Unipolar charging of nanoparticles by the Surface-discharge Microplasma Aerosol Charger (SMAC)

In this paper, we report the development of a novel unipolar charger for nanoparticles, a system that achieves low particle loss and high charging efficiency without the use of sheath air. The efficient unipolar charging of the system is realized mainly by the surface-discharge microplasma unit, a device previously applied with good success to the neutralization or charging of submicron particles [Kwon et al., 2005, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 39, 987–1001; 2006, J. Aerosol Sci., 37, 483–499]. The unipolar charger generates unipolar ions using the surface discharge of a single electrode with a DC pulse supply. This marks an advance from our previous method of generating bipolar ions with the use of dual electrodes in earlier studies. We evaluated the efficiency of the penetration (or loss) and charging of nanoparticles in the size range of 3–15 nm, then compared the charging efficiencies measured with those predicted by diffusion charging theory. More than 90% of inlet nanoparticles penetrated the charger (less than 10% of the particle were lost) without the use of sheath air. Other chargers have only realized this high penetration efficiency by relying on sheath air flow. Moreover, the measured charging efficiencies agreed well with those predicted by diffusion charging theory and were somewhat higher and more size-dependent than the charging efficiencies of other nanoparticle chargers.     

Progress in unipolar corona discharger designs for airborne particle charging: A literature review

Particle motion induced by electrical forces is the basis for important class of measuring instruments. Charging is important in aerosol size measurement. Unipolar charger is a crucial component in the aerosol particle sizing system by electrical mobility analysis. For an electrical mobility analyzer, the charging is aimed to impose a known net charge distribution on each aerosol size. The charger performance depends on the charging efficiency and stable operation. A well-designed unipolar charger should provide high charging efficiency and stability that can be accurately determined for any given operating conditions. This article presents and discusses progress on the development of existing unipolar aerosol chargers based on corona discharge technique. The operating principles as well as detailed physical characteristics of these chargers, including the corona-wire and corona-needle chargers, are described with extensive list of references.     

The measurement of charging efficiencies and losses of aerosol nanoparticles in a corona charger

A methodology is proposed for the measurement of a number of parameters relevant to the performance evaluation of aerosol corona chargers. These parameters are intrinsic and extrinsic charging efficiencies, and diffusion and electrostatic particle losses. The methodology is essentially the same as that used in earlier works, except that free ions are removed just after the charger outlet in order to minimize the extent of possible after-charging effects which might lead to measurement errors. However, the experimental results show that after-charging is negligible and that, consequently, practically all the effective ion–particle collisions take place before the aerosol leaves the charger. Formation of new particles during corona discharge, which could in principle be an additional cause of measurement error, has not been observed in the working voltage range of the charger. Particle diffusion and electrostatic losses have been measured at varying values of the voltage applied to the charger: for a given particle size, diffusion loss decreases and electrostatic loss increases as the charger voltage is increased. The intrinsic charging efficiency increases with particle size and charger voltage. In contrast, the extrinsic charging efficiency, which is the parameter of importance in practice, attains a maximum value for a given charger voltage in such a manner that this optimum voltage depends on particle size.     

Evaluation of a soft X-ray unipolar charger for charging nanoparticles

Three types of unipolar chargers (parallel multi-electrodes, single electrode, and single electrode with compact size) using the soft X-ray were constructed and their charging performance was evaluated by measuring positive, negative, and neutral fractions of size-resolved ultrafine particles (20–100 nm) with the Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (TDMA) technique. The unipolar charger with a single electrode and compact size showed the highest charge fraction with least particle loss probably due to lower electrostatic loss of ions among tested chargers. With positive voltage applied to electrode to remove negative ions, we found that the positively charged particles were 43, 52, 62, 69, and 75% for 20, 30, 50, 70, and 100-nm particles, respectively, and a few particles were negatively charged although their fraction increased with size (1, 2, 4, 5, and 6% for 20, 30, 50, 70, and 100-nm particles, respectively). The positive charge fractions were about three times higher than the values estimated theoretically from a bipolar charger. Also, based on comparison of current data with previously reported values using corona discharge unipolar charger, the soft X-ray charger showed better performance in terms of charging efficiency and penetration for particles (NaCl) currently tested in the particle size range of 20–100 nm.     

