Heat transfer enhancement of backstep flow by means of EHD conduction pumping

Electrohydrodynamics (EHD) conduction pumping takes advantage of the electrical Coulomb force generated by externally applied electric field and dissociated charges from electrolytes. The backstep flows that appear in certain types of MEMS application are not very efficient from the heat transfer standpoint due to the trapped circulation flow in the reattachment zone. This paper is a numerical study on the application of EHD conduction pumping as an auxiliary tool for heat transfer enhancement of backstep flows in macro- and micro-scale systems. An innovative electrode design with a dc electric potential difference is proposed with the primary motivation to reduce the volume of reattachment zone.