PARTICLE NUCLEATION IN TURBULENT GAS JETS

Experiments were conducted to test the theory of nucleation-controlled growth of spherical particles in a turbulent jet. Dibutyl phthalate ( DBP) particles were formed in a bench-scale jet apparatus with nozzle diameters 0.235 cm and 0.375 cm. Size distributions and number concent rations of the particles were measured at different DBP vapor concentr ations, jet velocities, and positions. There is evidence that the DBP particle nucleation was confined to the shear layer of the jet and tha t the particles grew by condensation as they moved away from the nozzl e. Trends in the data suggest that for low rates of particle formation in jets, the final aerosol concentration can be predicted from simple scaling laws.