Ionic Wind Technologies launches new booster for ionic wind
St.Gallen - Ionic Wind Technologies has developed a new type of airflow booster for ionic wind. The spin-off from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) primarily plans to use this novel technology for cooling data centers and high-performance electronics.
(CONNECT) The startup Ionic Wind Technologies based in St.Gallen has developed a new type of airflow booster for ionic wind. According to a press release, the spin-off from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) plans to use the new technology to cool highly sensitive areas of data centers, such as microprocessors.
This can reportedly be achieved with ionic wind, which would considerably reduce the energy required for the cooling process. Ionic wind is created by electrostatic fields that convert electrical current directly into an airflow. The speeds of the generated airflow have been too low until now for effective cooling. Ionic Wind Technologies has now developed an airflow amplifier with flow-optimized housing shape and novel electrodes that accelerates the ionic wind significantly.
“We accelerate air directly by charging it electrically. Since the electric current is converted directly into an airflow, the energy-consuming and noisy intermediate steps via a motor, rotor or fan blade are eliminated,” explained Donato Rubinetti, co-founder of Ionic Wind Technologies, in the press release.
At the heart of the patented airflow booster are needle electrodes that generate ionic wind efficiently. The project makes use of the Coandă effect, which is also used in airplane wings and automobile racing. According to calculations, up to 60 percent of cooling energy could be saved. ce/ww