JP2024058731A - Asymmetric image force driven electrostatic generator - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] In an asymmetric image force driven electrostatic generator, a charge carrier is charged with a charge of opposite polarity to a high potential charging electrode, and the charge carrier is driven and advanced by utilizing the asymmetric image force phenomenon in which the forward image force generated between the charge carrier and a charge recovery electrode ahead of it is greater than the backward image force generated between the charge carrier and the charging electrode, and the charge carrier is raised to a higher electrical potential with the surplus energy possessed by the charge carrier when it reaches the recovery electrode, thereby making it possible to use currently available electrets of 3.5 kV or less as a high potential charging electrode. [Solution] This is achieved by optimizing the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode to increase the surplus energy. [Effect] As a result of the increase in surplus energy, it becomes possible to use electrets with a lower potential. [Selected Figure] Figure 20

Description

This invention relates to an electrostatic generator that uses asymmetric image forces obtained by holding a charged charge on a charge carrier that has an asymmetric shape with respect to an axis perpendicular to the direction of travel and utilizing the phenomenon in which the strength of the image force acting on the charged charge is different before and after the direction of travel (hereinafter referred to as asymmetric image force) as its driving force.

In order to solve global warming and environmental problems, various power generation methods that do not generate carbon dioxide have been implemented, such as nuclear power generation, solar power generation, wind power generation, etc. However, these methods have problems in terms of safety, stability, cost, durability, and miniaturization.
On the other hand, electrostatic generators are not dangerous throughout their manufacture, use, and disposal, and the amount of electricity they generate is always stable, regardless of weather or the time of day they are generated.
In addition, it is easy to miniaturize, so no storage batteries or power lines are required. Furthermore, it requires almost no energy supply or maintenance, has a long life (about 100 years), and is a low-cost power source.

In such an electrostatic generator, a charge is injected into a charge carrier by a low-potential charge injection electrode (hereinafter referred to as the injection electrode), and the charge carrier is transported and lifted up against the electrostatic force acting on it in an electric field to a high-potential charge recovery electrode (hereinafter referred to as the recovery electrode), where the transported charge is recovered.
However, Van de Graaff's electrostatic generator uses mechanical power (an electric motor) to move the charge carrier against the electrostatic force, and the power consumed by the electric motor is greater than the power generated, so although it is a high potential (1 million volts) generator, it cannot be called a generator.

In response to this, electrostatic power generation methods have been proposed that use asymmetric electrostatic forces to drive the charge carrier from a low potential to a high potential (Patent Documents 1 to 5), and some of these methods use asymmetric image forces as the driving force. These are briefly explained below.

As shown in Figure 1, when a point charge 1 is at a distance r from a grounded conductive flat plate 2, an electrostatic force calculated by the following formula (1) acts on the point charge 1. This corresponds to the image force.

F = q ² /4πε ₀ (2r) ² (１)

Although the charges are described as point charges or spherically charged bodies, image forces are also generated in non-spherical charged bodies.
Here, if the shape of a charged object is symmetrical, the strength of the image force acting on the charge does not change even if the direction of the electric field through which the charged object moves is reversed. However, if the shape is asymmetrical, the strength of the image force changes significantly when the electric field is reversed (Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).

For example, a simulation using a two-dimensional finite difference method revealed that when the charge amount of the horizontal gutter-shaped charge carrier 4 shown in Figure 2 is 1 μC and the distance from the grounded conductor plate 2 is 1.0 mm, the image force acting on the carrier 4 is 32.4 N when the opening faces the grounded conductor plate 2, and conversely, it is 69.0 N when the bottom face faces the grounded conductor plate 2. Hereinafter, this phenomenon will be referred to as asymmetric image force.

The basic structure of an electrostatic generator that uses this asymmetric image force as the driving force for the charge carrier is shown in Figure 3. The main components are only a charging potential source 3 (e.g., a charging electrode or a charging electret), a horizontal gutter-shaped charge carrier 4, and a recovery electrode 5. However, in an actual device, a recovery electrode capacitor 6, a conductive terminal 7 for injecting charge, and a conductive terminal 8 for recovering charge are also added, but for simplicity, only the main components will be described below.

