Estimating the effect of asymmetric electrodes in bipolar discharge ion wind generator

Abstract

We present the study of a simple and efficient air-flow generator under the effect of ion winds which are created by corona discharge. Based on our recent research of ion wind with bipolar corona using parallel pins, this work reports an investigation and evaluation of the corona system in asymmetrical configurations, where the two electrodes have different tip shapes. The system of new configuration is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The numerical and experimental results are the base to establish a regime of stable operation by the measured I-V characteristics. The optimized set-up can generate an air flow up to 2.24 m/s at the atmospheric pressure. With the asymmetrical configuration of different pin tip shapes, the system can be used in many mixing applications such as mixing solvent and die where the generated vortices are also presented.