is presented considering the influence of a horizontal magnetic field on a bubble-driven flow of a liquid metal. The investigation is focused on the liquid circulation inside a liquid metal column driven by a central jet produced by gas injection. The fluid vessel has a circular cross-section and electrically insulating walls. Low gas flow rates were applied, resulting in a plume of separated bubbles rising inside a spot around the cylinder axis. This axisymmetric configuration is exposed to a horizontal magnetic field. We present detailed experimental data describing the spatial as well as the temporal structure of the velocity field. Measurements of the vertical and the radial velocity component, respectively, were performed using the ultrasound Doppler velocimetry (UDV), allowing for the first time a complete mapping of the liquid velocity distribution for a bubble-driven liquid metal flow. The magnetic field considerably modified the global and local properties of the flow field compared to an ordinary bubble plume. In the parameter range considered here we did not find a prior flow suppression, but, in fact, a restructuring of the convective motion. The original axisymmetric flow field became anisotropic with respect to the direction of the magnetic field lines. An upwards flow dominated in a plane parallel to the magnetic field, whereas the recirculating motion was enforced in the orthogonal plane. Contrary to usual expectations, the application of a moderate magnetic field (100 < Ha < 400, 1 ≲ N ≲ 10) destabilizes the global flow and gives rise to transient, oscillating flow patterns with predominant frequencies.