The present invention relates to cooling systems, and in particular to cooling systems providing forced convective gaseous flow for dissipating heat off of light-emitting diodes (LED). According to one aspect, a cooling system employs a heat sink in combination with an EHD pumping mechanism such as corona wind or micro-scale corona wind or by a temporally controlled ion-generation technique. For LEDs a channel-array structure can be employed to embody the heat sink. The EHD pumps are located at the inlet or outlet of the heat sink channels. Many advantages are achieved by the cooling system of the invention, including that the entire system can have similar or better performance than a conventional heat sink and fan system but with one-tenth the volume and weight and can operate silently. The present invention also relates to a method of fabricating a micro-channel heat sink employing EHD gas flow for use in LED cooling.

Electro-hydrodynamic gas flow led cooling system

An electrostatic fluid acceleration and method of operation thereof includes at least two synchronously powered stages with final or rear-most electrodes of one stage maintained at substantially the same instantaneous voltage as the immediately adjacent initial or forward-most electrodes of a next stage in an airflow direction. A single power supply or synchronized and phase controlled power supplies provide high voltage power to each of the stages such that both the phase and amplitude of the electric power applied to the corresponding electrodes are aligned in time. The frequency and phase control allows neighboring stages to be closely spaced at a distance of from 1 to 2 times an inter-electrode distance within a stage, and, in any case, minimizing or avoiding production of a back corona current from a corona discharge electrode of one stage to an electrode of a neighboring stage. Corona discharge electrodes of neighboring stages may be horizontally aligned, complementary collector electrodes of all stages being similarly horizontally aligned between and horizontally offset from the corona discharge electrodes.

Electrostatic fluid accelerator for and a method of controlling fluid flow

A spark management device includes a high voltage power source and a detector configured to monitor a parameter of an electric current provided to a load device. In response to the parameter, a pre-spark condition is identified. A switching circuit is responsive to identification of the pre-spark condition for controlling the electric current provided to the load device so as to manage sparking including, but not limited to, reducing, eliminating, regulating, timing, and/or controlling any intensity of arcs generated.

Spark management method and device

A filter assembly particularly useful in electronically enhanced air cleaning systems including a fibrous filter media. A conductive electrode is affixed to the fibrous filter media, so that the conductive electrode makes physical contact to the fibrous filter media in a plurality of substantially planar locations. The conductive electrode is coupled to a potential that enables neutralizing charge that accumulates on the filter media during operation to be removed thereby maintaining high efficiency.

Electrically enhanced air filtration with improved efficacy

A device for handling a fluid includes a corona discharge device and an electric power supply. The corona discharge device includes at least one corona discharge electrode and at least one collector electrode positioned proximate each other so as to provide a total inter-electrode capacitance within a predetermined range. The electric power supply is connected to supply an electric power signal to said corona discharge and collector electrodes so as to cause a corona current to flow between the corona discharge and collector electrodes. An amplitude of an alternating component of the voltage of the electric power signal generated is no greater than one-tenth that of an amplitude of a constant component of the voltage of the electric power signal. The alternating component of the voltage is of such amplitude and frequency that a ratio of an amplitude of the alternating component of the highest harmonic of the voltage divided by an amplitude of the constant component of said voltage being considerably less than that of a ratio of an amplitude of the highest harmonic of the alternating component of the corona current divided by an amplitude of the constant component of the corona current, i.e., (V ac/Vdc)≤(Iac(Idc).

Method of and apparatus for electrostatic fluid acceleration control of a fluid flow

An electrostatic air cleaning device includes an array (201) of electrodes. The electrodes include corona electrodes (102) connected to a suitable source (100) of high voltage so as to generate a corona discharge. Laterally displaced collecting electrodes (203) include one or more bulges (207) that have aerodynamic frontal upwind surfaces and airflow disrupting tailing edges downwind that create quite zones (209) for the collection of particulates removed from the air. The bulges (207) may be formed as rounded leading edges on the collecting electrodes (203) and/or ramped surfaces (415) located, for example, along a midsection of the electrodes. Repelling electrodes (104) positioned between pairs of the collecting electrodes (203) may include similar bulges (517) such as cylindrical or semi-cylindrical leading and/or trailing edges (517).

Electrostatic air cleaning device

An electrostatic fluid accelerator includes an electrode array including an array of corona discharge electrodes and an array of accelerating electrodes. A detector is configured to sense a constituent component of the fluid as present in an output from the electrode array. A control circuit supplies power to the electrode array, the control circuit being responsive to an output from the detector for operating the electrode array responsive a level of the constituent component.

Method of controlling a fluid flow

A method of operating an electrostatic fluid accelerating device includes applying a voltage to a plurality of corona electrodes and a plurality of complementary electrodes so as to generate a corona discharge to thereby propel an intervening fluid in a desired fluid flow direction. A direction of the fluid in a region adjacent a protuberant portion of each of said complementary electrodes is altered to create a turbulent fluid flow in the regions adjacent said protuberant portion. The fluid flow is propelled away from repelling electrodes and toward the complementary electrodes, each of the repelling electrodes having a substantially planar portion and at least one protuberant portion extending outwardly in a lateral direction substantially perpendicular to the desired fluid-flow direction.

Vladimir L. Gorobets

Papers

Electrostatic fluid accelerator for and a method of controlling fluid flow

Spark management method and device

Electrostatic air cleaning device

Method of controlling a fluid flow

Method of operating an electrostatic air cleaning device