3, when the charge carrier 4 enters between a pair of upper and lower charging electrodes (e.g. electrets) 3 from the left in Fig. 3 and reaches the position shown in Fig. 3, air capacitors are formed between the upper and lower flat plates 42 of the charge carrier 4 and the pair of upper and lower charging electrets 3. At this time, when the charge carrier 4 is grounded by the charge injection terminal 7, the charging charge to the air capacitor is injected into the charge carrier 4 from the ground.
The charged charge carrier 4 then advances further to the right in the figure and enters a pair of upper and lower recovery electrodes 5. The recovery electrodes 5 and the charge carrier 4 are then electrically connected by charge recovery terminals 8 provided in the pair of upper and lower recovery electrodes 5 and in contact with the charge carrier 4, and the charged charge passes through the recovery electrode 5 and is accumulated in the recovery electrode capacitor 6. The charged charge then flows to an external load through a circuit not shown.

When the electret 3 serving as the charging electrode is negatively charged, the charge carrier 4 is positively charged. As a result, an electrostatic force acts on the charge carrier 4 moving to the right in the figure between the electret 3 serving as the charging electrode and the recovery electrode 5, in the leftward direction in the figure, due to the electric field formed between the electret 3 serving as the charging electrode and the recovery electrode 5. Hereinafter, this force will be referred to as the electric field force.
In addition, an image force acts to the left in the figure due to the back electrode of the electret 3, which is the charging electrode. Hereinafter, this force will be referred to as the retreating image force. At the same time, an image force acts to the right in the figure due to the recovery electrode 5. Hereinafter, this force will be referred to as the forward image force.
Here, immediately after leaving the electret 3 serving as the charging electrode, the resultant force of the leftward receding electric field force and the receding image force is strong, but as it approaches the recovery electrode 5, the sum of the rightward forward image force and the leftward receding electric field force becomes stronger.

Therefore, when the charge carrier 4 is asymmetric, the leftward electric field force and the backward image force acting on the edges of the upper and lower horizontal plates 42 of the charge carrier 4 are weak, the electric field forces acting vertically on the front and back of the horizontal plate 42 are canceled out with equal strength in the upward and downward directions, and the rightward forward image force acting on the front vertical plate portion 41 is strong.
As a result, the rightward forward image force becomes stronger than the sum of the leftward backward electric field force and the backward image force, and the charge carrier 4 can reach the recovery electrode 5 from the electret 3, which is the charging electrode. Therefore, if the charge carried by the charge carrier 4 is recovered by the recovery electrode 5, this device becomes an electrostatic generator. If the charge is not recovered, the device becomes an electrostatic motor.

Therefore, the electrostatic force acting on the charged charge carrier 4 between the electret 3, which is the charging electrode, and the recovery electrode 5 was obtained by simulation. An example is shown in Figure 4. In the figure, the distance between the right end of the electret, which is the charging electrode, and the left end of the charge carrier is defined as the position of the charge carrier (the same applies below).
First, after the charge carrier 4 leaves the electret 3, which is the charging electrode, the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 is negative, i.e., directed to the left, for about 10 mm, but after 10 mm it turns positive, i.e., directed to the right, and the absolute value of the force becomes larger, as is clear from Fig. 4. Therefore, the charge carrier 4 that has reached the recovery electrode 5 has surplus kinetic energy remaining. This surplus energy can be used to raise the electrons transported from a low potential (0V) to a higher potential (e.g., -1000V). In other words, electricity can be generated.

In fact, an asymmetric image force-driven electrostatic power generation experimental machine (bench model) was prototyped based on this principle, and the results of power generation are described in Patent Document 5 (JP 2022-084111 A). Below, a brief explanation will be given with reference to a schematic longitudinal sectional view 5 and a schematic transverse sectional view (or plan view) 6.
In the figure, reference number 4 is a gutter-shaped charge carrier, reference number 3 is an electret as a pair of plate-shaped charging electrodes, inner and outer, viewed in the radial direction, reference number 5 is a pair of plate-shaped recovery electrodes, viewed in the radial direction, reference number 9 is a pair of plate-shaped acceleration electrodes, inner and outer, viewed in the radial direction, which strengthen the asymmetric image force, and are grounded. Reference number 10 is a pair of plate-shaped shield electrodes, inner and outer, viewed in the radial direction, which prevent the high potential of the electret 3 as the charging electrode from affecting the recovery electrode 5, and are grounded. Reference number 11 is a holding disk that holds the charge carrier, and reference number 12 is a stainless steel rotating shaft (support). The injection terminal and the recovery terminal are omitted. Reference number 13 is a high-performance ball bearing that is fixed to the center of the holding disk 11 of the charge carrier and rotates around the fixed rotating shaft 12.
Here, the electrostatic force simulated when one acceleration electrode 9 is placed is shown in Fig. 7. The difference in effect is clear when compared with Fig. 4.

