Computational Flow Visualization of Mixed Fluid Motions in the Annuli of Heated Rotating Mercury Slip-Rings

A computational flow visualization study was made on the mixed fluid motions and thermal patterns of liquid mercury (Pr=0.02) contained within a horizontal slip ring annular region of radius ratio 2.6. Visualizations show that the liquid mercury were found to have points of maximum and minimum thermal plumes at the interior nodes, instead of the top and bottom nodes which is known for the air (Pr=0.7). For liquid mercury, when the inner cylinder is made to rotate, the thermal plume moves in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of the inner cylinder. This thermal plume movement is opposite to that observed for the high Prandtl number fluid flow where the mono-thermal plume on top of the inner cylinder moves in the same direction as the inner rotating cylinder.