An experimental investigation of ion-drag pump in a vertical and axisymmetric configuration

An ion-drag pump in a vertical, axisymmetric configuration was built. Two pumping sections with 1 and 10 electrode pairs were constructed. The total length of the pumping loop with one electrode pair was 133.0 cm; with 10 electrode pairs it was 186.0 cm. The electrodes were designed from the fluid mechanics standpoint. The ions were injected into the fluid where the viscous shear stresses were the highest. The fluid used was dodecylbenzine, and all the experiments were conducted at 25°C. Pumping velocities as high as 33.4 cm/s (corresponding mass flow rate of 1.1 kg/s and total pressure generation of 111.9 Pa) at 25 kV have been achieved. The highest pump power efficiency obtained was 6.0%. The effect of the electrical conductivity level of dodecylbenzine on the pump performance was also studied. Increasing the conductivity level reduced the pumping velocity