A SONIC JET CORONA IONIZER FOR ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE AND AEROSOL NEUTRALIZATION

A sonic jet bipolar ionizer has been designed and tested. Ion producti on rates and characteristics of particulate contaminants were studied as a function Of design parameters (i.e, electrode material, and orifi ce plate material) and of operating conditions (i.e., electrode to ori fice distance, pressure, electrode voltage)In the optimized design Par ticle generation by electrode or plate sputtering was eliminated, whil e particle generation by chemical reaction and subsequent Ps to partic le conversion was reduced to low levels. The ionizer provided a high o utput Of bipolar ions at rates that ensured balanced operation and low charge neutralization times. An aerosol neutralizer using the Corona ionizer was designed and tested with singly charged monodisperse aeros ols. The equilibrium charge distribution of the aerosol was measured u sing an electrical mobility classification technique, and was found to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions.