Numerical modeling of body force induced by corona discharge

Abstract

The paper presents the theoretical basis and results of numerical modeling of corona discharge phenomenon carried out to determine the value of body force that induces the flow of surrounding fluid. The system of two partial differential equations is solved with the values of electric potential ϕ and space charge density ρq as unknowns. The first equation is of Poisson-type with Laplacian acting on the value of potential and source term dependent on space charge density as well as electric permittivity of the medium. The second equation is current continuity equation, where the current density is composed of charge carrier diffusion term and the term describing their drift in electric field. Particular attention was given to the boundary condition of space charge density due to its indirect nature. Geometry of the problem assumes that positive corona discharge takes place on the sharp edge of the blade-shaped anode while flat grounded plate acts as a cathode. Such configuration enables simplified analysis in 2D Cartesian coordinates assuming that the section plane is sufficiently far from the lateral edges of the blade. The system of equations is solved with MOOSE (Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment) Framework released in public domain on GNU LGPL license by Idaho National Laboratory. Presented results include 2D distributions of electric potential, electric field strength, space charge density and body force in air surrounding electrodes.

Modeling of Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) Plasma Thrusters: Optimization of Physical and Geometrical Parameters

“…There are several theoretical, modulation, simulation, and experimental works that study the creation of an ionic wind resulting from the electrohydrodynamic force (EHD) created by a corona discharge, some with applications in electric propulsion (see, e.g., Refs. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]). In 1967, Christenson and Moller [15] investigated ionic wind as a propulsion technique.…”