Numerical and experimental simulations of diffusion charging of non-spherical aerosol particles by dense bipolar ions

Numerical and experimental simulations have been conducted for the time history of the diffusion charging process on the surface of aerosol particles by dense bipolar ions under continuum conditions. The range of conditions treated in the numerical simulations include positive-negative ion diffusion coefficient ratio from 0 to 1, aerosol particle radius from 0.1 to 10 μm, Debye ratio R_p/λD from 0 to 1 (equivalent to maximum charge density up to N₁ = 10¹² cm⁻³ for an ion temperature of 300 K), the major-to minor axis ratios of prolate spheroids, L, from 1 to 100. The experimental simulation was conducted by using a conductive dummy particle suspended by a thin shielded wire, and the charged particle deposition current flux was measured and the bipolar environments. Then the effect of particle surface charges was simulated by imposing an electric potential on the dummy particles. The results show that, (1) for small ion density (R_{p/λD 10⁻²}); the present results are in good agreement with model of Chang et al. (1978, 1983). (2) the aeroso particle charging speed and charging limit increase with increasing Debye ratio; (3) for larger Debye ratio, bipolar charging is faster than unipolar charging; (4) the effect of particle shape L is observed to be significantly influenced by Debye ratios: (5) the charging limit of the aerosol particle increases with L.