In the figure, the radius of the charge carrier holding disk 11 is 45 mm, and the outer parts of each pair of inner and outer charging electrodes, the electret 3, the acceleration electrode 9, and the recovery electrode 5, are formed on a circumference with a radius of 50 mm, and the inner parts are formed on a circumference with a radius of 30 mm. As a result, the distance between the inner and outer electrodes of the electret 3, which is the charging electrode, is 20 mm.
The width of the outer portion of the electret 3 serving as the charging electrode and the recovery electrode 5 is 40 mm, and the width of the acceleration electrode 9 is 20 mm.
The height of the outer parts of the charging electrodes, the electret 3, the acceleration electrode 9, and the recovery electrode 5, is 65 mm, and the height of the inner parts is 55 mm. In the figure, the width, depth, and height of the trough-shaped charge carrier 4 are 5 mm, 5 mm, and 50 mm, respectively.

In this experimental setup, we first conducted experiments on an asymmetric image-force-driven electrostatic generator using a non-electret charged electrode.
Specifically, a high voltage was applied to the charging electrode 3 from a high voltage power supply (not shown), and the charge carrier 4 was forcibly rotated by air spray for 3 to 30 seconds. After this, if the electrostatic force (forward image force - (reverse electric field force + receding image force)) acting on the charge carrier is greater than the air resistance force + mechanical friction force acting on the charge carrier, the charge carrier disk 11 continues to rotate, and the charge stored in the charging electrode 3 is collected by the collection electrode 5, resulting in a vigorous rise in the surface potential of the collection capacitor 6. In other words, power generation continues.

When the voltage applied to the charging electrode 3 was increased in increments of -0.5 kV from -3.0 kV, the rotation did not change from forced rotation to continuous rotation up to -5.0 kV, and stopped after several tens of seconds. However, at -5.5 kV, the rotation continued slowly, and the potential of the recovery capacitor 6 also rose slowly. The recovery capacitor 6 was also earthed three times, and each time, its potential rose from 0 V in the positive direction.

However, when using rechargeable electrets as charging electrodes, the current output limit is -3.5 kV, and it is not possible to create high-potential electrets that output -5.5 kV or more, and they cannot be used. If the inside of the generator is made into a vacuum to reduce air resistance to zero, it becomes possible to use low-potential rechargeable electrets, but it is difficult to maintain a vacuum for long periods of time with consumer products.

[Patent Document 1] JP 2008-5690 A
[Patent Document 2] JP 2020-150780 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2021-108524 A [Patent Document 4] JP 2022-2436 A [Patent Document 5] JP 2022-84111 A

[Non-Patent Document 1] Proceedings of the 2006 American Society of Electrostatic Engineers Annual Conference, p. 137
[Non-Patent Document 2] [Asymmetric Electrostatic Forces and a New Electrostatic Generator], Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2010

