American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA

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Generation of Monodisperse Aerosols by Aerodynamic Flow Focusing

HONGXU DUAN, Amir Naqwi, Francisco Romay, Benjamin Liu, MSP Corporation

     Abstract Number: 610
     Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods

Abstract
A novel approach has been developed for generating highly monodisperse aerosol particles. The generator applies a vibrating perturbation to a micro-liquid jet generated by aerodynamic flow focusing (Gañán-Calvo, 1998). The aerosol generated by this approach is charge neutralized with bipolar ions generated by a non-radioactive, electrical ionizer to achieve a charge equilibrium state. We have demonstrated that droplets in the 20 to 200 micro-meter range can be generated from a single 100 micron nozzle. Both oleic acid/ethanol and sodium chloride/water solutions have been used to generate highly monodisperse aerosols of liquid and solid particles in the 1 to 20 micro-meter range. The size of the monodisperse particles can be calculated from the operating parameters and agrees with measurements made with an Aerodynamic Particle Sizer. The new monodisperse aerosol generator is capable of stable operation over an extended period of time without experiencing nozzle clogging.

Gañán-Calvo, Alfonso M. "Generation of steady liquid microthreads and micron-sized monodisperse sprays in gas streams." Physical Review Letters 80.2 (1998): 285.