Laboratory studies on magnetic water treatment and their relationship to a possible mechanism for scale reduction

Laboratory studies indicate that magnetohydrodynamic effects may be responsible for claims that magnetic treatment devices are sometimes effective for scale control in water-using systems. In addition to enhancing corrosion of metals in the vicinity of the device, or within the device itself, application of the field 90 degrees to the flow of a conducting fluid can alter the hydrodynamics of fluid flow. Depending on experimental conditions, this may increase or decrease turbulence in the fluid, promoting aggregation or deaggregation of both ferromagnetic and diamagnetic colloids. Important factors in promoting magnetohydrodynamic forces on fluid flow include conductivity of the solution, linear flow velocity of the fluid, and the flux density (magnetic induction) of the transverse field. Finally, magnetic treatment devices that are physically designed to create additional turbulence by constricting or otherwise altering fluid flow may further enhance the anti-scaling effect by purely mechanical means.