High-pressure dispersion of nanoparticle agglomerates through a continuous aerosol disperser

Abstract

By discharging aerosols from a high-pressure vessel through a nozzle, an improved continuous aerosol dispersion system can disperse nanoparticle agglomerates to almost primary nanoparticle size. The system’s high-pressure dispersion was modelled and numerically simulated using the Taylor expansion method of moments. The strong turbulent shear near the nozzle could achieve the same level as the van der Waals force, which is the main mechanism for deagglomerating nanoparticle agglomerates. The change in nanoparticle size was determined to be proportional to the pressure drop between the nozzle inlet and outlet. Nanoparticle breakup was also observed to be affected by the fractional dimension and primary size of particles.