An experimental study of miscible magnetic fluid motion in a vertical capillary tube is presented. Transporting ferrofluids is dominated by a dimensionless magnetic number Ma, which characterizes the ratio of upward magnetic force to the downward gravity. Two distinct stages of motion, referred to as the sub-critical mode of finite lift and the effective transportation, are identified. These two modes are determined by the values of the sub-critical magnetic number Masub and critical magnetic number Macr respectively. For the cases of sub-critical mode (Masub < Ma < Macr), the ferrofluids are lifted to quasiequilibrium heights, which are nearly proportional to the magnetic number Ma. As for the situations of effective transportation (Ma > Macr), a penetrating finger of ferrofluids is formed similar to the conventional miscible displacements. A dimensionless proportionality of fingertip velocity ν, magnetic number Ma and field distribution profile fz is obtained as ν ∼ Ma1/2fz by scaling arguments. This proportional correlation shows a good agreement with the experiments.

With the increasing demand for improved electronics cooling, thermal management and cooling techniques have evolved in design and efficiency over the last three decades. The paper focuses on heat pipes as practical as possible inexpensive alternatives to cool electronic components. An analysis of the necessary conditions allowing the appearance of convective motion and its interaction with energy exchange at the liquid/vapour interface is performed. The numerical simulation allows the access to the evaporation profile and its dependence with the operating conditions. The role of the inversion of the thermal distribution on the development and the orientation of the Marangoni cells and the local convection near the contact line is presented.