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Electrostatics 2015, supported by the Institute of Physics, was held in the Sir James Matthews building at Southampton Solent University, UK between 12th and 16th April 2015. Southampton is a historic city on the South Coast of England with a strong military and maritime history. Southampton is home to two Universities: Solent University, which hosted the conference, and the University of Southampton, where much work is undertaken related to electrostatics. 37 oral and 44 poster presentations were accepted for the conference, and 60 papers were submitted and accepted for the proceedings.

The Bill Bright Memorial Lecture was delivered this year by Professor Mark Horenstein from Boston University who was, until recently, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Electrostatics. He spoke on The contribution of surface potential to diverse problems in electrostatics and his thorough knowledge of the subject of electrostatics was evident in the presentation. The first session was chaired by the Conference Chair, Dr Keith Davies, whose experience in the field showed through his frequent contributions to the discussions throughout the conference.

Hazards and Electrostatic Discharge have formed a strong core to Electrostatics conferences for many years, and this conference contained sessions on both Hazards and on ESD, including an invited talk from Dr Jeremy Smallwood on ESD in Industry – Present and Future.

Another strong theme to emerge from this year's programme was Non-Thermal Plasmas, which was covered in two sessions. There were two invited talks on this subject: Professor Masaaki Okubo gave a talk on Development of super-clean diesel engine and combustor using nonthermal plasma hybrid after treatment and Dr David Go presented a talk on Atmospheric-pressure ionization processes: New approaches and applications for plasmas in contact with liquids.

A new innovation to the conference this year was the opportunity for conference sponsors to present to the delegates a technical presentation related to their work. Chilworth Technology and Infolytica both took advantage of this opportunity. David Firth from Chilworth Technology delivered some case studies related to process safety and Chris Emson from Infolytica compared the different types of modelling software used in industry and academia. For two days of the conference, an exhibition was held for delegates to meet and discuss their work with interested companies.

Sessions on Modelling and Simulation and on Measurement and Instrumentation were included. Recent successful IOP meetings on Electrospinning and Electrospray prove that this is an important topic, and were the subject of a session in the conference, including an invited talk by Dr Horst von Recum on Electrospun materials for affinity based drug delivery. The conference finished with a session on Environmental and Space Applications.

The Southampton Yacht Club provided a fitting venue for the conference dinner on the Wednesday evening. Meal times, and conference dinners in particular, are always a great opportunity to meet with other workers in related fields, and there were many conversations started in question and answer sessions that continued over a plate of food. Within the conference dinner, prizes were awarded for the best student work. Ladislav Konopka's talk in the modelling and simulation session discussed how different particle sizes can be shown to transfer charge in a modelled system. Matthias Perez's poster presented early work on the use of a small-scale wind turbine to generate wind power.

The discussions both within the lecture theatre and the ongoing discussions that occur over coffee and tea in between sessions are often a place where new ideas are shared. In fact, the presentation submitted by Dr Atsushi Ohsawa, Charge neutralisation from the side surface of an insulating plate, acknowledged an inspiration from a question raised at a previous Electrostatics conference in Budapest in 2013. In these proceedings the conference committee took the decision to transcribe the questions and answers to leave a lasting record of the conversations that took place after each oral presentation and they are included in the printed proceedings.

I am very grateful to Keith Davies and the conference committee, and Joanne Hemstock and other IOP staff, who provided advice and assistance throughout the whole process. A peer reviewed proceedings is not possible without willing expert reviewers who are able to provide reviews on abstracts and submitted papers. I am grateful to all who undertook reviews throughout the process.

I hope to see many of this year's delegates in four years time for Electrostatics 2019.

All papers published in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the proceedings Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

Electrostatics spans many different subject areas. Some comprise "good electrostatics," where charge is used for desirable purposes. Such areas include industrial manufacturing, electrophotography, surface modification, precipitators, aerosol control, and MEMS. Other areas comprise "bad electrostatics," where charge is undesirable. Such areas include hazardous discharges, ESD, health effects, nuisance triboelectrification, particle contamination, and lightning. Conference proceedings such as this one inevitably include papers grouped around these topics. One common thread throughout is the surface potential developed when charge resides on an insulator surface. Often, the charged insulator will be in intimate contact with a ground plane. At other times, the charged insulator will be isolated. In either case, the resulting surface potential is important to such processes as propagating brush discharges, charge along a moving web, electrostatic biasing effects in MEMS, non-contacting voltmeters, field-effect transistor sensors, and the maximum possible charge on a woven fabric.

An electric field screen can be used to keep mosquitoes out of houses with open windows. In this study, doubly charged dipolar electric field screens (DD-screens) were used to capture mosquitoes entering through a window. The screen had two components: three layers of insulated conductor iron wires (ICWs) in parallel arrays and two electrostatic direct current (DC) voltage generators that supplied negative or positive voltages to the ICWs. Within each layer, the ICWs were parallel at 5-mm intervals, and connected to each other and to a negative or positive voltage generator. The negatively and positively charged ICWs are represented as ICW(–) and ICW(+), respectively. The screen consisted of one ICW(+) layer with an ICW(–) layer on either side. The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and house mosquito (Culex pipiens) were used as models of vectors carrying viral pathogens. Adult mosquitoes were blown into the space between the ICWs by sending compressed air through the tip of an insect aspirator to determine the voltage range that captured all of the test insects. Wind speed was measured at the surface of the ICW using a sensitive anemometer. The result showed that at ≥ 1.2 kV, the force was strong enough that the ICWs captured all of the mosquitoes, despite a wind speed of 7 m/s. Therefore, the DD-screen could serve as a physical barrier to prevent noxious mosquitoes from entering houses with good air penetration.

