Efficiency of electrostatic air moving devices

An ion-driven gas flow is characterized by the breakdown of a gas into ions in the presence of a high electric potential. Ions flow due to the potential gradient. Mass transfer motivates bulk airflow. In the current study, an ionic air moving device was constructed using needles as ion sources, and a ring as collector. Airflow and efficiency were evaluated at various ring widths and with various numbers of ionization sites. Efficiency was seen to increase with ring width if airflow and distance was held constant and also increased with the number of ionization sites when airflow was held constant.