Polystyrene soot agglomeration enhancement in an ultrasonic acoustic field

Abstract

ABSTRACT One approach to controlling the aerosol size distribution for a variety of applications is the use of acoustic/sonic aerosol agglomeration. Intense acoustic fields have been shown to induce large (as compared to passive processes) relative particle velocities which enhance particle collision frequencies. In this paper, the evolution of aerosol distributions in an intense acoustic field is examined. The particle size distribution is measured as a function of aerosol loading and acoustic field specification. Polystyrene foam fuel samples are burned in a static chamber with final soot mass loading of approximately 1.0 g/m3. An array of piezo-electric acoustic transducers operated at approximately 20 kHz forms one wall of the chamber. Both laser extinction and inertial impactor measurements were used to determine the effectiveness of the acoustic field in shifting the size distribution of the soot agglomerates.