Development of Ionic Wind Pump Used in Martian Environment

Abstract

An ionic wind pump consisting of simple concentric cylinders was developed for future Mars exploration. The ionic wind pump uses gas flow driven by the corona discharge generated at the edge of the inner cylinder electrode. It is suitable for applications such as air circulation in a module and heat transfer of equipment. The relationships between the applied voltage and the corona current, generated gas flow rate, and pressure rise were measured with reduced pressure of air and carbon dioxide gas that simulated the Mars environment. A substantial gas flow was generated at atmospheric pressure, but the pressure rise was less at low pressure. The performance was improved by adopting a multistage configuration. Some effective methods to measure gas velocity in a low-pressure environment were also developed. Numerical calculations were performed for the corona discharge field and the ionic wind induced by the migration of ions generated by the corona discharge. The experimental results agreed well with the numerical calculations. The pump can be effectively applied for Mars exploration because it is extremely simple, consumes less power, and has no mechanical moving parts.