Journal of Electrostatics 73 (2015) 125e130

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Journal of Electrostatics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/elstat

An empirical model for ionic wind generation by a needle-to-cylinder

dc corona discharge
Longnan Li, Seung Jun Lee, Wonjung Kim*, Daejoong Kim
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: We present the results of an experimental study on ionic wind generation by a needle-to-cylinder dc
Received 19 May 2014 corona discharge. A strong electrical field in the air generates air flow driven by the motion of ionized gas
Received in revised form molecules along electric field lines. We measured the ionic wind velocity and discharge current with
5 November 2014
respect to various electrode geometries, distances between electrodes, and applied voltages. Our mea-
Accepted 8 November 2014
surements suggest an empirical model for the ionic wind velocity as a function of the geometric factors
Available online 20 November 2014
of the collector electrode and the applied electric potential, which is useful for designing ionic wind
cooling systems for small electronics.
Keywords:
Ionic wind generation
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Needle-to-cylinder configuration
Ionic wind velocity
Empirical model

Introduction that the thrust force of the electro-hydrodynamic thruster can be

Ionic wind is an air flow driven by an electric field. When a large
electric potential formed between electrodes in the air produces a
corona discharge, some air molecules around the discharge region
are ionized and accelerated to the collector electrode along the
electric field lines. The collision of the moving ions with neutral air
molecules results in momentum transfer to the air molecules, and a
stream of air is thus formed between the corona and collector
electrodes (see Fig. 1).
Ionic wind has raised great hopes particularly toward the
development of cooling devices, plasma actuating systems, and
electro-hydrodynamic thruster. Ionic wind generators can be used
as cooling systems for small electronics with the main advantages
including motionlessness, silence, and compactness. Many re-
searchers have focused on increasing ionic wind velocity to
enhance cooling performance. Plasma actuators for air flow control
have been developed for the last decade [1]. Plasma actuators
generate aerodynamic air flow on the polarized metal surface
through discharge, which modifies the boundary layer. Townsend
Brown discovered the phenomena of electro-hydrodynamic
thruster in the 1920s [2]. Christenson and Moller [3] reported the
first theoretical and experimental investigation on the electro-
hydrodynamic (EHD) thruster, and it was recently demonstrated
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ82 2 705 8824; fax: þ82 2 712 0799.
E-mail address: wonjungkim@sogang.ac.kr (W. Kim).
maximized up to 20 N per electric power consumption of 1 kW [4].
Ianconescu et al. [5] formulated the dependence of the thrust forces
on the applied voltage.
For the development of the applications of ionic wind, consid-
erable efforts have been devoted to the quantification of the me-
chanical forces generated by electrical discharge [6]. Chattock [7]
reported the first quantitative study on the measurement of ion
mobility and pressure distribution for ionic wind in configurations
of needle-to-plate and needle-to-ring types. Stuetzer [8] measured
drag forces by moving ions and deduced body forces exerted on
neutral air. Robinson [9] developed a model for ionic wind by
coupling the electrical and mechanical parameters, and demon-
strated that electric energy can be converted to kinetic energy with
an efficiency of approximately 1e2%.
An ionic wind generator can employ a variety of configurations
of electrodes. Needle-to-plate and needle-to-cylinder types consist
of the corona electrode of a needle and the collector electrodes of a
metal plate and cylinder, respectively. Some characteristics of these
types have been investigated, including the dependence of the ionic
wind velocity on the distance between the electrodes, cur-
rentevoltage characteristics, and electro-hydrodynamic pressure
[10e13]. For the wire-to-plate and wire-to-cylinder types, ionic
wind is generated at a thin wire with high curvature, yielding a
high-velocity near the surface of the collector electrode [14e16].
Other types such as wire-to-wire, wire-to-semi-cylinder, and
needle-to-mesh have been recently suggested [1,17].

