Enhancement of flow mixing using a two-stage EHD gas pump with electrodes anchored at one corner of channel

Abstract

The present study examines the use of a two-stage electrohydrodynamic (EHD) gas pump with its electrodes assembly anchored at one corner of a square channel to modify the characteristics of flow inside the channel. Specifically, the proposed EHD pump is examined for its effectiveness in enhancing flow mixing as well as reducing the power requirement. The present study is also aimed at confirming one of the important conclusions drawn from the authors’ earlier works that, given the same number of emitting electrodes, the performance of an EHD pump can be specifically tailored by rearranging the location and orientation of the electrodes so that the modified characteristics of flow can achieve the desired effect. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed electrode configuration, the performance of the pump is compared with that of a previous study in which a two-stage gas pump utilizes an electrode assembly mounted on the two parallel walls. For both pumps, the emitting electrodes are flush mounted on the channel walls so that the air flow produced is similar to that of a wall jet. Through the performance assessment, the results obtained from the present study can provide useful information for practical applications of EHD gas pumps.