Enhancement of heat transfer by means of a corona wind created by a wire electrode and confined wings assembly

An electrostatic blower, which is utilized to cool heat-generating bodies, such as typical power-unit chips, was studied. The device, employs a long stretched thin wire electrode, which is confined by two inclined wings. The latter provides a longitudinal nozzle for the air stream, and at the same time an electric shield. It is concluded that the heat transfer coefficient can easily be increased by a factor of more than two, as compared with a natural convection mechanism. A linear relationship was found between the Nusselt and the Reynolds number. This is explained by the complex structure of the boundary layer due to the air stream impingement effect. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.