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for obtaining sufficient surplus energy to overcome air resistance, etc., using a charged electret with a surface potential of 3.5 kV or less in an asymmetric image force-driven electrostatic generator.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by optimizing the distance between the charging electret and the recovery electrode.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a charged electret with a surface potential of 3.5 kV or less can generate sufficient excess energy to overcome air resistance, etc., making it possible to realize an asymmetric image force-driven electrostatic generator.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the conventionally known principle of image force. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of asymmetric image force. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the basic structure of an asymmetric image force driven electrostatic generator. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the electrostatic force acting on the charged charge carrier between the electret, which is the charging electrode, and the recovery electrode. FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a prototype electrostatic power generation experimental device driven by asymmetric image forces. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a prototype electrostatic power generation experimental device driven by asymmetric image forces. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier when one acceleration electrode is added. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a charge carrier disk in which charge carriers are placed horizontally at a certain angle. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an experimental device consisting of a charge carrier disk and electrode plates sandwiching it from above and below. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the charging electret and the recovery electrode on the electrode plate. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the results of a simulation of the amount of charge versus the charging potential. FIG. 12 is a graph showing the results of a simulation of the electrostatic force that the charge carrier receives in the process of passing through the charged electret and reaching the recovery electrode. FIG. 13 is a graph showing the surplus energy obtained for each charging potential. FIG. 14 is a graph plotting the relationship between the square of the charge density and the excess energy. FIG. 15 is a graph showing the relationship between the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode and the image force acting on the charge carrier, which is obtained by simulation. FIG. 16 is another graph showing the relationship between the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode and the image force acting on the charge carrier, which is obtained by simulation. FIG. 17 is a graph showing the calculated relationship between the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode and the surplus energy. FIG. 18 is a graph showing the calculated relationship between the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode and the potential at which the transported charge is increased by the surplus energy. FIG. 19 is a graph showing the relationship between the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode and the amount of charge recovered by the recovery capacitor per second, that is, the current. FIG. 20 is a graph showing the relationship between the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode and the output calculated based on the respective potentials and currents. FIG. 21 is a graph showing the results of simulating the electrostatic force (image force + receding field force) acting on the charge carrier when the distance between the charging electret and the recovery electrode is 1760 μm. FIG. 22 is a graph showing the relationship between the electrostatic force acting on two charge carriers moving with a gap of 2280 μm between them when the distance between the charging electrode and the recovery electrode is 7360 μm, and the electrostatic force acting on a single charge carrier. FIG. 23 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an accelerator composed of a cylindrical charging electret, a cylindrical recovery electrode, and a cylindrical charge carrier.

In an asymmetric image force-driven electrostatic generator, the applicant has achieved a state in which the surplus energy exceeds air resistance and the like, allowing the charge carrier 4 to continue rotating even when the surface potential of the charged electret 3 is -3.5 kV or less, i.e., a state of continuous power generation, by optimizing the distance between the charged electret 3 and the recovery electrode 5.

Here, downsizing the entire device is effective in lowering the potential of the charged electret 3. By halving the size, it is possible to reduce the potential of the charged electret 3 from -5.5 kV to approximately half, that is, -3.0 kV.
In addition, even if the potential of the charged electret 3 is -3.0 kV, if the amount of charge that can be charged to the charge carrier 4 is the same as when the potential is -5.5 kV, the same surplus energy can be obtained, the charge carrier disk 11 continues to rotate, and power generation can continue. Therefore, in the above prototype, the distance between the charged electret 3 and the charge carrier 4 can be reduced from 7.5 mm to half, 3.75 mm.
However, in the prototype in which the charge carrier 4 is hung vertically, as the charge carrier disk 11 rotates, the bottom end of the charge carrier 4 bulges due to centrifugal force and comes into contact with the outer electrode, making it difficult to maintain the above-mentioned distance.

Therefore, the applicant changed the method of hanging the charge carrier 4 to a method of placing it horizontally at a fixed angle on the charge carrier disk 11 as shown in Fig. 8. Accordingly, the charging electret 3 and the recovery electrode 5 are also installed facing each other on the front and back of the upper and lower electrode disks 15 and 14 that sandwich the charge carrier disk 11 as shown in Fig. 9. Therefore, with this method, the charge carrier spreads outward due to centrifugal force and does not come into contact with each electrode. However, with this method, if the width of the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 is constant, the gap between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 becomes narrow near the center of the disks 14 and 15, and leakage or discharge occurs between them.
Therefore, the shapes of both electrodes are made trapezoidal, narrowing toward the center, as shown in Fig. 9. Similarly, the charge carrier 4 is made trapezoidal, as shown in Fig. 8.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, 82 horizontal trough-shaped charge carriers 4, each 25 mm long, 1.0 mm long at the bottom, 0.5 mm long at the top, 1.0 mm high at the top, and 0.04 mm thick, are set on a charge carrier disk 11, an insulating disk with a thickness of 0.5 mm and a radius of 50 mm, with a margin of 5 mm on the periphery.
10, the upper and lower electrode disks 14, 15 are insulating disks of the same shape, and the trapezoidal charging electrets 3, each 25 mm long, 1.5 mm long, and 0.75 mm long, and the trapezoidal recovery electrodes 5, each 25 mm long, 2.0 mm long, and 1.0 mm long, are alternately provided on the outer peripheral margin of 5 mm on each of the upper and lower electrode disks 14, 15. The charging electrets 3 and recovery electrodes 5 of one set are arranged with an outer spacing of 3.2 mm and an inner spacing of 1.6 mm, and the next set of recovery electrodes 5 and charging electrets 3 are arranged with an outer spacing of 0.8 mm and an inner spacing of 0.4 mm, for a total of 41 sets. Hereinafter, each set is referred to as one unit.
Therefore, the outer width of the unit is 7.5 mm and the inner width is 3.75 mm. The distance between the upper and lower electrode plates 14, 15 is 1.24 mm, and adding the substrate thickness of 0.5 mm makes the height of the unit 1.74 mm. The distance between the upper and lower horizontal plates 42 of the horizontal trough-shaped charge carrier 4 and the pair of upper and lower charged electrets 3 is 0.1 mm, the thickness of the charged electrets (upper and lower in Figure 9) is 0.04 mm, and the relative dielectric constant is 2.0.

