Simultaneous measurement of particle size, velocity, andtemperature in thermal plasmas

The in-flight measurement of particle parameters (size, velocity, temperature, and local number density) can prove insight into the plasma processing of solid materials. A measurement technique for simultaneously obtaining the size, velocity, and temperature of particles entrained in high-temperature flow fields is described. Particle size and velocity are obtained from a combination laser-particle-sizing system and laser Doppler velocimeter. The particle temperature is determined by a two-color pyrometry technique and the data rate is a measure of relative particle number density. Typical measured temperatures and velocities for the 5-100 μm particles used in plasma spraying are 1600-3500 K and 100-300 m/s, respectively. Since particle size, velocity, and temperature are measured simultaneously, cold particles (<1600 K) are identified and their relative number density can be quantified. Data from two plasma spray systems, a metal one (Ni-Al) and a metal oxide one (Al₂O₃), are presented and their application to understanding the plasma spray-coating process is illustrated     

Discrete particle size distribution in ferrofluids

We present a method to obtain stable discrete particle size distributions from the room temperature magnetization curves of ferrofluids. This method has been successfully applied to a hydrocarbon base magnetite ferrofluid.     

Influence of particle size on the breaking of aluminum particle shells

Rupturing the alumina shell (shell-breaking) is a prerequisite for releasing energy from aluminum powder. Thermal stress overload in a high-temperature environment is an important factor in the rupture of the alumina shell. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to simulate and analyze the shell-breaking response of micron-scale aluminum particles with different particle sizes at 650 ℃ in vacuum. The simulation results show that the thermal stability time and shell-breaking response time of 10 μm-100 μm aluminum particles are 0.15 μs-11.44 μs and 0.08 μs-3.94 μs, respectively. They also reveal the direct causes of shell breaking for aluminum particles with different particle sizes. When the particle size is less than 80 μm, the shell-breaking response is a direct result of compressive stress overload. When the particle size is between 80 μm and 100 μm, the shell-breaking response is a direct result of tensile stress overload. This article provides useful guidance for research into the energy release of aluminum powder.     

Nuclear size dependence of inclusive particle production

The inclusive production of π⁺, π^?, K⁺, K^?, p and $\text{p}$ for protons incident on carbon and tungsten targets was studied at the Internal Target Area of the Fermilab. We assume an A^α dependence for the inclusive cross sections and report here on the variation of α with incident momentum, transverse momentum and particle species.     

Simultaneous, single particle, magnetization and size measurements of micron sized, magnetic particles

Single particle magnetization and size measurements of micron and nano sized, magnetic particles were made using a previously described device referred to as Cell Tracking Velocimetry, CTV. Three types of commercially available, and commonly used, magnetic particles were studied in this report. While the CTV instrument provides individual particles measurements, the average magnetization and size measurements were found to have reasonable agreements with reported values from instruments which measure bulk values. In addition, the CTV instrument, using electromagnets, can also determine magnetization curves, which also proved to have reasonable agreement with other published studies. Given that magnetic separation and analysis technology is dependent on the quality of the magnetic particles used, studies such as this one using CTV provide not only average data, but also provides information with respect to the distribution of the properties such as magnetization and size. For example, the spread of the data in magnetic and settling velocities were found to be predominately due to the size distribution of the analyzed particles.     

Application of multi-phase particle swarm optimization technique to retrieve the particle size distribution

The multi-phase particle swarm optimization (MPPSO) technique is applied to retrieve the particle size distribution (PSD) under dependent model.Based on the Mie theory and the Lambert-Beer theory, three PSDs, i.e., the Rosin-Rammer (R-R) distribution, the normal distribution, and the logarithmic normal distribution, are estimated by MPPSO algorithm.The results confirm the potential of the proposed approach and show its effectiveness.It may provide a new technique to improve the accuracy and reliability of the PSD inverse calculation.     

Small particle size multiphase Li-alloy anodes for lithium-ionbatteries

An impressive improvement of the cycling performance of Li-alloy anodes (M + Li⁺ +e⁻ Li_xM) in rechargeable organic electrolyte lithium batteries can be achieved by replacing compact or large particle size metallic host matrices M (e.g. Sn or Sb) with small particle size (micro- or nano-scale) multiphase metallic host materials like Sn/SnSb_n or Sn/SnAg_n. Electrochemical alloy deposition is a convenient way to prepare sub-micrometer particles of Sn and SnSb_n or Sn and SnAg_n. During the first lithium insertion these small particle size multiphase matrix materials are expanded to a porous material, however, without formation of major cracks. This seems not only to be related with the small absolute changes in the size of the individual particles, but also with the fact that the more reactive particles are allowed to expand in a soft and ductile surrounding of still unreacted material.     

