Ionic Wind Generation

Project Title

Ionic Wind Generation

Project Area of Specialization Shared EconomyProject Summary

Corona is an electrical discharge which occurs when air around conductor having high voltage gets charged and causes breakdown of air which is called corona effect and it is considered as a loss.

In this project we attempt to use corona in productive way. Due to the breakdown of air, charged particles move towards opposite electrodes while colliding with neutral molecules of air   which causes movement of large amount of air in one direction which is called ionic wind. We have tried to maximize the effect of ionic wind by using different combination of electrodes and sources and taking reading by varying distance between electrodes.

Ionic wind is a new technique of future for cooling of electronic components as this technique is free from moving parts. This project has practically wide applications which such as ion thruster, ionic wind pump, air precipitator. One of its applications is negative ion generator, which can be used in medical treatment of asthma patients. For the field of ion propulsion technique this project will pay a good role for researchers.

Project Objectives

• To use corona discharge in productive way.
• To use ionic wind in Bio-medical applications.
• To investigate the potential for electro-statistics and utilize the concept to innovate cooling wind method.
• Research and data collection
• Analysis, experimentation and optimization
• Hardware design

Project Implementation Method

• We designed high voltage source by trying different transformers before coming to final solution of fly back transformer.
• We are providing high potential difference between different combinations of electrodes of different materials.
• First we used copper sheets only to complete our base target of producing corona wind, and in order to make wind more powerful we used different sources and different combinations of electrodes.
• The wind can be detected by placing a candle in between two electrodes, the effect can be observed by looking at the deflection of candle flame and smoke of wooden stick.
• we start generating ionic wind by using high voltage source that are easily available having high efficiency.
• we tested high voltage source across following configuration of electrodes that are made of copper, silver, aluminum and stainless steel etc.

1. Pointy-Plate
2. Pointy-Hollow
3. Pointy-Sphere
4. Plate-Plate
5. Sphere-Sphere
6. Plate-Sphere.

• we also measured the leakage current and ionic wind (m/s) using above arrangments.
• we plotted the values of  leakage current and ionic wind (m/s) using these arrangments by varring distance and voltages between electrodes and compared the results with the previous work that has been done in previous research papers related to Measurment and simulation of ionic wind.

Benefits of the Project

Our project mainly focus on to generate wind without using any moving parts which is a good approach to get rid from old mechanical wind producing equipments. For the cooling purpose of laptop ionic wind has been experimentally analyzed and the cooling effect of ionic wind was 38% higher than normal fan [16]. In near future for the problem of electronic equipment's thermal removal, ionic wind can be very critical method. One of its biomedical applications of ionic wind is the generation of negative ions which are beneficial for human body like when negative ions are inhaled they reach our blood stream and perform chemical reactions that increases level of mood refreshing chemicals called serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical in our body which regulates mood, digestions, sleep and memory. 

The incensement in industrialization is effecting our environment by polluting air which is very basic entity to live a healthy life, to clean air a technique is used which is called air precipitator. It is an extension of our project with much more delicate ionization or air such that heavy particles are attracted towards collected plate. Due to silent behavior ionic wind has great impact on environment related to the reduction of noise pollution.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

HIGH VOLTAGE SOURCES

We have started our project by researching and selecting high voltage sources and we will use all of the following voltage sources in our project in various way.

1. Flyback Transformer ,DC source  (45 mA, 20 kV)
2. Microwave Transformer  AC source(300mA, 2.5kV)
3. Neon Sign Transformer  AC source(30mA,16 kV).
4. we used a voltage multiplier circuit with microwave transformer that has capacitor of 20 kV and diodes of 15 kV circuited as walton-Croft multiplier circuit which convert 2.5kV AC into 20 kV DC. 
5. The dimentions of electrodes used in this project are as follows:

• Copper plate  1*1 square feet with thickness of 1mm
• Pointy Copper rodes 8.7 cm length with diameter of 1.2 cm.
• Stainless steel  sphere electrodes of 7.8 cm diameter.
• Hollow copper pipe of 7.8cm length and 1mm thickness and diameter of 2 cm.                                        

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemType of Industry Food , Energy , Manufacturing , Health Technologies OthersSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Clean Water and Sanitation, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Climate ActionRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	48610
Neon sign transformer	Equipment	1	7000	7000
Microwave transformer	Equipment	3	2500	7500
Flyback Tranformer	Equipment	5	550	2750
HV capacitors(20kV)	Equipment	18	300	5400
HV Diodes(15kV)	Equipment	18	270	4860
Copper Electrodes	Equipment	4	1000	4000
Silver Electrodes	Equipment	2	800	1600
Anemometer	Equipment	1	2000	2000
Travel expenses	Miscellaneous	2	3500	7000
Acrylic sheets	Equipment	1	3500	3500
Plywood, nails,screws, iron stand,wires,circuit breaker	Miscellaneous	6	500	3000