Apparatus and methods for producing charged fluid droplets

• Main Authors: WILLEY ALAN DAVID, HORNEY JAMES C, YATES CLAIRE REBECCA, GARTSTEIN VLADIMIR
• Format: Patent
• Language: Chinese; English
• Published: 23.05.2012
• Subjects: MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLIDMATERIALS OR FLUIDS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROMSOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS; SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATICTABLES OR JIGS; TRANSPORTING

Disclosed herein is the apparatus that produces very small or nano-sized, charged droplets and the methods for producing such charged fluid droplets. By using a fluid emitter in fluid communication with a chargeable fluid comprising a substrate having evenly spaced filaments of approximately equal length affixed thereto and a counter electrode, where upon the electrically chargeable fluid reaches the filament's apex is electrically charged wherein the distance between the filament apex and the counter electrode is sufficient to create an electrical field intensity such that the electrically charged fluid converts into a stream of charged fluid droplets moving from the filament's apex in the direction of the counter electrode along the electrostatic field's force lines formed between the filament's apex and the counter electrode, this apparatus avoids the problems known to exist when using spray nozzles having very small orifices to produce such small fluid droplets, those problems including clogging of the no