Raman scattering from small particle size polycrystalline silicon

Raman scattering measurements are reported on polycrystalline silicon films prepared in a hydrogen plasma at temperatures between 70 and 400°C. The spectra show several features which are correlated with X-ray diffraction measurements and assigned to crystalline and amorphous-like components.     

Simultaneous measurement of moving particle size and velocity

An optical method that makes it possible to measure the size and velocity of particles in flows and mixtures independently and simultaneously is considered. Measurements are taken by analyzing a moving diffraction pattern using a multielement photodetector and a special signal processing algorithm. The shape of photocurrent pulses arising when the particle crosses a light beam is determined. Examples of applying this method to particles with internal optical inhomogeneities are given in comparison with other methods, such as the method of low-angle scattering.     

New Generation of Phase-Doppler Instruments for particle velocity,size and concentration measurements

Phase-Doppler anemometry (PDA) is applied for particle size, velocity and concentration measurements in two-phase or multi-phase flows of ever increasing complexity. For accurate measurements the experimenter must be provided with software and hardware which permit an optimal layout of the PDA optics for a given application, reliable detection of signals over a wide particle diameter range, accurate determination of particle concentration and precise discrimination between particles of different composition. Recent work at LSTM, Erlangen, has been directed to developing a complete PDA package for the above purposes. Progress in this direction is summarized in this paper.     

Sonolysis of synthetic sediment particles: particle characteristics affecting particle dissolution and size reduction

The effect of ultrasound on particle shape and surface structure was explored to understand particle characteristics affecting contaminant desorption and destruction from sediment particles. Compared to only hydrodynamic mixing, in the presence of an ultrasonic probe, operating at 20 kHz with a power density of 460 Wl-1, sonication decreased the particle size of alumina and silica particles following a first-order regime. In addition, the dissolution of particles during sonication is 7-20 times higher than that of non-sonicated solutions. However, the decrease of particle size was not totally explained by dissolution. Scanning electron microscopy studies showed that the surface of particles both became smoothed and pitted as a result of sonication. Therefore, it seems that multiple mechanisms are occurring simultaneously; microstreaming acts to smooth particle surfaces and dissolve particles and shockwaves and microjets imploding on the particle surfaces both shear and pit the surface of the particles. The sonication of humic acid laden particles resulted in a similar decreasing trend. However, the existence of humic acid increased the complexity of the system.     

Inverse problem for particle size distributions of atmospheric aerosols using stochastic particle swarm optimization

As a part of resolving optical properties in atmosphere radiative transfer calculations, this paper focuses on obtaining aerosol optical thicknesses (AOTs) in the visible and near infrared wave band through indirect method by gleaning the values of aerosol particle size distribution parameters. Although various inverse techniques have been applied to obtain values for these parameters, we choose a stochastic particle swarm optimization (SPSO) algorithm to perform an inverse calculation. Computational performances of different inverse methods are investigated and the influence of swarm size on the inverse problem of computation particles is examined. Next, computational efficiencies of various particle size distributions and the influences of the measured errors on computational accuracy are compared. Finally, we recover particle size distributions for atmospheric aerosols over Beijing using the measured AOT data (at wavelengths λ=0.400, 0.690, 0.870, and 1.020 μm) obtained from AERONET at different times and then calculate other AOT values for this band based on the inverse results. With calculations agreeing with measured data, the SPSO algorithm shows good practicability.     

Hydrodynamic model for particle size segregation in granular media

We present a hydrodynamic theoretical model for “Brazil nut” size segregation in granular materials. We give analytical solutions for the rise velocity of a large intruder particle immersed in a medium of monodisperse fluidized small particles. We propose a new mechanism for this particle size-segregation due to buoyant forces caused by density variations which come from differences in the local “granular temperature”. The mobility of the particles is modified by the energy dissipation due to inelastic collisions and this leads to a different behavior from what one would expect for an elastic system. Using our model we can explain the size ratio dependence of the upward velocity.     

