Machine vision system to measuring the velocity field in a fluid by Particle Image Velocimetry: Special Case of Magnetohydrodynamics

Measurement of the fluid movement in a Magnetohydrodynamic system is an important source of information for design micro-mixers and micro-reactors. The importance of Magnetohydrodynamic systems is that they do not involve mechanical elements which require constant maintenance or parts replacement due to wear. This motivates to experiment with the effects of electric intensity and magnetic fields induced in a fluid, by means of the flow speed measurement. In order to obtain such a measurement, we are designing a Machine Vision System to acquire the velocity fields present in a fluid based on Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The conventional PIV systems consisting of a strobe light, a CCD camera, and a cylindrical tower-shaped tank containing seed particles where they flow to the surface. This conventional PIV is not functional for our system, in such a way a customized PIV is needed since the fluid to be analyzed is an electrolyte on an electromagnetic stirrer, whose characteristics differ from a conventional PIV system.