A Numerical and Experimental Study Of Ion-Drag Electrohydrodynamic Micropumps

Abstract

<p>The objectives of this work are (i) to develop a numerical model for electrohydrodynamic micropumps, (ii) to investigate the effect of using a conductive agent in the working fluid to enhance the pump performance and (iii) to investigate the use of pulse voltage on EHD micropumps.</p> <p>A numerical model was developed that incorporates a charge model at the emitter electrode that is coherent to the electric field. The model results were found to be in good agreement with previous experimental results. A parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of the channel height and multi-stage spacing on the pump performance. Reducing the channel height reduced the flow rate but increased the pressure head, while increasing the multi-stage spacing improved the pump performance.</p> <p>The effect of using conductive agents in the working fluid was investigated using Ferrocene in HFE-7100. The Ferrocene was found to significantly improve the pump performance. However, at high voltages, the pressure could not be sustained for long periods of time. The effect of an applied pulse voltage on the performance of the micropumps was studied. A maximum pressure 3512 Pa was achieved at an applied pulse voltage between 500 V to 800V, pulse repetition rate of 5 Hz, and duty cycle of 60%.</p>