Electrical charging of liquid sprays in high-pressure gas flows for electrofluid dynamic processes

To produce charged aerosols for electrofluid dynamic processes, various liquids were sprayed through a metal capillary at very high electric field strengths into high pressure air flows. The current produced as the charged liquid spray ruptures is a function of electrical, gas, and liquid properties. Of these parameters the effects of liquid properties, such as surface tension, electrical conductivity, mass flow rate, and air properties such as pressure and velocity on the current production are experimentally investigated. A semi-empirical relation of the current output with the indicated variables is obtained using dimensional analysis.