The prediction of cone-jet formation in electrospray method using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

Abstract

An electrospray drying method has been proposed to produce silica (SiO2) nanoparticles with precise qualities. However, the phenomena of jet-formation in the electrospray process are difficult to capture in field observation, so it requires further investigation using two-dimensional multiphase CFD simulation. It studied the cone-jet formation of the electrospray process which involves multiphase flow and electric potential. The outcomes are volume fraction contour, velocity vectors, electric potential contour, electric current magnitude, and predict the final particle size. The CFD shows 1 ml/h precursor solution results in a thin jet diameter. The entire electric potential contours provide an inversed parabola profile with the biggest electric current magnitude at 14 kV (at the center of the jet). The smallest predicted particle size (0.3 μm) is produced at 1 ml/h.