Monodisperse aerosol generator
AssigneeGeorgia Tech Research Corporation
InventorsRichard F. Browner, Ross C. Willoughby
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A monodisperse aerosol generator forms a stable jet of liquid at a velocity allowing columnar breakup into droplets of uniform size and spacing. To prevent degradation of the monodisperse aerosol, it is dispersed by entrainment in a high velocity gaseous stream. To provide an interface for direct injection into a mass spectrometer or to interface a liquid chromatograph with a mass spectrometer, the generator is followed by a desolvation chamber operating at about atmospheric pressure and a multistage pressure reducer which evacuates solvent vapor and gaseous medium to form a high momentum, solvent-depleted solute aerosol beam which is input into the mass spectrometer.
Claims21
A monodisperse aerosol generating device comprising nozzle means for discharging a stable, cylindrical jet of liquid, supply means for supplying the liquid to said nozzle means at a rate sufficient to maintain the velocity of the jet at a value such that Rayleigh breakup of the jet into monodisperse droplets of predetermined uniform size occurs, and dispersion means for dispersing said monodisperse droplets just after the point of droplet formation.
A system for producing a monodisperse aerosol beam of solvent-depleted solute, which comprises nozzle means for discharging a stable, cylindrical jet of a solution into a confined space, the solution being a relatively volatile solvent with a relatively involatile solute dissolved therein, supply means for supplying the solution to said nozzle means at a rate sufficient to maintain the velocity of the jet at a value such that Rayleigh breakup of the jet into monodisperse droplets of predetermined uniform size occurs, dispersion means for entraining said monodisperse droplets in a gaseous medium just after the point of droplet formation, a desolvating chamber receiving the entrained monodisperse droplets at one end thereof and having a restricted outlet spaced sufficiently far from said one end to allow substantially complete volatilization of said solvent before the droplets reach said restricted outlet, and vacuum means for continuously evacuating gaseous medium, solvent vapor and solvent-depleted solute at high velocity through said restricted outlet to form a monodisperse aerosol beam of solvent-depleted solute while separating off solvent vapor and gaseous medium.
A system for generating a monodisperse aerosol, which comprises means for supplying liquid to a nozzle at a rate sufficient to produce a stable jet of liquid having a velocity such that monodisperse droplet breakup of the jet occurs in the absence of outside disturbances, and dispersing means for entraining said droplets just after the point of droplet formation in a high velocity flow of gaseous medium so as to retain the monodisperse nature thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.