We propose a bi-directional electrohydrodynamic pump developed for transporting dielectric liquid, where the electrodes are symmetrically configured but the applied voltage is non-symmetric. The underlying principle for liquid transport comes from the so-called Onsager effect, which states that the ion concentration is increased as the electric field is increased. Multi-physics software is used to perform numerical simulation for the fluid flow, the electric potential, and the transport of ion concentrations for two kinds of electrode patterns. A flow-visualization experiment is also conducted to verify the physical models and numerical methods employed. It is found that significant reduction of the ion recombination constant is required to get matching of the experimental and simulation results. We demonstrate through a parametric study that there is an optimum distance between two large grounded electrodes for producing a maximum pumping velocity at the diameter of two small electrodes fixed at 0.3 mm. The effect of the size of large grounded electrodes on the pumping performance is also studied in terms of streamlines, electric field, and charge distribution. A general account is also given of the basic ideas of electrode arrangement for the enhancement of pumping.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.