Charging and coagulation of water aerosols with a small admixture of highly radioactive droplets

The mechanism of electrocoagulation of water aerosols with a small admixture of highly radioactive droplets is examined. A corresponding mathematical model describing the processes of ionization, electrization and coagulation of radioactive water aerosols is developed. The time dependence of the ion concentration and the charge and concentration of the nonradioactive droplets and of the charge and radius of the radioactive droplets is numerically investigated for a number of typical aerosols. It is shown that the electrocoagulation process may lead to an increase in the radius of the droplets from 5–10 to 30–40μm in ≃10⁴ sec ≃3 h and, consequently, may play a significant part in the development of aerosols with a droplet radius of up to 20μm, when gravitational coagulation is unimportant. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.2, pp. 90–96, March–April, 1994.