International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 121 (2021) 105091

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International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt

Experimental study on the surface tension of magnetized water

Jianshu Liu a, b, Yang Cao a, b, *
a
Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061,
China
b
National Demonstration Centre for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this paper, the variation of surface tension coefficient of water magnetized by a solenoid coil was studied by
Pure water experimental measurement. It was found that the surface tension coefficient of pure water decreased after the
Magnetization magnetization treatment, and the decrease ratio depends on the magnetic field intensity and the treatment time
Surface tension
exposed in the magnetic field. The maximum decrease of about 25% (from 72 mN/m of pure water to 54 mN/m)
Experimental measurement
occurs at magnetic field intensity of 300 mT and treatment time of 15 min. However, the surface tension co­
efficient of magnetized water does not keep stable at the low value, it returns to the original value gradually in
about 1 h.

1. Introduction increasing the treatment time from 1 min to 13 min, and reached a
minimum value of 9% decrease at 13 min under a MF intensity of 1000
Magnetic field (MF)-treated water, so-called “magnetized water mT. It was found by Hassani et al. [11] that when applying a MF in­
(MW)” has been a challenging subject over the last several decades in tensity of 6560 G, there was an 18% decrease in the surface tension of
both academia and industry [1]. The water magnetization technique has tap water. Mohassel et al. [14] found that the surface tension coefficient
been developed rapidly in many areas, e.g. irrigation and plant growth of distilled water would decrease to a maximum value of 57.09 mN/m,
[2,3], wastewater treatment and purification [4,5], animal science and which is a 20.8% decrease from the original value, when it passes
medicine [6]. The characteristic and applications of MW have drawn through a MF 20 times.
wide attentions of many researchers and been studied a lot, but there are As mentioned above, there exist quite a lot researches concerning the
still a lot of things unclear and even controversial, it is still quite far surface tension of MW, and the agreement was made on that the
away from a complete understanding of the MW. magnetization treatment can decrease the surface tension of pure water,
Some previous studies focused on the physical property variation of but there still lack a complete clarification on the surface tension coef­
the MW, such as, the pH value, viscosity, thermal conductivity, electrical ficient of MW, especially the effect of MF intensity and treatment
conductivity, surface tension and so on. The surface tension and contact duration time and its time-variation tendency after the MF was with­
angle are the main surface phenomena of water, and must be considered drawn. Therefore, in this paper, the variation of surface tension coeffi­
in industrial processes involving water [1], most of the researchers cient of pure water magnetized in wide ranges of MF intensity and
found that the surface tension coefficient of pure water was decreased treatment duration was studied by experimental measurement.
after magnetization [7–12], but there are some researchers found it
increased a little by a strong MF (10 T) [13]. Cho and Lee [7] examined 2. Experimental apparatus
the effects of magnetization on surface tension of tap water and natural
hard water by using a permanent magnet (1600G) and a solenoid coil, Most of the previous studies on physical properties of MW conducted
and found that the surface tension coefficient of the magnetized water the water magnetization treatments by letting the water flowing in a
decreased by 5.9% and 7.8% from those of the untreated tap and hard pipe through the magnetic fields generated by a solenoid coil or a per­
water. Cai et al. [8] found that the surface tension coefficient of pure manent magnet, however by this way of magnetization treatment, it is
water decreased sharply, from 68.5 mN/m to 62.5 mN/m with difficult to adjust and record the treatment duration time exactly.

* Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China.
E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Cao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2020.105091

Available online 28 December 2020

0735-1933/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Liu and Y. Cao International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 121 (2021) 105091

Fig. 1. Experimental system

Therefore, in this paper, the magnetization treatment of pure water was coordinate axis, which means the moment just finishing the magneti­
carried out by putting a static beaker of pure water in a uniform and zation treatment. As can be seen in the graphs of Fig. 2, the surface
constant MF. The MF was generated by an electromagnetic field tension coefficients of magnetized water were decreased deeply by the
generating equipment manufactured by the Shanghai Wujiu Automation treatment, however, after the MF is withdrawn, the surface tension co­
Equipment Co., ltd, which consists of a solenoid coil (HTA-100, 0–1500 efficients of MW do not keep stable at the low value, but rise gradually
mT, Fig. 1 (a)), a computer-controlled DC power supply (HTZ-1000 W, and return to its original value of pure water in about no more than 1 h.
Fig. 1 (b)), and a Gauss/Tesla meter (Model 901, Fig. 1 (b)). The surface The most decreased case occurs at MF intensity of 300 mT and treatment
tension coefficient was measured by a surface tension meter QBZY-2 duration of 15 min (Fig. 2, c), where the surface tension coefficient
(Range: 0-400mN/m, accuracy: ±0.04mN/m), made by the Shanghai decreases from 71.8 mN/m (coefficient of pure water without magne­
Fangrui Instrument Co, ltd, as shown in Fig. 1 (c). It was calibrated by tization at room temperature and 1 atm, as illustrated by the dash line in
measuring the surface tension coefficient of pure water at room tem­ each graph) to the value of 53.7 mN/m, the decrease ratio is about 25%,
perature (25 ◦ C,1 atm). The purified water for drinking from Wahaha then the surface tension coefficient rises again after the treatment was
Co. ltd (TOC: 1.6 mg/L, COD: 0.9 mg/L, TDS: 2 ppm) was chosen as the over and return to the original value in about 70 min. The rising of
working liquid. The pure water was placed in a beaker and put in the MF surface tension coefficients of MW is rapid in the first 20 min after the
of a constant and uniform intensity generated by the solenoid coil for treatment, almost half of the decreased amplitude is recovered in this
magnetization treatment for a period of time, when the magnetization period of 20 min, and it gets slowly in later time, for most cases, the
treatment was finished, its surface tension coefficient was measured at coefficient restores to the original value in about 1 h.
once and its variation with time after magnetization treatment was The effect of MF intensity on the surface tension coefficient of MW is
monitored by measuring its value at a time interval of every 10 min, obvious, as also illustrated in Fig. 3, which shows the surface tension
every measurement was repeated 5 times consecutively to get the coefficient of the optimum magnetization treatment case in each MF
average value for reducing the error. In this experiment, the MF in­ intensity, the best MF intensity is 300 mT, as the MF intensity is getting
tensity of magnetization treatment was 100mT, 200mT, 300mT, 500mT, weaker or stronger than 300 mT, the surface tension coefficient of MW is
800mT, 1000mT, 1500mT, respectively, and the duration of each getting higher, meaning that the effect of magnetization treatment is
magnetization treatment was 0.5–20 min. getting weaker. At 1500 mT (the largest MF intensity of our experi­
ments), the lowest surface tension coefficient of MW is 70.4 mN/m,
3. Results and discussions which decreases only 1.9% from original value of pure water, which
means over-magnetization by a strong MF is not a good way to obtain
The time-variations of surface tension coefficient of magnetized MW with a lower surface tension, the surface tension coefficient might
water treated by the magnetic field of constant intensities for various even increase when it is magnetized at a very strong MF, like that re­
durations of time were shown in Fig. 2, the variations of surface tension ported in the research of Massaki [13].
coefficient were measured and showed from the point of 0 on the time Even treated by the same MF intensity, the influence of treatment

2
J. Liu and Y. Cao International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 121 (2021) 105091

Fig. 2. Variation of surface tension coefficient of MW.

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J. Liu and Y. Cao International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 121 (2021) 105091

Fig. 3. The surface tension coefficient of MW treated by different MF intensity.