In this method, the applicant changed the potential of the charged electret 3 and performed a simulation to determine the relationship between the amount of charge stored in the charge carrier 4, the charge carrier 4 charged by the charging, and the electrostatic force acting between the charged electret 3 and the recovery electrode 5.
Here, since the trapezoidal charge carrier 4 cannot be simulated by the two-dimensional finite difference method, a rectangular charge carrier 4 was used. The width of the charge carrier 4 was set to 0.75 mm, which is the average value of the upper and lower bases. Similarly, the width of the charged electret 3, which is the average value of the upper and lower bases, the gap between the charged electret 3 and the recovery electrode 5, the width of the recovery electrode 5, which is the average value of the upper and lower bases, and the gap between the recovery electrode 5 and the adjacent pair of charged electrets 3 were also set to 1.12 mm, 2.4 mm, 1.6 mm, and 0.6 mm, respectively. Therefore, the length of one unit is 5.72 mm in total.

Furthermore, the charge density of the charged electret 3 was changed to 0.1 mC/m ² , 0.2 mC/m ² , 0.4 mC/m ² , and 1.0 mC/m ² , and the amount of charge when the charge carrier 4 was between the upper and lower charged electrets 3 was simulated.
At this time, the surface potential of the charged electret 3 is 225 V, 450 V, 900 V, and 2250 V, respectively, when no charge carrier 4 is present in the vicinity. When the charge carrier 4, which is grounded for charging, is placed at a distance of 0.1 mm from the charged electret 3, the potential drops from 2250 V to 1882 V to 2111 V. Hereinafter, when the simulation results are expressed in terms of potential, it is the potential when no charge carrier 4 is present in the vicinity.

When the charge density of the charged electret 3 is 0.1 mC/ ^m2 , 0.2 mC/ ^m2 , 0.4 mC/ ^m2 , and 1.0 mC/ ^m2 , the charging potentials are calculated based on the formula to be 225 V, 450 V, 900 V, and 2250 V, respectively. That is, the charging potential increases in direct proportion to the charge density of the electret.
The results of simulating the amount of charge injected into the charge carrier 4 for each charging potential are shown in Figure 11. That is, the amount of charge increases in direct proportion to the charging potential.

Next, the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 having the charge amount when the charge density of the charged electret is 0.1 mC/ ^m2 , 0.2 mC/ ^m2 , 0.4 mC/ ^m2 , and 1.0 mC/ ^m2 (i.e., the charging potential is 225 V, 450 V, 900 V, and 2250 V) in the process of passing through the charged electret 3 and reaching the recovery electrode 5 was simulated. The results are shown in Figure 12. Considering this together with Figure 11, it can be seen that as the charge amount of the charge carrier 4 increases, the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 increases significantly when it is pulled backward in the early stage after passing through the charged electret 3 and when it is pulled forward from the middle to the latter half.

Furthermore, to quantitatively examine this relationship, the positive and negative kinetic energy received by the charge carrier 4 was calculated for each charging potential based on the electrostatic force and the distance traveled by the charge carrier 4, and the surplus energy for each charging potential was calculated by adding them up. The results are shown in Figure 13. From Figure 13, it can be seen that a charging potential of at least 2.0 kV or more is desirable.

