Evaluation of idea for a new impactor

A novel type of impactor construction has been evaluated. It is based on an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) having the traditional vacuum pump substituted by a dielectric pump. The dielectric pump was constructed in the form of an asymmetric high-voltage capacitor. The airflow generated by it is an effect of both the ion wind between the two electrodes in the capacitor and the Biefeld-Brown effect. The pump effect is proportional to the square of the applied voltage. In the experiments, no higher flow speeds than about 1 m/s could be achieved. This is not high enough to be useful in real-life situation. To miniaturize the impactor is considered to be the most feasible way to increase the flow speed through the impactor. Experiments were also performed using methods to increase the effectiveness of the impactor.