Effective Ionic Wind Generation Utilizing a Cylindrical Corona Discharge Electrode

A point-mesh type corona system has been well used as a ionic wind blower. However this type corona system suffers from its lower ionic wind generation, because of its lower on-set and breakdown voltages of its very sharp needle point corona electrode. This means that the point corona electrode must act both as an effective ion-generator and a very higher electric field producer in the discharge airgap in order to generate higher ionic wind velocity. In this paper, a cylinder-mesh type discharge system as a ionic wind generator is proposed and investigated. The cylindrical corona electrode can produce many ions from its sharpened edge, and the corona on-set and breakdown voltages are very higher than those of the needle point corona electrode. As a result, this type cylindrical corona electrode might generate a higher ionic wind than the needle point corona electrode.