As shown in Fig. 13, the surplus energy is approximately proportional to the square of the charging potential. Therefore, since the charging potential and the amount of charging charge are directly proportional to each other as shown in Fig. 11, the corresponding surplus energy was plotted against the square of the amount of charging charge instead of the charging potential. The graph showing the results is shown in Fig. 14.
14, the surplus energy is almost exactly proportional to the amount of charge, i.e., the square of the charging potential. From the above, in order to increase the surplus energy, it is effective to increase the charging potential of the charging electret.

From the above-mentioned image force formula (1), it is known that the image force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance r between the charged body 1 and the ground conductor 2.
In other words, the shorter the distance, the greater the image force, and the longer the distance, the smaller the image force. Considering this, making the distance between the charging electret 3 and the recovery electrode 5 longer is a waste because the image force is almost ineffective except at the beginning and end of the movement of the charge carrier 4 between them, and it is better to make this distance shorter.
Therefore, only this distance was changed, and the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 having a constant charge amount was obtained by simulation. In order to observe only the effect of the image force excluding the electric field force acting on the charge carrier 4 after charging, the charging means was replaced by a non-electret charging electrode 3, which was grounded.

Specifically, the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 was reduced from 2380 μm to 1760 μm, and the image force acting on the charge carrier 4 holding a charge of −1.0 nC was determined by simulation. The results are shown in FIG. 15 alongside the results for 2380 μm.
However, both the backward electrostatic force pulling the charge carrier 4 back to the left in the early stage of its movement and the forward electrostatic force pulling it to the right from the middle to the latter half of its movement were smaller than the electrostatic forces when the spacing was 2380 μm. As a result, the surplus energy was also reduced from 0.247 μJ to 0.168 μJ.

The reason for this result is that when the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 becomes narrower, not only is a receding image force acting to the left between the charging electrode 3 and the charge carrier 4 that has left the charging electrode 3, but also a forward image force acting to the right between the charging electrode 3 and the slightly distant recovery electrode 5, which is stronger in proportion to the shorter distance. As a result, it is thought that the image force acting at a distance of 1760 μm is slightly smaller than that at a distance of 2380 μm.
Conversely, when approaching the recovery electrode 5, the receding image force is stronger because the distance is shorter, and it is considered that the image force acting at a distance of 1760 μm is slightly smaller than that at a distance of 2380 μm. Therefore, the above-mentioned formula for image force does not apply, and the following was considered.

As a result of the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 being shortened from 2380 μm to 1760 μm, the length of one unit on the circumference was also shortened from 5700 μm to 5130 μm, and as a result, the number of units that could be arranged on the circumference increased from 41 to 46.
Therefore, we compared the output when the charge carrier disk 11 made one rotation in each case. First, assuming that all of the surplus energy W can be used to increase the potential of the transferred charge q, the generated voltage V can be calculated by the following formula (2).
(Number 3)
V = W / q (2)

In each case, the amount of carried charge q is 1.0 nC, and the excess energy W is 0.168 μJ and 0.247 μJ, so the generated voltage V is 168 V and 247 V.
Therefore, in the case of a spacing of 1760 μm, when the charge carrier disk 11 rotates once, one charge carrier 4 carries a charge of 1.0 nC to 46 recovery electrodes, so the total amount of charge carried is 46 nC. Since there are 46 charge carriers 4, a total of 2116 nC of charge is stored in the capacitor 6 of the recovery electrode 5 during one rotation of the charge carrier disk 11.
If the rotation speed of the charge carrier disk 11 is 1000 rpm, it rotates 16.7 times per second. As a result, the amount of charge collected by the recovery capacitor 6 per second, i.e., the current, is 35.3 μA, and the output obtained by multiplying this by the voltage is 5.94 mW. If a similar calculation is performed when the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 is 2380 μm, the obtained voltage is 247 V, the current is 28.0 μA, and the output is 6.92 mW, which are greater than when the distance is 1760 μm.

As described above, the output increased as the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 became wider, so this distance was further widened. Specifically, the distance was widened to 3920 μm, 5360 μm, 7740 μm, 9680 μm, and 12000 μm, and the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 charged with 1.0 nC was simulated. The results are shown in FIG. 16.
From the figure, it can be seen that the peak value of the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 becomes lower when the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 is narrow, but the peak value does not change when the distance is 8000 μm or more. This result seems to suggest that when the distance is about 8000 μm, the receding image force acting between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 almost disappears.

