Electrostatic propulsion motor for tiny vessels

Pumps utilizing electric traveling waves as the conveyor of liquids have already been presented in various publications. In those considerations, a dielectric liquid has been chosen as the media to propel. Inversely, it is conceivable to use pumps as propulsion motors for tiny vessels. Hereinafter, the proposed electrostatic propulsion motor is based on the electric tube device which has been introduced in an earlier paper by the first author for the task of particle mass transportation. The device is made by winding six parallel and insulated wires onto a cylindrical tube. The employed wires have a diameter in the range of 56 /spl mu/m-236 /spl mu/m. Upon the application of multi-phase voltages to the monolayer-electrodes, the created traveling electric field wave carries the charged liquid in the same direction. Various electrostatic propulsion motors have been fabricated and optimized through a series of experiments. Optimizing parameters involve electrode dimensions, fabrication materials, applied voltages and frequencies. As evaluative parameters, the propulsion pressure and the rate of liquid flow are determined. Constant and precise liquid propulsion is achieved. It is further shown that this tube structure has a high potential for miniaturization.