An electric field screen is a physical device used to exclude pest insects from greenhouses and warehouses to protect crop production and storage. The screen consists of iron insulated conductor wires (ICWs) arrayed in parallel and linked to each other, an electrostatic DC voltage generator used to supply a negative charge to the ICWs, and an earthed stainless net placed on one side of the ICW layer. The ICW was negatively charged to polarize the earthed net to create a positive charge on the ICW side surface, and an electric field formed between the opposite charges of the ICW and earthed net. The current study focused on the ability of the screen to repel insects reaching the screen net. This repulsion was a result of the insect's behaviour, i.e., the insects were deterred from entering the electric field of the screen. In fact, when the screen was negatively charged with the appropriate voltages, the insects placed their antennae inside the screen and then flew away without entering. Obviously, the insects recognized the electric field using their antennae and thereby avoided entering. Using a wide range of insects and spiders belonging to different taxonomic groups, we confirmed that the avoidance response to the electric field was common in these animals.

The lightning current generates time-varying magnetic field near the down- conductor and the down-conductors are mounted on the wall of the buildings where residential places might be situated. It is well known that the rapidly changing magnetic fields can generate dangerous eddy currents in the human body.The higher duration and gradient of the magnetic field can cause potentially life threatening cardiac stimulation. The coupling mechanism between the electromagnetic field and the human body is based on a well-known physical phenomena (e.g. Faradays law of induction). However, the calculation of the induced current is very complicated because the shape of the organs is complex and the determination of the material properties of living tissues is difficult, as well. Our previous study revealed that the cardiac stimulation is independent of the rising time of the lightning current and only the peak of the current counts.

In this study, the authors introduce an improved model of the interaction of electromagnetic fields of lighting current near down-conductor and human body. Our previous models are based on the quasi stationer field calculations, the new improved model is a transient model. This is because the magnetic field around the down-conductor and in the human body can be determined more precisely, therefore the dangerous currents in the body can be estimated.

For rapid and accurate fabrication of industrial products, the development of effective technique to manipulate and assemble nanomaterials is essential. In the present work, we investigated the dielectrophoretic behavior of silver nanoparticles and nanowires at various driving frequencies and voltage amplitudes, and examined three-dimensional assembly of the nanomaterials using dielectrophoretic devices with microstructures. The collectable range in frequency for nanoparticles and nanowires was from 10 kHz to 1 MHz. In particular, the aggregation shape of nanowires was changed against driving frequency. The bunch of nanowires was bridged between pillars of dielectrophoretic device. When the applied voltage was turned off, the trapped nanowires were entirely released. In pit type device, trapping of nanoparticles was observed in outermost pits of array. The aggregates of nanoparticles were directly fixed to the bottom electrode.

The charge on a liquid droplet is a critical parameter that needs to be determined to accurately predict the behaviour of the droplet in many electrostatic applications, for example, electrostatic painting and ink-jet printing. The charge depends on many factors, such as the liquid conductivity, droplet and ligament radii, ligament length, droplet shape, electric field intensity, space charge, the presence of adjacent ligaments and previously formed droplets. In this paper, a 2D axisymmetric model is presented which can be used to predict the electric charge on a conductive spherical droplet ejected from a single ligament directly supplied with high voltage. It was found that the droplet charging levels for the case of isolated electrified ligaments are as much as 60 times higher than that in the case of ligaments connected to a planar high voltage electrode. It is suggested that practical atomization systems lie somewhere between these two extremes and that a better model was achieved by developing a 3D approximation of a linear array of ligaments connected to an electrode having variable width. The effect on droplet charge and its radius was estimated for several cases of different boundary conditions.

Polyethylene oxide solution containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes have been electrospun onto a rotating collector to produce highly aligned arrays of electrospun nanofibers ranging in diameters from (200 – 360) nanometres. The addition of a surfactant (Triton X-100) is highly effective in dispersing carbon nanotube within an aqueous solution of polyethylene oxide and the resulting mixture can be electrospun without excessive clumping to produce nanofibers containing high loadings of nanotubes; in this case up to 5% wt thereby providing an effective route to electrically conductive nanofibres.

A mobile robot based electrostatic spray system was developed to combat pest infestation on cotton plants in Iraq. The system consists of a charged spray nozzle, a CCD camera, a mobile robot (vehicle and arm) and Arduino microcontroller. Arduino microcontroller is used to control the spray nozzle and the robot. Matlab is used to process the image from the CCD camera and to generate the appropriate control signals to the robot and the spray nozzle. COMSOL multi-physics FEM software was used to design the induction electrodes to achieve maximum charge transfer onto the fan spray liquid film resulting in achieving the desired charge/mass ratio of the spray. The charged spray nozzle was operated on short duration pulsed spray mode. Image analysis was employed to investigate the spray deposition on improvised insect targets on an artificial plant.