From the diagram above, if we calculate the surplus energy that the charge carrier 4 possesses when it reaches the recovery electrode 5 for each gap between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5, we get the result shown in Figure 17. The 1 nC charge carried by this surplus energy is raised to the potential calculated based on Equation 2 above. The results are shown in Figure 18.

The amount of charge collected by the recovery capacitor 6 in one second with the charge carrier 4 rotating at 1000 rpm, i.e., the current, is calculated for each interval in the same manner as above. The results are shown in FIG.
Each output is calculated as the product of the output voltage and the output current.
As a result, when one set of 1.74 mm high electrode plates 14, 15 and charge carrier disks 11 is stacked in 57 layers in a 10 cm cube, the output is 57 times the output when there is one charge carrier 4 per unit, and furthermore, the output of a generator with 1000 such 10 cm cubes placed in a 1 m cube (1 ^m3 ) is 1000 times that of the previous output. The total output of the ¹ m3 cube device is shown in Figure 20.
From the above results, it can be seen that the generator output increases as the gap between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 increases, but it peaks at a gap of around 8000 μm and decreases if the gap is wider than that. In other words, to obtain the maximum output, it is necessary to select the optimal gap between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5.
The optimum value is thought to vary depending on the size of the charge carrier, but in this embodiment it is 7.5±2 mm, that is, 10±2.5 times the width of the charge carrier, 0.76 mm.
In the above simulation, a grounded charged electrode was used instead of a charged electret in order to observe only the effect of the image force, but below it will be compared with a charged electret to which the receding electric field force is applied.
When the interval between the charging electrode, electret 3, and recovery electrode 5 is 1760 μm, the electrostatic force (image force + receding electric field force) acting on the charge carrier 4 moving between them was simulated. The results are shown in Figure 21. From this figure, it can be seen that the electrostatic force acting on the charge carrier 4 is mainly the image force. When the receding electric field force is applied, the electrostatic force becomes smaller, so the surplus energy also decreased from 168.4 μJ to 92.5 μJ, and the output of the 1 cubic meter device also decreased from 339 W to 186 W.

The number of units and the number of charge carriers 4 are adjusted so that one unit contains one charge carrier 4. Therefore, when the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 is increased, the length of one unit also increases, and the number of charge carriers arranged on the charge carrier disk 11 is reduced from 46 to 15.
If the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 exceeds 7000 μm, for example, inserting multiple charge carriers 4 with a width of 760 μm will not cause any mechanical problems and will theoretically increase the output accordingly. However, it is considered that the forward image force acting on the trailing charge carrier 4 is cut by the leading charge carrier 4, and the obtained surplus energy will be reduced.
Therefore, when the distance between the charging electrode 3 and the recovery electrode 5 is 7360 μm, we simulated the electrostatic force that the charge carriers 4A and 4B, which are 760 μm wide and charged to -1.0 nC, experience as they move from the charging electrode 3 to the recovery electrode 5 with a distance of 2280 μm between them. The results are shown in Figure 22 alongside the case where there is one charge carrier 4.

As shown in the figure, immediately after the trailing charge carrier 4B leaves the charging electrode 3, the rightward forward image force acting between the trailing charge carrier 4B and the recovery electrode 5 is cut off by the leading charge carrier 4A, and only the leftward retreating image force acting between the trailing charge carrier 4B and the charging electrode 3 remains, so the image force acts to the left, i.e., the numerical value becomes large and negative.
However, when the charge carrier 4B approached the recovery electrode 5, the leftward receding image force generated between the charge carrier 4B and the charging electrode 3 was blocked by the trailing charge carrier B, so the rightward forward image force became larger.
Therefore, immediately after leaving the charging electrode 3, the positive charge whose forward image force became large near the recovery electrode 5 was larger than the negative charge whose backward image force became large, and the surplus energy increased from 1.67 μJ to 2.55 μJ.

As a result, the obtained potential increased from 1673 V to 2549 V, the amount of charge collected per second, i.e., the current, doubled from 8.07 μA to 16.1 μA due to the effect of increasing the number of charge carriers 4 from 22 to 44, and the output power increased approximately threefold from 13.5 mW to 41.1 mW.
When a set of 1.74 mm high electrodes 14, 15 and charge carrier disks 11 was stacked in 57 layers in a 10 cm cube, the output increased from 0.769 W (when there was one charge carrier 4 per unit) to 2.34 W. Furthermore, when 1000 of these 10 cm cubes were placed in a 1 m cube, the output of the generator increased from 769 W to 2.34 kW. This is enough to cover the electricity required for a house.