Ultrasonic particle size fractionation in a moving air stream

Identification of bio-aerosol particles may be enhanced by size sorting before applying analytical techniques. In this paper, the use of ultrasonic acoustic radiation pressure to continuously size fractionate particles in a moving air stream is described. Separate particle-laden and clean air streams are introduced into a channel and merged under laminar flow conditions. An ultrasonic transducer, mounted flush to one wall of the channel, excites a standing ultrasonic wave perpendicular to the flow of the combined air stream. Acoustic radiation forces on the particles cause them to move transverse to the flow direction. Since the radiation force is dependent upon the particle size, larger particles move a greater transverse distance as they pass through the standing wave. The outlet flow is then separated into streams, each containing a range of particle sizes. Experiments were performed with air streams containing glass microspheres with a size distribution from 2-22 μm, using a centerline air stream velocity of approximately 20 cm/s. An electrostatic transducer operating at a nominal frequency of 50 kHz was used to drive an ultrasonic standing wave of 150 dB in pressure amplitude. The microsphere size distributions measured at the outlet were compared with the predictions of a theoretical model. Experiments and theory show reasonable correspondence. The theoretical model also indicates an optimal partitioning of the particle-laden and clean air inlet streams.     

New technique to measure particle size using electrostatic sensor

A new technique is proposed to measure the particle mean size using an electrostatic sensor in frequency domain. This paper starts with a finite-element modeling simulator to model the induced electric charge of a ring electrode and to find the electrode sensitivity. The mathematical modeling was used to extract particle size information from the simulated signal in frequency domain. The method is applied in an experimental test where a low-noise signal conditioning was designed with a ring electrode as the electrostatic sensor. The method can be used to establish a cost effective size measurement system using electrostatic sensor.     

光全散射法测量微粒尺寸分布的研究

本文从光全散射法的基本原理出发,提出了测量微粒尺寸分布的独立道模式光全散射测量法和非独立模式光全散射测量法,解决了以往光全散射法只能测量微粒的平均直径,不能给出尺寸分布,并且测量范围小,测量结果有多值性的缺陷,独立模式光全散射测量法还能用于测量多峰分布微粒的尺寸分布,数值计算和实验研究表明用本文方法,测量结果准确,可靠。     

System size dependence of particle production at the SPS

Recent results on the system size dependence of net-baryon and hyperon production as measured at the CERNSPS are discussed. The observed N _part dependences of yields, but also of dynamical properties, such as average transverse momenta, can be described in the context of the core corona approach. Other observables, such as antiproton yields and net-protons at forward rapidities, do not follow the predictions of this model. Possible implications for a search for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram are discussed. Event-by-event fluctuations of the relative core to corona source contributions might influence fluctuation observables (e.g., multiplicity fluctuations). The magnitude of this effect is investigated.     

Optimization of nanoparticle core size for magnetic particle imaging

Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a powerful new research and diagnostic imaging platform that is designed to image the amount and location of superparamagnetic nanoparticles in biological tissue. Here, we present mathematical modeling results that show how MPI sensitivity and spatial resolution both depend on the size of the nanoparticle core and its other physical properties, and how imaging performance can be effectively optimized through rational core design. Modeling is performed using the properties of magnetite cores, since these are readily produced with a controllable size that facilitates quantitative imaging. Results show that very low detection thresholds (of a few nanograms Fe₃O₄) and sub-millimeter spatial resolution are possible with MPI.     

Determining aerosol particle size distributions using time-resolved laser-induced incandescence

The particle size distribution within an aerosol containing refractory nanoparticles can be inferred using time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (TR-LII). In this procedure, a small volume of aerosol is heated to incandescent temperatures by a short laser pulse, and the incandescence of the aerosol particles is then measured as they return to the ambient gas temperature by conduction heat transfer. Although the cooling rate of an individual particle depends on its volume-to-area ratio, recovering the particle size distribution from the observed temporal decay of the LII signal is complicated by the fact that the LII signal is due to the incandescence of all particle size classes within the sample volume, and because of this, the particle size distribution is related to the time-resolved LII signal through a mathematically ill-posed equation. This paper reviews techniques proposed in the literature for recovering particle size distributions from TR-LII data. The characteristics of this problem are then discussed in detail, with a focus on the effect of ill-posedness on the stability and uniqueness of the recovered particle size distributions. Finally, the performance of each method is evaluated and compared based on the results of a perturbation analysis. PACS  44.05.+e; 47.70.Pq; 78.70.-g; 65.80.+n; 78.20.Ci