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elstat.2014.11.001
0304-3886/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
126 L. Li et al. / Journal of Electrostatics 73 (2015) 125e130
Fig. 1. A schematic illustration of an ionic wind generator with needle-to-cylinder type.
Among the various types, the needle-to-cylinder type is of
particular interest because of its potential applications in thermal
management and flow control [18e20]. This configuration allows
us to exploit the high permeability of the collector electrode, the
flexible modification of the cylindrical electrode, and the combi-
nation of multiple generators in a row or series. Various control
parameters of wind speed in ionic wind generators with needle-to-
cylinder type have been examined. Rickard [21] and Lai [22]
measured the dependence of the ionic wind velocity on the dis-
tance between electrodes for the specific diameters and lengths of
cylindrical electrodes. However, previous results are limited to a
specific range of control parameters aiming at developing an ionic
wind generator of a relatively large size.
In this paper, we suggest an empirical model for ionic wind
velocity, particularly applicable to ionic wind generators used as
the cooling systems for small electronics. We measure the ionic
wind velocity and discharge current with respect to a variety of
electrode geometries and an extended range of applied electrical
potentials. Our model provides a practical basis for designing an
ionic wind generator consisting of the multiple layers of electrodes
in series to enhance cooling performance.
Theoretical background
When a corona discharge occurs between electrodes, air mole-
cules around the discharge region are ionized, and EHD force exerts
on the charged particles. The force on the unit volume of air is given
by rE, where r is the space charge density and E the electric field
[5,23]. The thrust generated by EHD force on air including charged
R
particles with a volume of V is thus expressed asF  V rEdV. In an
Fig. 2. (a) A compact ionic wind generator with needle-to-cylinder type. (b) A schematic illustration of the experimental setup.
Table 1
Input parameters tested in the experiments.
Parameter Test values Unit
Applied voltage (V) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 kV
Distance between electrodes (G) 10, 5, 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mm
The length of cylinder electrode (L) 10, 20, 30 mm
The diameter of cylinder electrode (D) 25.4, 31.7 mm
intensive electric field, ion velocity is determined by ion mobility m
and electric field, such that the ion velocity u scales as mE. Since the
electric current density j is given by j ¼ ru, the thrust can be
R
expressed asF  V j=mdV. Although the precise volume V enclosing
all the charged particles is not easily estimated, we reasonably
expect that the charged particles are distributed in a volume of a
conical shape between two electrodes of a needle-to-cylinder type,
and so the volume element dV can be approximated as Ac(x)dx,
where x is the distance measured from the needle along the
centerline of the cylindrical electrode, and Ac(x) is the cross-
sectional area of the cone. Since the electric current, I ¼ j(x)Ac(x),
is independent of x, the EHD force is reduced to k2IG/m, where G is
the distance between the electrodes.
The EHD force produces the air flow through the cylinder
electrode. In the present study, the range of parameters of interest
corresponds to relatively small wind generators, and the flow speed
U and the diameter of cylinder electrodes D are thus on the order of
1 m/s and 1 cm, respectively. The Reynolds number Re ¼ UD/n, the
ratio of inertial to viscous effects, is approximately 103, and the
entrance length len ~ 0.05DRe is thus on the order of 0.5 m, where n
is the dynamic viscosity of air. Since the lengths of the cylindrical
electrodes examined in the present study are less than 3 cm, one
 L. Li et al. / Journal of Electrostatics 73 (2015) 125e130
expects that the air flow inside the cylindrical electrode is mainly
resisted by inertial effects. Accordingly, the force required for
generating the flow scales as raU2D2, where ra is the density of air.
For a steady state, the resistance force balances with the EHD force,
yielding raU2D2 ~ IG/m. Consequently, one may deduce that mraU2/I
exclusively depend on the geometrical factors of the electrodes.
Because it is most unlikely that the geometry dependence is given
by a simple function, and we rely on the experimental measure-
ments and suggest an empirical model.
Experimental
We designed a compact ionic wind generator with a needle-to-
cylinder type, shown in Fig. 2. The corona and collector electrodes
were made of a nickel-plated steel needle with a diameter of
0.7 mm and a copper cylindrical tube, respectively. Each electrode
was held on a support block that slides on a stage, and the distance
between the electrodes was manually adjusted. A DC power supply
(SL20P30/220, Spellman) produced a positive electric potential
between the electrodes, and the applied voltage and discharge
current were measured with a DAQ card (PCI-6220, National In-
struments) and Labview 9.0 (National Instruments). We deter-
mined the corona onset voltage V0 corresponding to an onset
discharge current of 1 mA [24,25]. To measure the velocity of the
ionic wind, we used a hot wire anemometer probe (AM-4214SD,
Fig. 3. The dependence of the ionic wind velocity on the applied voltage and the
distance between the electrodes.
127
Lutron), placed 50 mm away from the copper cylinder electrode,
and the anemometer controller measured the velocity with a time
interval of 1 s. During the experiments, a room temperature of
20e25  C and a humidity of 60e66% were maintained.
We quantified the dependence of the ionic wind velocity on four
control parameters: the diameter D and length L of the cylinder
electrode, the electric potential between the electrodes V, and the
distance between the electrodes G (see Table 1). We tested two
diameters (25.4 mm and 31.7 mm) and three lengths (10 mm,
30 mm, and 50 mm) for the cylinder electrode, with an electric
potential range from 5 kV to 10 kV and distance between electrodes
from 10 to 20 mm. Note that the negative sign of the distance
between the electrodes indicates the insertion of the needle elec-
trode into the cylinder electrode to the distance.
Each measurement was obtained with the following procedure.
After the power supply was turned on, the ionic wind generator
was operated for 20 s until the ionic wind flow was stabilized. The
anemometer controller and Labview 9.0 recorded the applied
voltage, the discharge current, and the ionic wind velocity for 60 s.
The measurement was repeated three times for the same control
parameters, and the average values were analyzed.
Results and discussion
We present the experimental results of the dependence of the
ionic wind velocity and discharge current on the four control pa-
rameters: U, G, D and L. Note that the ionic wind velocity presents a
Fig. 4. The currentevoltage characteristics of the ionic wind generator.
128 L. Li et al. / Journal of Electrostatics 73 (2015) 125e130

