Effect of Radius of Curvature of a Corona Needle on Ionic Wind Generation

An electric fan for cooling high density electronic devices is limited and operated in very low efficiency. The corona discharge is utilized as the driving mechanism for an ionic gas pump, which allows for air flow control and generation with low noise and no moving parts. These ideal characteristics of ionic pump give rise to variety applications. However, all of these applications would benefit from maximizing the flow velocities and yields of the ionic pump. In this study, a needle-mesh type ionic pump has been investigated by focusing on the radius of curvature of corona needle points elevating the ionic wind velocity and efficiency. It is found that the radius of curvature of the corona discharge needle point influences significantly to produce the ionic wind and efficiency. As a result, an elevated ionic wind velocity and increased ionic wind generation yield can be obtained by optimized the radius of curvature of the corona needle electrode.