Ultrafine Particle Generation at High Liquid Flow Rates with Commercial Two-Fluid Nozzles

Abstract

Residue particles with volume median diameters ranging from 23 to 68 nm were made by dispersing KNO₃ or MnCL₂ · 4H₂0 solutions with commercially available pneumatic nozzles at liquid flow rates of 0.07 and 0.021 cm³/s and atomizing air pressures (gauge) ranging from 276 to 3447 kPag. Droplets with median diameters of 1.5 ± 0.3 μm were made at the 0.07 cm³/s liquid flow rate, which represents a nearly 10-fold increase in liquid flow rate achieved with Collison atomizers used to generate droplets of similar sizes under conditions specified by their manufacturers.