parabolic profile, and U denotes the maximum velocity at the where ra ¼ 1.2 kg/m3 and m ¼ 0.0002 m2/V s. The coefficient k
centerline of the cylindrical electrode [21,26e29]. By combining the primarily depends on the geometrical configuration of the elec-
experimental results with empirical correlations suggested in trodes. For a needle-to-plate configuration, Sigmond and Lagstadt
previous studies [9,25,30], we suggest a new model for ionic wind [30] suggested that the constant k is proportional to (G/A)1/2, where
generators with electrodes of needle-to-cylinder type. A is the cross-sectional area of the effective discharge. Because the
aperture of a cone formed by the active area on the plate and the
needle tip can be assumed to be a constant, k is solely determined
Experiment results
by G, such that k ~ G1/2 for a needle-to-plate configuration [6,34].
Regarding a compact needle-to-cylinder type, for which G is com-
Fig. 3 shows the dependence of the ionic wind velocity on the
parable to D, the effective cross-sectional area may be a complex
distance between electrodes ranging from 10 mm to 20 mm for
function of both G and D, and k cannot be easily determined with an
the various applied voltages. Each set of Fig. 3 corresponds to each
analytic
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiapproach.
ffi Nevertheless, we found that the dependence of
diameter of the cylinder electrode with a length of 30 mm.
U ra m=I on geometry factors of G and D remains negligible in the
The results show that the ionic wind velocity increases with the
range of our experiments corresponding to compact ionic wind
applied voltage for a given distance between electrodes G. The
generators, such that k ~ 11.5 (see Fig. 5).
electric field between two electrodes E increases with the applied
We proceed with the relation between the discharge current
voltage V, and the ionic wind velocity thus increases with the
and applied voltage. Townsend [35] suggested an approximate
increasing applied voltage [21,31]. We note the ionic wind velocity
relation I ¼ K1 V ðV  V0 Þ, where Kl is the coefficient depending on
is maximized at a specific inter-electrode distance of somewhere
the radius of the needle electrode, the ion mobility, and the dis-
between 5 mm and 10 mm. Rickard et al. reported that the ionic
tance between the electrodes. His model has shown good agree-
wind velocity peaks at the ratio of the inter-electrode distance to
ment with the experimental results of Ferreira [11] and also with
cylinder diameter G/D of approximately 0.3e0.5 [21]. In our study,
our results as shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 shows the dependence of K1 on
the ratio ranged between 0.2 and 0.32, which is slightly lower than
the geometry of the electrodes. We experimentally obtained the
the results from previous studies.
Fig. 4 shows the currentevoltage characteristics of the ionic
wind generator. The discharge current quadratically increases with
different applied voltages for both diameters of cylinder electrodes,
which agrees with the results of previous studies [1,32,33]. We
found that the dependence of the current on electrical potential is
unstable for the negative distance between electrodes, and our
discussion is thus limited only to the cases with the electrodes of
positive distance. From the measurements for the other cylinder
electrode lengths of L of 10 mm and 50 mm, we found no clear
dependence of the ionic wind velocity on the length of the cylinder
electrode and the discharge current, shown in the Supplementary
material.

