3 ms·
Rainwater isn't actually very conductive, being pretty close to pure water. Water itself isn't conductive without contaminants. That said? Good question! I can
by Filligree 10y ago
Rainwater isn't actually very conductive, being pretty close to pure water. Water itself isn't conductive without contaminants.
That said? Good question! I can't imagine that throwing physical droplets through the plasma would help, but maybe it wouldn't hurt.
If it turns out to be a problem, then you'd have to design planes that still work without the plasma.
- sandworm101 10y agoI'd say that rainwater isn't all that pure, but setting conductivity aside, what about basic heat? Plasma is hot, very hot. Rain, liquid water, is very cold. To keep the plasma you would have to vaporize the water. That requires massive energy. And the amount of water on a wing is insane. Even if not on the leading edge, lots of water flows along the wing surfaces. At 300km/hour it would be like randomly pouring buckets directly on the plasma shown in the OP. I doubt it could be made stable enough without heating the entire wing red-hot.
- ridgeguy 10y agoThere are cold plasmas. Some of these "non thermal" plasmas have been used to disinfect wounds. It's odd to see a column of ionized air exiting a tube and impinging on bare skin, but it's one application in development for cold plasmas. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonthermal_plasma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonthermal_plasma