Velocity measurements and concentration field visualizations in copper electrolysis under the influence of Lorentz forces and buoyancy

Velocity measurements and shadowgraph visualizations for copper electrolysis under the influence of a magnetic field are reported. Experiments in a rectangular cell show the expected strong correlation between flow features and limiting current density. The flow can be understood as driven by the interplay of Lorentz force and buoyancy. For a cylindrical cell with only slightly non-parallel electric and magnetic field lines, the presence and importance of the Lorentz force is demonstrated by velocity measurements.