Eur. Phys. J. E (2014) 37: 47
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2014-14047-8

Regular Article

Horizontal deflection of single particle in a paramagnetic fluid

¹ Process and Environmental Research Division, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, UK
² Research Institute of Sun Yat-Sen University in Shenzhen, Hi-tech Industrial Park, 518057, Shenzhen, China
³ Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Aston University, B4 7ET, Birmingham, UK
⁴ Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Taikang East Road, 315100, Ningbo, China

^* e-mail: liushixiao8@hotmail.com

Received: 10 October 2013
Revised: 18 April 2014
Accepted: 7 May 2014
Published online: 6 June 2014

Abstract

This paper describes the horizontal deflection behaviour of a single particle in paramagnetic fluids under a high-gradient superconducting magnetic field. A glass box was designed to carry out experiments and test assumptions. It was found that the particles were deflected away from the magnet bore centre and particles with different density and/or susceptibility settled at a certain position on the container floor due to the combined forces of gravity and magneto-Archimedes as well as lateral buoyant (displacement) force. Matlab was chosen to simulate the movement of the particle in the magnetic fluid, the simulation results were in good accordance with experimental data. The results presented here, though, are still very much in their infancy, which could potentially form the basis of a new approach to separating materials based on a combination of density and susceptibility.