Abstract
Electromagnetic pumps are developed for industrial, medical and scientific applications, moving electrically conductive liquids and molten solder in electronics manufacturing using electromagnetism instead of mechanical parts. This study presents a comprehensive thermal analysis of an electromagnetic diaphragm pump, focusing on the influence of operating current, permanent magnet switching speed, and cooling conditions on pumping performance. The pump utilizes a flexible diaphragm embedded with a permanent neodymium magnet, which interacts with time-varying magnetic fields generated by electromagnets to drive fluid motion. Temperature monitoring is conducted using a waterproof DS18B20 sensor and an uncooled FLIR A325sc infrared camera, allowing accurate mapping of thermal distribution across the pump surface. Experimental results demonstrate that higher current and increased magnet switching speed lead to faster temperature rise, impacting the volume of fluid pumped. Incorporation of an automatic cooling fan effectively reduces coil temperature and stabilizes pump performance. Polynomial regression models describe the relationship between temperature, pumped liquid volume, and magnet switching speed, providing information to optimize pump operation and cooling strategies. The novel relationship between temperature and the volume of the pumped liquid is considered as a fourth-degree polynomial. In particular the model describes a quantitative evaluation of the effect of heating on pumping efficiency. An initial increase in temperature correlates with a higher pumped volume, but excessive heating leads to efficiency saturation or even decline. Indeed, mathematical dependencies are crucial in mechanical pump engineering for analyzing physical phenomena; this is achieved by using a mathematical equation to define how different physical variables are related to each other, enabling engineers to calculate performance and optimize the pump design.