Computer user interface and simulation for designing a travelling wave panel electrode

The travelling wave electric curtain has been widely used for the confinement, separation and transportation of small particles such as crop seeds, textile fibres, biological cells or aerosols. The associated theory of electrodynamic confinement has been well established. However, the complex trajectories of charged particles in the travelling field governed by higher order nonlinear differential equations are nearly impossible to solve analytically. Numerical methods have to be employed in the design of the panel electrodes. The simulation method used by Masuda and others is semi-analytical and based on the charge substitution method which is ideal for cylindrical panel electrodes. It uses less computer power and simple application procedure. However, it lacks the flexibility in handling complex electrode geometry with higher accuracy. In this paper, the authors describe a method to solve both field and trajectories using finite element and finite difference techniques. The user interface designed for integrating both methods is of universal value. A travelling wave panel electrode has been designed and tested for the transportation and separation of dry powders. The modes of confinement and transportation in terms of advancing and retarding as well as rotating movements with different angular and linear velocities can be determined from the numerical results