Quantitative Measurement of Acoustic Separation of Submicron Solid Aerosols

Abstract eng:
An experimental study is carried out to measure the acoustic force on aerosol particles as a function of their size and quantify deviations, for very small particles, from the acoustophoresis theory established when the fluid is treated as a continuum. To do so, the size distribution is acquired as a function of position in a flow-through resonator. Considering the size range of the aerosols investigated and the mean free path of air molecules, the acoustophoretic phenomenon reported here falls in the transition and molecular regimes. An electrostatic transducer is used to generate a standing wave in the 50-80 kHz frequency range, concentrating the particles at the pressure nodes. A section of the flow is then sampled isokinetically and sent to the analysis system which provides quantitative data on size distribution. The results demonstrate the possibility of performing acoustic separation on aerosols with particle diameters as small as 100 nm.

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