An Experimental Approach of Generation of Micro/Nano Scale Liquid Droplets by Electrohydrodynamic Atomization (EHDA) Process. (2017) - Rai, P.
Abstract: Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) process is a method of generating liquid droplets through the application of a large electrical potential difference. It has a wide range of industrial applications.This paper investigates the application of EHDA for generation of particles in micro/nano scale. One of the primary objectives of this work is to report the nature and role of electrohydrodynamic during the process. Flow visualization has been conducted to report different modes appearing during the process. The flow is visualized for different operating conditions, both above and below the grounded ring electrode. It is observed that the number of modes of e-spray increases with decreasing electrical conductivity of fluid. Micro particles were generated for different set of fluids and its morphology is analyzed using both stereo microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The sizes of generated particles increases nonlinearly with increasing flow rate for a fluid. It is observed that the charge carried by droplets in DC elecrospray increases/decreases sharply when the mode of e-spray is changes, unlike AC electrospray where generated droplets are neutral in nature. Detailed dimensional analysis has been carried out using Buckingham Pi theorem. The results are reported in terms of dimensionless numbers for distinguishing between various modes.