Development of an Electrohydrodynamic conduction micropump using PCB/LCP MEMS technology

This paper presents the development of an electrohydrodynamic conduction micropump using Printed circuit board/liquid crystal polymer MEMS technology. One of the most important parameter for designing this kind of pump is the level of applied voltage. In the last investigations, the distance between high voltage electrode and ground electrode was fixed in few millimeters. In this work, the distance between two electrodes is fixed in few micrometers. Decreasing the gap between electrodes results in low level of starting voltage from thousands volts to approximately 300 volts. The conduction micropump generates over 100 Pa with 18 mW power consumption. Producing this level of pressure head with low level of power consumption seems to be promising for cooling purpose in microgravity conditions.