| Abstract [eng] |
This work is about ion propulsion phenomenon in atmospheric circumstances, commonly referred to as electro hydrodynamics (EHD), or electro aerodynamics (EAD). The purpose of the work is to review research papers about electro hydrodynamics phenomenon and search for a possible practical application for it. This work features are review of the research papers on the subject, attention is given to the papers describing drones powered by EHD as well as computer cooling systems that use EHD to replace conventional fan cooling. Additionally the work describes attempts at performing ion propulsion experiments in home conditions. The work features designs of a lighter than air vehicle using the ion thrust as a propulsion device, mass budget of the aircraft is calculated. The lighter than air aircrafts structure analysis is performed in order to better understand the structural requirements as well as better adjust the mass budget available to the device. A computational fluid dynamic analysis is performed on the drone to calculate its coefficient of resistance and better calculate the maximum speed achieved by the device using a low power ion thruster. Comparison are then made between the lighter than air drone powered with an ion propulsion thruster, and that same drone powered via conventional means of propulsion are made, showing that the ion thruster is many times less efficient than the conventional propeller. The cooling system that uses EHD to move air instead of conventional fans is modeled after an industry standard computer cooling fan. The EHD cooling systems sizing is based on the same thruster type as the drone. A computational fluid analysis of the designed cooling system is performed to ensure it performs similarly to the selected cooling fan. The designed cooling system while comparable to the standard cooling fan is hundreds of times less efficient at generating airflow, as well as takes up almost a thousand times more space than the conventional fan. Practical experimentation involving ion thrusters was attempted as there was no laboratory equipment available it was attempted to build the high voltage power generation system from scratch. Although the power supply was made, and reached a voltage required to create the corona effect required to create ion flow, the experiments proved unsuccessful, due to lack of proper grounding to the device. This revealed how dangerous and unwieldy the technology is, as high voltages are dangerous and can act unpredictably. Overall the ion thruster in atmospheric conditions technology is deemed unpractical, only to be applied in extremely niche situations, as it lacks a more thrust dense way to apply the energy, which leads to high inefficiency. |
