Patent ID: 8139354

Claim:
A system, comprising: a computer chassis having an air inlet, an air outlet and containing a plurality of heat generating devices disposed in an airflow pathway between the air inlet and the air outlet, wherein one or more nonionic air moving devices causes air to flow through a plurality of fluidically parallel airflow zones of the computer chassis in an airflow direction from the air inlet to the air outlet; a plurality of ionic air moving devices each extending across one of the plurality of airflow zones, wherein each ionic air moving device comprises an ion emitter electrode disposed a spaced distance upstream in the airflow direction from a collector electrode, wherein the emitter electrode and the collector electrode are coupled to a power source for applying an electrical potential between the emitter electrode and the collector electrode; and a controller for independently controlling the electrical potential between the emitter and collector electrodes of each ionic air moving device for affecting the rate of airflow through one or more of the plurality of airflow zones.