The various electrostatic generators described above can also be used as electrostatic motors.
In this case, the recovery electrode 5 is grounded and the charge on the charge carrier 4 that has been transported is not recovered, that is, the recovery terminal is removed.
Therefore, a large number of charging electrets 3 and grounded acceleration electrodes 9 in place of the recovery electrodes 5 may be arranged on the circumference to form an electrostatic motor.

Furthermore, in the first modification, a large number of grounded acceleration electrodes 9 in place of the charging electrets 3 and the recovery electrodes 5 are arranged on the circumference to form an electrostatic motor, but if these are arranged in series, an electrostatic accelerator will be formed.
In this case, as shown in Fig. 23, a more powerful accelerator can be obtained by using a cylindrical charge carrier 4 with an open left side instead of the trough-shaped charge carrier 4 and changing the charging high potential source 3 and the grounded accelerating electrode 9 from a flat plate to a cylindrical shape. In the figure, reference numeral 16 denotes a fixed cylinder, such as a gun barrel, that holds these components.
If the cylindrical charge carrier 4 is used as a bullet, it becomes an electrostatic gun, and if a cylindrical charge carrier 4 of an appropriate weight is placed on a spacecraft and ejected outside the spacecraft, it becomes an accelerator (engine) for the spacecraft.

As described above, when using electrets as a charging potential source, the asymmetric image force-driven electrostatic application devices (electrostatic generators, electrostatic motors, electrostatic accelerators) do not require external energy or consumable supplies, and therefore can be used in particular in traffic signals, wireless base stations, hospital power sources, and commercial refrigerators that must not stop due to a power outage. In addition, since the lifespan of electrets is about 100 years, they can also be used in spacecraft that travel beyond the solar sphere for several decades, and in internally sealed artificial hearts.

1: Point charge 2: Opposing flat ground electrode 3: Source of charging potential 3 (charging electrode or charging electret)
4: Horizontal gutter-shaped charge carrier 41: Front vertical plate of the charge carrier 42: Top and bottom flat plates of the charge carrier 5: Charge recovery electrode 6: Capacitor for charge recovery electrode 7: Conductive terminal for charge injection 8: Conductive terminal for charge recovery 9: Grounded acceleration electrode for enhancing asymmetric image force 10: Shield electrode 11: Disk for holding the charge carrier 12: Rotation axis (support)
13: Ball bearing 14: Insulating support for supporting the charging high potential source, acceleration electrode, and charge recovery electrode 15: Insulating support for supporting the charging high potential source, acceleration electrode, and charge recovery electrode 16: Cylindrical member for holding the cylindrical charging high potential source and cylindrical acceleration electrode

Claims (7)

a high potential source having a high potential, a charge recovery electrode, and a conductive charge carrier proceeding from the high potential source to the charge recovery electrode and having a shape asymmetrical with respect to an axis perpendicular to the direction of the proceeding,
In an asymmetric image force driven electrostatic generator, the charge carrier is brought close to the high potential source having a high potential and simultaneously grounded, thereby charging the charge carrier with a charge of a polarity opposite to that of the high potential source, generating an asymmetric image force in which the forward image force generated between the charge carrier and the charge recovery electrode is greater than the receding image force generated between the charge carrier and the high potential source electrode, and the charge carrier is driven by the difference between the receding image force and the forward image force, and the charged charge is raised to an electrically higher potential and recovered by the charge recovery electrode to generate electricity, wherein the potential of the high potential source is 2 kV or more. An electrostatic generator according to claim 1, in which the distance between the high potential source and the recovery electrode is set to approximately the distance at which the output is maximum. An electrostatic generator according to claim 1, in which the distance between the high potential source and the recovery electrode is approximately 10±2.5 times the width of the charge carrier. An electrostatic generator according to claim 1, in which the distance between the high potential source and the recovery electrode is approximately 7.5±2 mm. An electrostatic generator according to claim 1, in which multiple charge carriers are placed between the high potential source and the recovery electrode. An electrostatic motor according to claim 1, in which a ground electrode is placed in place of the recovery electrode. 6. The electrostatic accelerator according to claim 5, wherein the high potential source and the ground electrode are linearly arranged.

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