Experimental study of deposition characteristics of electrospray as a function of experimental parameters

In this study, the spray mode and droplet size of an electrospray system were compared with those of a system incorporating a ring electrode. The parameters of the ring electrode specifically, the outer diameter of the nozzle, the nozzle-to-ring distance, and the applied voltage were examined to evaluate their influence on the droplet size and spray characteristics. In addition, the experimentally obtained droplet sizes were compared with values calculated using existing theoretical models. The Sauter mean diameter (SMD) for ethanol and distilled water was calculated using the equations: SMD _ethanol = a(1 + RNV) ^b and SMD _water = a(1 + RNV) ^b , where RNV denotes the applied ring-to-nozzle voltage. These equations are applicable for determining nozzle-to-ring/outer-diameter ratios up to a maximum of 10.