Electrostatic Induction Parameters to Attain Maximum Spray Charge to Clear Fog.
Abstract : Laboratory experiments using sprays of charged drops were conducted to support a fog clearing program. Sprays from 1-g/s hollow-cone industrial spray nozzles were induction-charged to one-quarter of the Rayleigh charged drop stability limit. As the nozzle size was increased, a smaller fraction of the Rayleigh stability limit was achieved. Increasing the airflow past the nozzle increased the charge on the spray. Increasing induction surface, fluid conductivity, and voltage increased the spray charge to a limit beyond which further increases decreased the spray charge. Increasing the fluid pressure increased the total spray current but not the charge-to-mass ratio. The laboratory data agree with a qualitative derivation relating drop charge to the nozzle spray geometry. The derivation shows that the greatest charge-to-mass ratio will be achieved with narrow-cone-angle nozzles.