Electro-hydrodynamic modeling of electrospray ionization: CAD for a /spl mu/fluidic device-mass spectrometer interface

We report on full-dimensional, multi-phase, electro-hydrodynamic simulations of electrospray dynamics and our simulation method derived from Melcher & Taylor´s leaky dielectric fluids model. The method is first validated via the Melcher-Taylor apparatus and corresponding analytical solution, and then applied to understanding the formation of Taylor cones, a key issue in designing a /spl mu/fluidic device with an integrated mass-spectrometer interface. The simulation results show excellent agreement with the Melcher-Taylor solution. The transient full-dimensional simulation of Taylor cone formation shown here is believed the first published result of this kind. Experiment results in electrospray dynamics are presented for qualitative comparison.