A High Efficiency,High Throughput Unipolar Aerosol Charger for Nanoparticles

A novel aerosol charger has been developed, which has high efficiency and high throughput especially for nanometer particles in the size range of 3–50nm. Unipolar charging with high ion concentration and long charging time is used to obtain the high charging efficiency. High throughput is achieved by reducing particle loss within the charger. This is accomplished by directing ion flow and aerosol flow in the same direction and by the use of sheath air flow. The charger configuration is of a longitudinal design – the direction of aerosol stream and ion stream are flowing parallel along the longitudinal axis of the charger. The charger consists of four sections: the inlet zone, the ion production zone, the unipolar charging zone, and the exit zone. In the inlet and ion production zones, unipolar ions are generated using Po²¹⁰ radioactive sources with an electric field designed to separate the positive and negative ions, and to focus the selected unipolar ions into the core region of the charger. The ions with the selected polarity is then attracted to the charging zone by an uniform electric field created by a series of ring electrodes applied with a linear ramped voltage. Aerosol entering the charger is sheathed with clean gas flow in order to keep the aerosol in the core region. A novel exit design with a reversed electric field is incorporated in order to minimize the charged particles loss. The performance of the charger is first evaluated using computer simulation and then constructed for experimental validation. Experiment data have demonstrated that the charger achieves 90% and 95% charged-particles penetration efficiency and with 22% and 48% extrinsic charging efficiency at 3 and 5nm particle sizes, respectively. These performance data represent significant improvement, over a factor of 10, compared with the existing chargers.     

Experimental investigation on charging characteristics and penetration efficiency of PM2.5 emitted from coal combustion enhanced by positive corona pulsed ESP

The electrostatic precipitator (ESP) has been extensively used for collecting aerosol particles emitted from coal combustion, but its collection efficiency of PM2.5 (Particulate matter whose aerodynamic diameter is less than 2.5 μm) is relatively low due to insufficient particle charging. The positive pulsed ESP is considered to enhance particle charging and improve collection efficiency. A laboratory-scale pulsed ESP with wire-plate electrode configuration was established to investigate the particle charging and penetration efficiency under controlled operating conditions of different applied impulse peak voltages, impulse frequencies, dust loadings and residence times. The results show that most particles larger than 0.2 μm are negatively charged, while most particles smaller than 0.2 μm are positively charged. For a given operating condition, the particle penetration efficiency curve has the highest penetration efficiency for particles with a diameter near 0.2 μm, and there is always a negative correlation between the particle penetration efficiency and the average number of charges per particle. Under the same operating conditions, the particle penetration efficiency decreases with increasing impulse peak voltage and impulse frequency, but increases as the dust loading increases. The results imply that residence time of 4 s is optimum for particle charging and collection. PM2.5 number reduction exceeding 90% was achieved in our pulsed ESP.     

Corona discharge in a cylindrical triode charger for unipolar diffusion aerosol charging

A cylindrical triode charger for unipolar diffusion charging of aerosol particles was designed, constructed, and evaluated. The corona discharge characteristics were studied in this cylindrical triode charger. For the process the current–voltage characteristics were determined, as were the ion number concentration, the n_it product, and the mean charge per particle as a function of particle diameter. The discharge and charging currents, and ion number concentration in the charging zone of the charger increased monotonically with corona voltage. The negative corona had a higher current than the positive corona. At the same corona voltage, the ion number concentration in the discharge zone was larger than the charging current for positive and negative coronas, with values of about 197 and 32 times and 645 and 99 times for the ion-driving voltages of 0 and 310 V, respectively. The average ion penetration for positive and negative coronas was 0.64 and 0.19% and 3.62 and 1.93% for the ion-driving voltages of 0 V and 310 V, respectively. The higher flow rate, shorter residence time, gave a lower N_it product. By calculation 14% of charged particles of 10 nm in diameter were lost to the outer cylinder because of the electrostatic field effect. The charger does not use a sheath of air flow along the walls or the perforated screen opening, it has low diffusion and space charge losses due to the short column charging zone, and is a low complexity and inexpensive system. It worked as well as more sophisticated and expensive commercially available chargers.     

