Being in the compressed air industry for over 35 years, you come across many interesting people from the past that have created laws that we are still using today. Henri Coanda is one of those people.
Henri Coanda was a prominent Romanian inventor and aerodynamics pioneer. In 1910, Henri and his Italian counterpart, Gianni Caproni, began a partnership to construct an experimental aircraft which was later called the Coanda-1910. The Coanda-1910 was unlike any other aircraft of its time as it had no propeller; instead, it sported an oddly shaped front end with built-in rotary blades arranged in a swirl pattern. These blades were driven by an internal turbine screw that would suck air in through the turbine while exhausting the gases out of the rear, propelling the plane forward. This initial jet engine was quite impressive for the time, but sadly nobody believed it would ever fly, and it is believed that it never did achieve flight. Coanda is not credited with the invention of the jet engine, but his technology spurred the future of aviation into the future.
Henri spent his time developing the turbo-propeller drive system of his 1910 Biplane during World War 2. After it ended, Henri began furthering his research on the Coanda Effect which would become the basis for several investigations into entrained and augmented flow of fluids. It states that a fluid adheres to and follows a contour which creates low pressure. Later, in 1969, Henri would spend the last of his days in Romania serving as Director of the Institute for Scientific and Technical Creation. Henri died on November 25, 1972, in his hometown of Bucharest.
Henri Coanda passed away on November 25, 1972, in his hometown of Bucharest. Here at EXAIR, we have used the Coanda Effect to apply it to several of our products. This helps to amplify total airflow by using less compressed air. Thus, saving you money. The most notable products are our Air Amplifiers, Air Wipes, Standard Air Knives, and Full-Flow Air Knives, which are some of the most efficient products of their kind. If you would like to speak more about how EXAIR can benefit your pneumatic system, one of our Application Engineers can help you determine the best solution.
John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb