Using Rob's pump with three electromagnets and one permanent magnet at priming, with a 10 amp power supply, with a period of 300 ms and {0.0,0.4} interval timing, we measured 8 grams per minute, the best that we have yet.
Ferrofluid pump with rotating water blobs and no moving parts
A video of best results:
https://youtu.be/B2Wuy3dDc4E?si=2YtM-PyZvu_GHdCr
Our latest multi-magnet version (which has not yet been tested) is here:
This idea seems to work:
https://youtube.com/shorts/PQ8AnhncvDY?feature=share
As a prelude to the 7-circle pump described in the technical paper you can find in the "doc" directory here, we are attempting to make a very, very simple, pump. The images below represent our simple "pump" idea. We just raise a small bolus of fluid, and then drop it onto a ramp. This performance of this pump is being worked out, but of course it is weak. The "head" is just a few millimeters, and the flow has not yet been measured. However, we think it is still important in that it is indeed a pump with no moving parts.
We use a hot-melt glue to try to seal the "chamber" so that the fluid will flow down the ramp:
A closely related paper is: article{ando2009ferrofluidic, title={Ferrofluidic pumps: a valuable implementation without moving parts}, author={Ando, Bruno and Ascia, Alberto and Baglio, Salvatore and Pitrone, Nicola}, journal={IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement}, volume={58}, number={9}, pages={3232--3237}, year={2009}, publisher={IEEE} }