Corona discharge ion sources for fine particle charging

Charging of aerosol droplets and solid particles is applied in many industrial processes such as electrostatic painting, particle separation and electrostatic precipitation. In most of charging devices, electrical discharges are used as a source of ions, which are deposited onto the particles. In the present paper, the charging process by ionic current in alternating electric field was optimized experimentally. Alternating electric field charger was used as a charging device in these experiments. The current voltage characteristics of electrical discharge in this device, and the charge imparted to the particles were determined. The level of charge was measured at the outlet of the charger and was compared to the Pauthenier limit for different supply voltages, and frequencies. MgO powder was used as a source of particles in these experiments. It was noticed that higher supply voltage of the charger gives higher level of particle charge, but at the same time, the particle deposition on the charger elements was increased, decreasing the particle penetration. A compromise between these two tendencies is therefore necessary. As a result we have proposed a criterion maximizing the total charge born by the particles which is a product of relative particle charge and particle penetration.     

月表尘埃颗粒带电的机理及应用研究

研究月尘颗粒在电子束环境下以及紫外源辐照下的带电机理,利用数值方法模拟月尘颗粒在不同背景环境下的充电过程,以探索月表尘埃颗粒的带电机理,进而便于地面月尘环境模拟装置选择合适的月尘带电方式进行空间模拟实验.给出了尘埃在电子束环境下的充电方程,并将紫外辐射带电与具体应用相结合.通过模拟结果可知,在电子束环境下,月尘表面的电荷数随粒径尺寸增大,随电子枪辐照束斑半径减少,随电子枪流强的增加而增多;在紫外源的辐照下,月尘表面电荷数随颗粒尺寸的增大以及紫外线辐照度的增加而增多.由月尘颗粒受太阳紫外辐照带电的数值模拟结果可知,月尘需要在太阳长时间的辐照下才可以带上可观的电荷数,地面模拟该过程需增加辐照源来加速实验.通过模拟结果的分析比较并结合"空间环境模拟装置"中对月尘舱的设计要求,最终优选紫外源辐照带电方式作为月尘颗粒的带电方案.     

Influences of different powders on the characteristics of particle charging and deposition in powder coating processes

This experimental study investigated the influences of two different powder systems (coarse and ultrafine) on particle charging and deposition characteristics during electrostatic powder coating processes. Results disclosed that, despite their differences in particle sizes, the two powders behave similarly in deposition process, commonly resulting in a cone-shaped deposited pattern in the inner portion of the substrate and an increase of deposited particles in the fringe region. However, their different properties lead to the discrepancies in their deposition efficiencies, which account for a higher efficiency with the coarse powder. The study further revealed that the coarse powder is superior to the ultrafine powder in charging in-flight particles, which directly contributes to its higher deposition efficiencies. Furthermore, it was disclosed that the two powders exhibit distinct characteristics in charging deposited particles. Compared to the coarse powder, the ultrafine powder is more uniform in charging deposited particles, mainly owing to its greater particle number and higher specific surface area but less mass. In particular, the charging efficiency of overall deposited particles decreases for the ultrafine powder but increases for the coarse powder with increased charging voltage, closely related to their particle properties. However, both powders decrease in charging efficiency of deposited particles with extended spraying duration due to back corona intensifying with spraying.     

