Ionic wind generation by a wire-cylinder-plate corona discharge in air at atmospheric pressure

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3514131· OSTI ID:21537929

Colas, Dorian F; Ferret, Antoine; Pai, David Z; Lacoste, Deanna A; Laux, Christophe O ^[1]

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1. Laboratoire EM2C, UPR 288, CNRS, Ecole Centrale Paris, Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry (France)

A wire-cylinder-plate electrode configuration is presented to generate ionic wind with a dc corona discharge in air at atmospheric pressure. The objective of the work is to maximize the power supplied to the flow in order to increase acceleration while avoiding breakdown. Thus, the proposed experimental setup addresses the problem of decoupling the mechanism of ion generation from that of ion acceleration. Using a wire-plate configuration as a reference, we have focused on improving the topography of the electric field to (1) separate the ionization and acceleration zones in space, and (2) guide the trajectory of charged particles as parallel to the median axis as possible. In the proposed wire-cylinder-plate setup, a dc corona discharge is generated in the space between a wire and two cylinders. The ions produced by the corona then drift past the cylinders and into a channel between two plates, where they undergo acceleration. To maximize the ionic wind it is found that the geometric configuration must be as compact as possible and that the voltage applied must be right below breakdown. Experimentally, the optimized wire-plate reference setup provides a maximum flow velocity of 8 m s{sup -1}, a flow rate per unit electrode length of 0.034 m{sup 2} s{sup -1}, and a thrust per unit electrode length of 0.24 N m{sup -1}. The wire-cylinder-plate configuration provides a maximum flow velocity of 10 m s{sup -1}, a flow rate per unit electrode length of 0.041 m{sup 2} s{sup -1}, and a thrust per unit electrode length of 0.35 N m{sup -1}. This 46% increase in thrust is obtained by increasing the electric power per unit electrode length by only 16% (from 175 to 210 W m{sup -1}), which confirms the gain in efficiency obtained with the decoupled system. In comparison with a simple wire-wire corona configuration, the wire-cylinder-plate configuration increases the ionic wind velocity by up to a factor of 3, and the thrust by an order of magnitude.

• OSTI ID: 21537929
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 108, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3514131; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATION
AIR
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BREAKDOWN
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONFIGURATION
CORONA DISCHARGES
CYLINDERS
DECOUPLING
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRODES
FLOW RATE
GAIN
IONIZATION
PLASMA
PLATES
VELOCITY
AMPLIFICATION
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
EVALUATION
FLUIDS
GASES