A novel three-sensors electrostatic measurement setup for charged particles detection

Abstract

In this paper we present the analysis of a measurement technique based on a circular array of three electrostatic sensors, to estimate the trajectory, the charge and the velocity of a moving charged particle, e.g, expelled with the exhaust gases or circulating in the lubricating oil of engines, aero-engines or gas-turbines. In detail, we show how to arrange the information provided by the sensors, combining physical models and the geometrical characteristics of the sensor array, providing a theoretical characterization of the measurement accuracy, that is shown to be not dependent on the direction of the particle motion with respect to the sensor placement.