Effect of particle size distribution on the polarity of triboelectric charging in granular insulator systems

Triboelectric charging occurs in granular insulating systems even when all particles are composed of identical material. A simple model is used here to address triboelectric charging in such systems. The basis of the model is the existence of electrons trapped in high-energy states, which can be released during collisions with another particle and transferred to the other particle. This model shows that triboelectric charging in insulator systems composed of particles of identical material can be attributed to a distribution of particle sizes, such that smaller particles tend to charge negatively and larger particles tend to charge positively. This polarity of charging has been observed in field studies of sand storms, dust devils and volcanic plumes, and most laboratory experiments on triboelectric charging in granular systems.     

Bipolar charging of dust particles under ultraviolet radiation

The photoemission charging of dust particles under ultraviolet radiation from a xenon lamp has been investigated. The velocities of yttrium dust particles with a work function of 3.3 eV and their charges have been determined experimentally; the latter are about 400–500 and about 100 elementary charges per micron of radius for the positively and negatively charged fractions, respectively. The dust particle charging and the dust cloud evolution in a photoemission cell after exposure to an ultraviolet radiation source under the applied voltage have been simulated numerically. The photoemission charging of dust particles has been calculated on the basis of nonlocal and local charging models. Only unipolar particle charging is shown to take place in a system of polydisperse dust particles with the same photoemission efficiency. It has been established that bipolar charging is possible in the case of monodisperse particles with different quantum efficiencies. Polydispersity in this case facilitates the appearance of oppositely charged particles in a photoemission plasma.     

Particle dynamics simulations of triboelectric charging in granular insulator systems

Particle dynamics simulations are carried out to study triboelectric charging in granular systems composed of a single insulating material. The simulations implement a model in which electrons trapped in localized high energy states can be transferred during collisions to low energy states in the other particle. It is shown that this effect alone can generate electrostatic charging in the system, and cause net electron transfer from larger particles to smaller particles. The magnitude of charging is small for systems of a single particle size but becomes much greater for a system with polydispersal particle sizes, due to the net electron transfer from larger to smaller particles. The negative charge of smaller particles, and positive charge of larger particles has been observed in field studies and laboratory experiments of granular systems.     

In‐Situ Determination of the Charging of Nanometer and Submicron Particles at High Temperatures

Thermal charging of submicron and nanometer particles has been studied for model aerosols of TiO₂ and SiO₂ as well as Al‐Si (aluminosilicate) at 1 000 °C with a new quasi in‐situ technique. The size dependence of the particle separation efficiency for electrostatic precipitation was determined. The charging state of the particles was obtained from evaluating the global Deutsch number for precipitation in an electric field applied to a laminar flow based on particle trajectory considerations.     

Multi-nozzle electrospray system for gas cleaning processes

A multi-nozzle electrospray system was developed as a charged droplet source for cleaning a gas contaminated with fine particles. The efficiency of removal of fine particles from the gas can be significantly increased, as compared to uncharged sprays, when the droplets are electrically charged. In the presented experiments, the spray of the droplets of size lower than 100 μm was charged either positively or negatively. Cigarette smoke was used as a source of submicrometer particles. The suppression of the particle concentration was determined after different time intervals of spraying of water. Further improvement in gas cleaning was obtained after charging the smoke particles using a specially designed corona charger. The efficiency of the cleaning process was similar to that obtained for droplets generated by mechanical atomisers with induction charging, but the electrospraying allowed decreasing the water consumption up to about three times.     

