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.