Project Description
Flow electrification is a common phenomenon in the flow of petroleum products, charged particles in air and other low conductivity fluids occasionally cause disastrous explosions in petroleum processing and agricultural grain milling industries. Flow electrification is a member of the set of linear nonequilibrium irreversible thermodynamic coupled phenomena called the “viscoelectric” effect when a dielectric fluids flow over a solid surface and electric current (called the "streaming" current) is produced by this phenomenon. To investigate this phenomenon, we will determine the relation between the streaming current produced and the fluid shear stress at the fluid-solid interface for a weakly dielectric fluid. This process involves numerous variables (fluid viscosity, ion concentration, fluid temperature and flow rate, flow geometry). The resulting data will allow us to compute the associated thermodynamic coupling coefficients for the fluid in various laminar flow geometries that have known hydrodynamic analytical solutions. We have developed a viscoelectric research laboratory on the 8th floor of the EAS building. There is sufficient equipment available to carry out these experiments using a variety of existing flow geometries. The streaming current will be measured by a Keithley 6517B electrometer which can measure current in the pico-ampere range.
Tasks and Responsibilites
1) Run streaming current tests on various dielectric liquid flow geometries including tubes, channels, rotating and stationary cylinders, and oscillating containers.
2) Use a LabView data acquisition computer program and Excel to collect and analyze the data.
3) Maintain the laboratory space in accordance with UWM safety standards.
Desired Qualifications
None Listed.