Experimental investigations of electrostatic fluid accelerators under alternating polarity single and multi-stage DC excitation

R. Vela, V. P. Pasko

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

While electrostatic fluid accelerators (EFA) are gaining new ground in small scale applications,1-3 little documentation exists on the topics of enhancing the induced wind velocity by exploiting the corona discharge and on configurations involving the series cascading of alternating polarity EFA stages. This paper presents experimental results for single and multi-stage DC corona driven EFA system including aluminum point, carbon steel brush, two grids of varying dimensions and a ring with inner cross sectional areas of 44.9 mm2, as electrode elements, with gap sizes ranging from 6.35 to 44.45 mm. The unique carbon steel brush electrode, in brush to ring configuration, results in higher velocities when compared to traditional point to ring configurations. The increase of corona initiation sites within a single EFA stage, resulted in an induced wind velocity increase of 66% for positive polarity and 25% for negative. Results for an encased alternating polarity cascading system are presented and compared to single polarity series cascaded systems. Preliminary results for an open air alternating polarity cascaded system demonstrate a maximum of 2.9 m/s induced air velocity at a distance of 20.65 mm from the "exhaust" ring.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition
PublisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc.
ISBN (Print)9781563479694
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

Publication series

Name47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Aerospace Engineering

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