Stability of electrohydrodynamic induction pumping of a stratified liquid/vapor medium in the presence of an external load

A stability analysis of electrohydrodynamic induction pumping of a stratifi ed liquid/vapor medium incorporating an external load is carried out in non dimensional form. General stability criteria are introduced for attraction and repulsion mode pumping. Stability is found to depend on dimensionless g eometric parameters of the pump, as well as dimensionless electric paramete rs of the working fluid. The criteria are investigated in detail, consideri ng two specific cases each of attraction and repulsion mode pumping. Parame ter maps are presented, indicating regions of stable and unstable operation for each case. Finally, the effect of the dimensionless electric-wave angu lar velocity on the dimensionless interfacial velocity is studied for selec ted stable and unstable cases. It is shown that unstable pumps can be stabi lized through careful selection of the involved parameters and that the ove rall performance of the pump is likely to be improved in the process.