Movement of Air in the Electric Wind of the Corona Discharge

The mechanism of gas movement in the electric wind is considered and an approximate theory presented which relates relevant electrical and mechanical quantities. Among others, the following relationships are shown to hold Velocity is a linear function of voltage and is proportional to the square root of current if the density of the gas is not too low the efficiency of electrokinetic conversion is proportional to the density and the velocity is independent of the density near sparkover efficiency is independent of voltage velocity increases slowly as blowers are stacked in series the rate of ozone generation in the corona discharge in air is an increasing function of electric-wind velocity. The forms of the equations relating these variables are found to hold in a variety of cases even though assumed boundary conditions are not observed experimentally. The practical utility of an electrostatic blower is limited by an efficiency of operation in the neighborhood of one percent. A survey of the literature and an extensive bibliography are included. Author