Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Electrowetting Using A Microfluidic Kelvin Water Dropper, Elias Yazdanshenas, Qiang Tang, Xiaoyu Zhang

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The Kelvin water dropper is an electrostatic generator that can generate high voltage electricity through water dripping. A conventional Kelvin water dropper converts the gravitational potential energy of water into electricity. Due to its low current output, Kelvin water droppers can only be used in limited cases that demand high voltage. In the present study, microfluidic Kelvin water droppers (MKWDs) were built in house to demonstrate a low-cost but accurately controlled miniature device for high voltage generation. The performance of the MKWDs was characterized using different channel diameters and flow rates. The best performed MKWD was then used to conduct …