Experimental investigation on dynamics of charged bidisperse particles in turbulence

From tribocharged particles in sandstorms, the dust lightening after volcanic eruptions, to the removal of particulate pollutants in the flue gas, the dynamics of charged particles in turbulence is important to a wide range of natural and industrial applications. Compared with neutral particles, the presence of electrostatic force could significantly modulate particles dynamics and cause abundant phenomena. In this talk, we present an experimental study of the dynamics of oppositely charged bidisperse particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The spatial distribution of charged particles is first measured to show the global effects of electrostatic force on particle distribution in turbulence. For particle trajectories close to each other, the relative motion is further analyzed to show the dominant influence of the electrostatic force over short distances. Finally, a theoretical analysis is presented to quantify the competition between the electrostatic force and the hydrodynamic interaction, which contributes to a more complete physical understanding of charged particle-laden flows.