Fig. 4. The optimum magnetization time at different MF intensity.

duration time on MW is also very important, there exists an optimum intensity of 1500 mT. This relationship between MF intensity and op­
treatment time for each MF intensity as showed in Fig. 3, where the timum treatment duration time is given in Fig. 4, the reason can be
surface tension coefficient of MW decreases the most. As the magneti­ explained: if the MF intensity is strong, it needs short time to get the
zation treatment time is getting longer or shorter from the optimum water magnetized, but if the MF is weak, it needs a long time.
treatment time, the surface tension coefficient of MW would get higher,
meaning the effect of magnetization is weaker. The optimum treatment 4. Conclusions
time is also dependent on the MF intensity, at a weaker intensity of MF,
the optimum treatment time is longer, e.g. duration of 17 min at MF The variation of surface tension coefficient of MW was studied by
intensity of 200 mT, duration of 18 min at MF intensity of 100 mT, at a experiments, an obvious decrease was found after magnetization treat­
stronger intensity of MF, the optimum treatment time is short, e.g. ment, and the decrease ratio depends on the MF intensity and treatment
duration of 3 min at MF intensity of 1000 mT, duration of 20 s at MF time. The optimum MF intensity is 300 mT, and a weaker or stronger MF

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J. Liu and Y. Cao International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 121 (2021) 105091

intensity than 300 mT would weaken the effect of magnetization. There [2] J.A.T. da Silva, J. Dobranszki, Impact of magnetic water on plant growth, Environ.
Exp. Biol. 12 (2014) 137–142.
is an optimum treatment duration for each MF intensity, and it gets
[3] J.A.T. da Silva, J. Dobranszki, Magnetic fields: how is plant growth and
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[4] N.S. Zaidi, J. Sohaili, K. Muda, M. Sillanpaa, Magnetic field application and its
Data availability statement potential in water and wastewater treatment systems, Sep. Purif. Rev. 43 (2014)
206–240.
[5] R.D. Ambashtaab, M. Sillanpää, Water purification using magnetic assistance: a
The data that support the findings of this study are available within review, J. Hazard. Mater. 180 (2010) 38–49.
the article and more from the corresponding author upon reasonable [6] L. Hafizi, M. Gholizadeh, M. Karimi, G. Hosseini, H. Mostafavi-Toroghi,
M. Haddadi, A. Rezaiean, M. Ebrahimi, N.E. Meibodi, Effects of magnetized water
request. on ovary, pre-implantation stage endometrial and fallopian tube epithelial cells in
mice Iran, J. Reprod. Med. 12 (2014) 243–248.
Declaration of Competing Interest [7] Y.I. Cho, S.H. LEE, Reduction in the surface tension of water due to physical water
treatment for fouling control in heat exchangers, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 32
(2005) 1–9.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial [8] Ran Cai, Hongwei Yang, Jinsong He, Wanpeng Zhu, The effects of magnetic fields
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence on water molecular hydrogen bonds, J. Mol. Struct. 938 (2009) 15–19.
[9] S.H. Lee, S.I. Jeon, Y.S. Kim, S.K. Lee, Changes in the electrical conductivity,
the work reported in this paper. infrared absorption, and surface tension of partially-degassed and magnetically-
treated water, J. Mol. Liq. 187 (2013) 230–237.
Acknowledgements [10] E. Chibowski, A. Szczes, L. Holysz, Influence of magnetic field on evaporation rate
and surface tension of water, Colloids Interf. 2 (68) (2018).
[11] A.S. Hasaani, Z.L. Hadi, K.A. Rasheed, Experimental study of the interaction of
Project supported by the Young Scholars Program of Shandong magnetic fields with flowing water, J. Basic Appl. Sci. 3 (2015) 1–8.
University (Gran No. 2018WLJH59), the Fundamental Research Funds [12] X.F. Pang, B. Deng, B. Tang, Influences of magnetic field on macroscopic properties
for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2017TB0031), Key Laboratory of of water, Modern Phys. Lett. B 26 (11) (2012).
[13] I. Masaaki, Y. Fujimura, Surface tension of heavy water under high magnetic fields,
High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture at Shandong Uni­ Appl. Phys. Lett. 94 (2009) 261902.
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in the efficacy of cycloxydim and clodinafop-propargyl on the control of wild oat
(Avena fatua), Weed Biol. Manag. 9 (2009) 300–306.
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