COMPARATIVE CONSIDERATIONS OF AERODYNAMIC, ACOUSTIC AND ELECTROSTATIC SINGLE-DROP LEVITATION-SYSTEMS

With reference to more detailed publications the author describes the fundamental principles and the theory of single drop levitation in a low-turbulence wind tunnel and in an aerodynamic jet in comparison with the levitation in an acoustic standing wave and in the electrostatic field of a simple electrode configuration. The distinct and compact presentation is; based on characteristic, dimensionless parameters like Bond-, Reynolds-, Weber-, Nusselt-and Sherwood-number including their respective upper limits for terrestrial levitation. A combination or the different levitation principles in an aerodynamic/acoustic and(or) electrostatic/acoustic hybrid-system enables a continuous variation of the above characteristic parameters within a considerable dynamic range and thereby extends the applicability of the three fundamental levitators. In addition to a short hardware description a table of proposed experiments with single drops in a small processing chamber under ideal conditions with respect to pressure, temperature and relative humidity eases the entering into an interesting field of experimentation, which has long been neglected.