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Contoured electrodes for an electrostatic gas pump

Contoured electrodes for an electrostatic gas pump description/claims

The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Appln. No. 60/886,204 filed Jan. 23, 2007, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The present invention relates to electrostatic gas pumps, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for producing greater gas flow rates in an electrostatic pump.

An electrostatic gas pump consists of one or more sharp (corona) and blunt (neutralizing) electrodes. An electric field is applied between the two electrodes causing a partial breakdown of the gas, referred to as a corona discharge, near the sharp electrode. The discharge produces ions which are attracted to the neutralizing electrode. En route, the ions collide with neutral gas molecules creating pressure head and flow similar to that produced by a mechanical fan.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/338,617, Jan. 23, 2006, titled “Electro-hydrodynamic Gas Flow Cooling System,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, dramatically advanced the state of the art of electrostatic gas pumps. Nevertheless, the present inventors recognize that certain opportunities for improvement remain. For example, in prior art pumps using corona electrodes, including those described in the above-described co-pending application, the blunt electrode is generally a flat or effectively flat surface. The flat surfaced electrode is not equidistant from the corona electrode. Hence, it does not provide additional field enhancement at the corona electrode and a higher voltage must be used to get the same ion current as a contoured electrode. The flat electrode does not confine the ionization region, so it will arc at a lower voltage and have less pumping power. Finally, the flat electrode does not isolate neighboring electrodes. This necessitates a much larger spacing between electrodes and again decreases the total ion current and pumping power.

Other prior art approaches fail to identify, appreciate and/or attempt to solve the problems recognized by the present inventors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,888,314 dated May 3, 2005, and titled “Electrostatic fluid accelerator” describes isolating wire-type corona electrodes by placing them in between flat-plate blunt electrodes. This patent does not suggest contouring of the blunt electrode to enhance the electric field at the corona electrode. Further, the corona wire and plate electrode run parallel. The plate spacing is determined by electrical considerations. This patent does not suggest nor can it implement an embodiment where the corona wire runs perpendicular to the blunt electrodes. This prevents any embodiment of this invention from being optimized for flow, heat transfer, etc.

Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a electrostatic gas pump that can address the problems identified by the present inventors, among others.

The present invention achieves high gas flow rates through an electrostatic pump having sharp and blunt electrodes with a corona discharge taking place in the gas gap in between the electrodes. According to certain aspects, the invention comprises a specially shaped blunt electrode that is contoured to maintain a constant or approximately constant distance between the sharp (corona) electrode and the neutralizing surface of the blunt electrode. The contour provides maximum electric field enhancement at the corona electrode and minimizes the electric field at the blunt electrode. This maximizes the non-arcing operating voltage and increases the maximum power output of the corona discharge. The contour also isolates neighboring corona electrodes, preventing their electric fields from interfering with one another and making it possible to increase the density of electrodes which further increases the pumping power of the device.

These and other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a contoured blunt electrode for use with a wire-type sharp electrode according to aspects of the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate possible embodiments of an electrostatic pump using a contoured blunt electrode such as that shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A to 4C show examples of extruded-type cross sections for a corona electrode that can be used together with a contoured blunt electrode according to aspects of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration of a corona electrode having protruding point-type electrodes that can be used in embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an electrostatic pump having a plurality of contoured blunt electrodes respectively paired with a plurality of point-like corona electrodes according to other possible embodiments of the invention.

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