This paper presents a numerical model assessing the potential of ionic wind as a heat transfer enhancement method for the cooling of grid distribution assets. Distribution scale power routers (13–37 kV, 1–10 MW) have stringent requirements regarding lifetime and reliability, so that any cooling technique involving moving parts such as fans or pumps are not viable. Increasing the air flow — and thereby enhancing heat transfer — through Corona discharge could be an attractive solution to the thermal design of such devices. In this work, the geometry of a rectangular, vertical channel with a corona electrode at the entrance is considered. The multiphysics problem is characterized by a set of four differential equations: the Poisson equation for the electric field and conservation equations for electric charges, momentum and energy. The electrodynamics part of the problem is solved using a finite difference approximation (FDA). Solutions for the potential, electric field and free charge density are presented for a rectangular control volume with mixed boundary conditions.

Volume Subject Area:
Heat Transfer and Thermal Engineering
Topics:
Thermal management, Wind, Cooling, Electric fields, Heat transfer, Air flow, Approximation, Boundary-value problems, Computer simulation, Corona discharge, Density, Design, Differential equations, Electric charge, Electrodes, Electrodynamics, Fans, Food and Drug Administration, Frequency-domain analysis, Geometry, Momentum, Poisson equation, Pumps, Reliability
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