Experimental study of electrohydrodynamic pumping through conduction phenomenon

In an isothermal liquid, only the Coulomb force which is the force acting on the free charges, can contribute to net electrohydrodynamic (EHD) motion. In the absence of a direct charge injection, pumping of an isothermal liquid can be achieved due to the charges associated with the heterocharge layers of finite thickness in the vicinity of the electrodes. These charges are based on the process of dissociation of a neutral electrolytic species and recombination of the generated ions. This type of pumping is referred to as conduction pumping. The conduction pumping mechanism is experimentally investigated here with three different electrode designs. Sufficient pressure heads are generated with very low electric power requirements making the EHD conduction pumping attractive to certain applications in the presence and absence of gravity, such as capillary pumped loops and heat pipes. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.