Design of an electrostatic lunar dust repeller for mitigating dust deposition and evaluation of its removal efficiency

    Authors

    N. Afshar-Mohajer; C. Y. Wu; R. Moore;N. Sorloaica-Hickman

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Aerosol. Sci.

    Keywords

    Lunar dust; Particle removal efficiency; Electric field; Electric; potential; Discrete element method; ELECTRIC CURTAIN; LEVITATION; PARTICLES; SURFACE; VACUUM; Engineering, Chemical; Engineering, Mechanical; Environmental Sciences; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

    Abstract

    The dusty environment of the moon and the deposition of charged particles were troublesome in previous NASA explorations. In this study, an electrostatic lunar dust repeller (ELDR) was developed to mitigate the dust deposition problem. The ELDR consists of an arrangement of thin, needle-shaped electrodes in front of the protected surface to repel approaching, like-charged lunar dust. A discrete element method (OEM) was applied to track particle trajectories for determining the removal efficiency. Simulation results for single electrodes (L=5 cm, D=1 mm and L=10 cm, D=1 mm) both protecting a 5-cm x 5-cm surface indicated that 4 kV and 1.5 kV were the respective-applied voltages required to achieve 100% protection from falling 20-mu m lunar dust particles. The electrical particleparticle interaction was identified to be a beneficial factor. Finite element analysis concluded that an x-shaped pattern was the most effective arrangement of the ensemble electrodes to protect a 30-cm x 30-cm surface. Modeling results showed that 2.2 kV and 1.4 kV were the minimum voltages applied to electrodes of length L=5 and 10 cm, respectively, on each electrode of the ensemble model to achieve complete removal of 20-gm-sized particles. The ensemble-electrode ELDR required lower applied voltage than the single-electrode ELDR, and in the most conservative scenario, it consumed only 9 times more electric power to protect an area 36 times larger. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Aerosol Science

    Volume

    69

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    21

    Last Page

    31

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000332499900003

    ISSN

    0021-8502

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