Synergistic effect of charges and electric field: water droplet condensation and coalescence in a sub-saturated cloud chamber
- 17 February 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Plasma Sources Science and Technology
- Vol. 29 (4), 045005
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6595/ab7733
Abstract
In natural, the condensation, coalescence and growth of water droplets have crucial positive effect in the process of cloud formation, which is hard to occur under sub-saturated environment. In this paper, the growth of water droplets is detected in a 0.24 m3 sub-saturated cloud chamber with unipolar corona discharge and needle electrode configuration. The results show that the diameter of water droplets can grow up from submicron to 32 μm under -39 kV at relative humidity ~ 85 % and ambient temperature ~ 10 ℃. The growth mechanism in the evolution process is further discussed, focusing on the effect of charge on charged droplets condensation, and the synergistic effect of charges and electric field. The former is verified by the comparison of experimental average net charges of some typical diameter droplets and minimal charges needed to maintain self-growing. The latter is demonstrated by the analysis of charged droplets motion and the ionic wind recorded by camera. The analysis is in good consistent with the experimental results, which suggests its promising and potential applications in the utilization of atmospheric water resources, especially in arid regions.Funding Information
- the national key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0401002, 2016YFC0401006)
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Electrically Enhanced Condensation I: Effects of Corona DischargeIEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2014
- Effect of Electric Charge on Collisions between Cloud DropletsJournal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 2012
- Electric-field-induced condensation: An extension of the Kelvin equationPhysical Review E, 2011
- Charge induced stability of water droplets in subsaturated environmentAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2011
- Laser-induced water condensation in airNature Photonics, 2010
- Microstructure of Atmospheric Clouds and PrecipitationPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2010
- Enhancement of external forced convection by ionic windInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2008
- Technique for the introduction into the atmosphere of high concentrations of electrically charged aerosol particlesJournal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 1967
- Technique for introducing low-density space charge into the atmosphereJournal of Geophysical Research, 1961
- VI. The effect of Röntgen’s rays on cloudy condensationProceedings of the Royal Society of London, 1896