Numerical study of particle movement in an inclined standing wave electric curtain
Résumé
An electrostatic curtain presents a simple way to manipulate sub-millimeter particles for the purpose of surface cleaning or particle separation. The purpose of this work is to investigate numerically the charged particles’ behavior in a planar electrostatic curtain using standing waves. The numerical model of the particle’s motion induced by a standing wave on an in-clined electric curtain takes into account the simultaneous application of several forces. Insu-lating sub-millimeter charged particles are subject to electric forces, namely, Coulomb force, dielectrophoretic, and image forces, but also to gravity, drag force, and Van der Waals adhe-sion force. The amplitude of these forces varies according to particle size, electric charge, and particle position. In a standing wave case, the particles are split into two groups moving in opposite directions. The influence of parameters like frequency, charge amplitude, and cur-tain inclination was studied. Mainly, the results show that applying low-frequency voltage along with inclination increase can lead to a long-distance displacement of particles, which leads to better cleaning performances.