An empirical model

Based on our experimental results, we develop an empirical

model. Ionic wind velocity may be generally expressed as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
U ¼ k I=ðra mÞ; (1)

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Fig. 5. The dependence of U ra m=I on distance between the electrodes G. The solid Fig. 6. The dependence of the discharge current I on V(V e V0). The solid lines indicate
line corresponds to the constant k ¼ 11.5. the best fitting lines.
 L. Li et al. / Journal of Electrostatics 73 (2015) 125e130
Fig. 7. The dependence of K1 on the distance from the needle to the cylinder edge S.
exponential dependence of K1 on the distance from the needle to
the cylinder edge, which can be expressed byK1 ¼ 31:59S1:6,
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where S is defined as G2 þ ðD=2Þ2 . As shown in Fig. 8, we present
the corona onset voltage with respect to S, and the corona onset
voltages can be expressed as V0 ¼ 1:18S0:4 . Replacing the K1 and V0
in the Townsend's equation I ¼ K1 V ðV  V0 Þ yields the relation of
the currentevoltage characteristic:
 
I ¼ 31:59S1:7 V V  1:18S0:4
Accordingly, replacing k and I in Equation (1) yields the empir-
ical model for the ionic wind velocity:
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
  
U ¼ 64:5 V V  1:18S0:4 S1:7 ra m:
To test the empirical model with experimental data, we present
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
the reduced ionic wind velocity U * ¼ ð ra m=64:5ÞU with respect to
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
*
the reduced voltage V ¼ VðV  1:18S0:4 ÞS1:7 in Fig. 9, where
our measurements are well prescribed by the suggested empirical
model denoted by a solid line. The suggested empirical model
Fig. 8. The linear dependence of the onset voltage V0 on the distance from the needle
to the cylinder edge S.
129
Fig. 9. Comparison of the empirical model with experimental data. The measured
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ionic wind velocity U * ¼ ð ra m=64:6ÞU with respect to the voltage. The solid line
denotes the empirical model anticipation.
indicates that ionic wind velocity approximately linearly increases
with the applied voltage for a given electrode geometry.
Conclusions
We have experimentally investigated a compact ionic wind
generator with a needle-to-cylinder type operated with a positive
(2) corona and developed an empirical model. In order to determine
the dependence of the ionic wind velocity on the various control
parameters, we measured the ionic wind velocity and discharge
current with respect to the applied voltage, the distance between
electrodes, and the electrode geometry. Our measurements suggest
(3) that the distance between the electrodes can be optimized to
maximize the ionic wind velocity. For a given distance between
electrodes, the ionic wind velocity increases with the applied
voltage. In addition, the discharge current is proportional to the
product of the applied voltage and its difference from the corona
onset voltage. Our experimental data suggest an empirical model,
which indicates the dependence of the ionic wind velocity on the
applied voltage and electrode geometry. This model can be used to
determine the electrode geometry and operation conditions in
designing a compact ionic wind generator that has potential ap-
plications in thermal management of small electronics.
As future work, other factors affecting the ionic wind velocity
such as environment conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity)
will be considered. Because a working fluid of the ionic wind
contains charged ions, we expect that temperature and humidity
affect the corona discharge producing charged ions [24,36].
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation
of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No.
2009-0083510).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elstat.2014.11.001.
130 L. Li et al. / Journal of Electrostatics 73 (2015) 125e130

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