Performance Analysis of Electrodynamic Self-Cleaning Transparent Films for its Applications to Mars and Lunar Missions

Abstract

The performance of Electrodynamic Screen (EDS) for surface cleaning was characterized with respect to the following operational parameters: (1) the efficiency of screens under both continuous and intermittent operations with different rates of dust deposition, (2) electrical power requirements for the screen operation with respect frequency of excitation and duration of the applied power needed to remove dust particles as a function of dust loading, and (3) the optical transmission efficiency of the films for the screens with and without transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. The average dust removal efficiency of EDS during continuous dust loading was over 95%, whereas it was 90% when the screen was activated intermittently. The corresponding optical transmission efficiency was also measured. The rate of continuous dust loading on screen was equivalent to the estimated amount of one year dust deposition on the surface of Mars. This estimation was based on average obscuration rate of 0.29% per day as measured during Mars Adherence Experiment and reported by Landis. Power consumption by EDS as well as the size and weight of the power supply is one of the critical factors for its applicability for dust removal from solar panels during future Mars mission. The power consumption by EDS was measured under several dust loadings and using different frequencies and electrical field intensities for the safe operation of power supplies without Paschen breakdown. Experiments were conducted under both Earth and simulated Martian atmosphere (5.0 mb CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> atmosphere). The average power consumption of screen varied between 0.8 mW to 1.21 mW, when operating at atmospheric pressure and from 1.02 mW to 2.87 mW under simulated Martian atmosphere. The power supply requires approximately 5 W for its operation under no load condition and it is estimated that the total power consumption will be approximately 10 W per meter square, 5 W for the supply operation and the additional 5 W for cleaning the dust with a dust load of 0.64 mg/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> .