Solid-state NMR studies of supercapacitors

Electrochemical double-layer capacitors, or ‘supercapacitors’ are attracting increasing attention as high-power energy storage devices for a wide range of technological applications. These devices store charge through electrostatic interactions between liquid electrolyte ions and the surfaces of porous carbon electrodes. However, many aspects of the fundamental mechanism of supercapacitance are still not well understood, and there is a lack of experimental techniques which are capable of studying working devices. Recently, solid-state NMR has emerged as a powerful tool for studying the local environments and behaviour of electrolyte ions in supercapacitor electrodes. In this Trends article, we review these recent developments and applications. We first discuss the basic principles underlying the mechanism of supercapacitance, as well as the key NMR observables that are relevant to the study of supercapacitor electrodes. We then review some practical aspects of the study of working devices using ex situ and in situ methodologies and explain the key advances that these techniques have allowed on the study of supercapacitor charging mechanisms. NMR experiments have revealed that the pores of the carbon electrodes contain a significant number of electrolyte ions in the absence of any charging potential. This has important implications for the molecular mechanisms of supercapacitance, as charge can be stored by different ion adsorption/desorption processes. Crucially, we show how in situ NMR experiments can be used to quantitatively study and characterise the charging mechanism, with the experiments providing the most detailed picture of charge storage to date, offering the opportunity to design enhanced devices. Finally, an outlook for future directions for solid-state NMR in supercapacitor research is offered.     

工业中粉体颗粒的荷电机理及数值模拟方法

工业过程中粉体颗粒不可避免地会相互摩擦碰撞而荷电. 荷电颗粒的存在可能会危害正常的工业生产过程, 也可能对工业过程起促进作用. 因此, 荷电粉体颗粒及其特性受到了广泛的关注, 但目前对粉体颗粒的荷电机理依然缺乏透彻的了解, 尤其是在气固两相流动中的粉体颗粒荷电现象. 事实上, 工业中存在的粉体颗粒的运动都受到流体的影响, 是典型的气固两相流系统, 流体对粉体颗粒的作用使粉体颗粒接触的荷电现象变得更为复杂, 因此从两相流动的观点来研究粉体颗粒荷电的物理本质就显得越来越重要. 本文介绍了工业过程中的几种不同类型的粉体颗粒荷电行为, 回顾了颗粒的荷电机理与描述颗粒荷电的数学模型. 对于工业过程中颗粒的荷电现象及颗粒在多相流体中的动力学行为, 介绍了研究颗粒受流体影响时荷电特性的数值模拟方法. 本文旨在对粉体颗粒的荷电机理、应用以及研究方法进行梳理与探讨, 为正确认识工业过程中粉体颗粒的荷电现象并加以控制利用提供理论借鉴.     

Particle charging characteristics with the low-speed mixed fluid under high electric field

Air pollution caused by particles with small size has been a global concern because of threats to human health. A feasible way to remove these super fine suspended particles is using electrostatic precipitation technology. Herein, the PIV was used to measure the particle velocity distribution. By analyzing the particle motion trend in high electric field, a process of particle charging loss was observed. This phenomenon cannot be explained by current particle charging theories. Our conclusions may improve the understanding of particle charging processes.     

Dynamic particle-surface tribocharging: The role of shape and contact mode

Triboelectric particle charging features in many industrial processes. Dynamic particle-surface contact is the key charging mechanism in many types of particle tribocharger. Models of dynamic charging have tended to assume that the particle is spherical, but experiments have shown that particle shape can strongly influence the charging behaviour. We review some experimental work, then present a simple two-dimensional model of the dynamic contact charging of an elliptical particle, of varying roundness ratio, with a flat surface. A rich variety of contact modes (sliding, rolling, tumbling) are captured, each producing distinctive charging behaviour.     

Respiratory protection against airborne nanoparticles: a review

As a precautionary measure, it is often recommended that workers take steps to reduce their exposure to airborne nanoparticles through the use of respiratory protective devices. The purpose of this study was to provide a review and analysis of the research literature and current recommendations on respirators used for protection against nanoparticles. Key research findings were that studies with particles as small as 4 nm have shown that conventional single-fiber filtration theory can be used to describe the filtration performance of respirators and that the most penetrating particle size for respirators equipped with commonly used electrostatic filter media is in the range of 30–100 nm. Future research needs include human laboratory and workplace protection factor studies to measure the respirator total inward leakage of nanoparticles. Industrial hygienists and safety professionals should continue to use traditional respirator selection guidance for workers exposed to nanoparticles.