Principles of electrocentrifugal separation

Theoretical aspects of electrocentrifugation of monodisperse and polydisperse particle systems are considered. It is shown tha if concentration is an unconstrained thermodynamic variable in an imposed uniform electric field, then electrocentrifugation depends on the balance between sedimentation and chemical and electric diffusion. This balance depends also on gradients of the imposed field when it is nonuniform. The effect of electric diffusion can, however, be significant also in cases involving nonuniform fields. Electrocentrifugal separation of polarizable particles can be achieved using differential diffusion in uniform fields and differential polarization and charge in nonuniform fields. Some design considerations regarding electrocentrifugal separation zones are outlined