The DREsden Sodium facility for DYNamo and thermohydraulic studies (DRESDYN) is an infrastructure project devoted both to large scale liquid sodium experiments with geo- and astrophysical background, as well as to investigations of various energy related ­techno­logies.

Magnetic fields of planets, stars, and galaxies are produced by self-excitation in moving electrically conducting fluids. In 1999, the underlying hydro­magnetic dynamo effect was experimentally evidenced at the Riga dynamo facility. With numerical simulations, the development of measurement techniques, and extensive data analyses our department has contributed significantly to the success of this unique experiment.

Cosmic ­magnetic fields play a surprisingly active role in cosmic structure formation by fostering outward angular momentum transport and inward mass accretion onto central objects, like protostars or black holes, by means of the ­magnetorotational instability (MRI). At the PROMISE experiment, two special ­versions of MRI, the helical MRI and the azimuthal MRI are investigated.

The Tayler instability limits the up-scalability of liquid metal batteries and plays a major role in astrophysics.

Thermally driven convection can be found in many areas of nature and technology. Particularly interesting from a geo-and astrophysical point of view are convection flows at ­very low Prandtl numbers, ie in fluids with low viscosity and particularly high thermal conductivity. Experiments with the lowest Prandtl numbers can only be achieved with liquid metals and pose a great challenge.

At HZDR, Alfvén wave experiments were carried out at the "magic point" where the speeds of Alfvén and sound waves coincide.