This paper reports on a cm-scale wind turbine coupled to an electret-based electrostatic energy converter for airflows energy harvesting. The device we propose is made of a typical axial turbine to convert the wind energy into a mechanical energy of rotation and of a patterned electret-based electrostatic converter to turn this mechanical energy into electricity. This is actually the first time that the mechanical power extracted by a turbine is turned into electricity with an electret-based electrostatic converter. Several prototypes have been tested on a wind tunnel from 0 to 10 m/s; a power of 200 μW has been extracted on a 4 cm-diameter device at 10 m/s.

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs) penetrate the regolith (layer of soil and dust) covering the Moon's surface and cause deep dielectric charging. To gain insight into this process, we have developed a data-driven, deep dielectric charging model using data from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), which is onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and the Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (EPAM) on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). The model results indicate that GCRs produce a persistent electric field (∼700 V m^-1) within the top tens of centimeters of regolith, while large SEP events could potentially generate episodic subsurface electric fields (≥ 10⁶ V m^-1) capable of causing dielectric breakdown within the top millimeter of regolith. We also propose that this "breakdown weathering" may have significantly affected the regolith in the Moon's permanently shadowed regions (PSRs).

In this article, we report results of self-charged water drop generated by hypodermic needle over charge values comparable to those reported in the literature during stormy rainfall. We also controllably charged aerosols particles by corona discharge and evaluate how it affects their collection efficiency. Electric charges on drops and aerosols are precisely monitored by high resolution electrometers. Our preliminary results tend to accredit the impact of electric charges in collection efficiency.

Developing a universal portable air sampler based on electrostatic precipitation. The challenge is to collect micro and nanoparticles, microorganisms as well as toxic molecules with a portable device. Electrostatic precipitation is an efficient and gentle method to collect airborne microorganisms and preserve their cultivability. But the collection of toxic gases required is not possible in such a device. The collection of such gases requires a liquid into which they have to be solubilized. Two concepts are being evaluated. The first one is based on electrospray. The goal is to investigate the collection efficiency of water-soluble gases. The second concept is based on the semi-humid electrostatic precipitator. Their high collection efficiencies for particles were already demonstrated. In the present study they are both tested with water-soluble gases. Concentrations are measured in the liquid solution by Ion Chromatography and in the gas phase by Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry.

Atmospheric electric field measurements (potential gradient, PG) were retrieved in the urban environment of the city of Lisbon (Portugal). The measurements were performed with a Benndorf electrograph at the Portela Meteorological station in the suburbs of the city (NE from the centre). The period of 1980 to 1990 is considered here. According to wind direction, different content and types of ions and aerosols arrive at the measurement site causing significant variations to the PG. To the south there are significant pollution sources while to the north such sources are scarcer. The Iberian Peninsula is found east of the station and the Atlantic Ocean covers the western sector, Wind directions are divided in four sectors: i) NW: 270° ≤ θ ≤ 360°; ii) NE: 0 ≤ θ ≤ 90°; iii) SE: 90 ≤ θ ≤ 180°; iv) SW: 180° ≤ θ ≤ 270°. Analysis of weekly cycle, caused by anthropogenic pollution related with urban activity, was undertaken for each wind sector. NW sector has been shown to be less affected by this cycle, which is attributed to the effect of marine air. The daily variation of NE sector for weekends reveals a similar behaviour to the Carnegie curve, which corresponds to a clean air daily variation of PG, following universal time, independent of measurement site.

To understand the influence of corona ion emission on the atmospheric electrical field, measurements were made near to two AC high voltage power lines. A JCI 131 field-mill recorded the atmospheric electric field over one year. Meteorological measurements were also taken. The data series is divided in four zones (dependent on wind direction): whole zones, Z₀; zone 1, Z₁; zone 2, Z₂; zone 3, Z₃. Z₃ is the least affected by corona ion emission and for that reason it is used as a reference against Z₁ and Z₂, which are strongly influenced by this phenomena. Analysis was undertaken for all weather days and dry days only. The Lomb-Scargle strategy developed for unevenly spaced time-series is used to calculate the spectral response of the aforementioned zones. Only frequencies above 1 minute are considered.

The atmospheric electric field near the Earth's surface is dominated by atmospheric pollutants and natural radioactivity, with the latter directly linked to radon (²²²Rn) gas. For a better comprehension on the temporal variability of both the atmospheric electric field and the radon concentration and its relation with local atmospheric variables, simultaneous measurements of soil-emitted gamma radiation and potential gradient (defined from the vertical component of the atmospheric electric field) were taken every minute, along with local meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity and daily solar radiation). The study region is Amieira, part of the Alqueva lake in Alentejo Portugal, where an interdisciplinary meteorological campaign, ALEX2014, took place from June to August 2014. Soil gamma radiation is more sensitive to small concentrations of radon as compared with alpha particles measurements, for that reason it is more suited for sites with low radon levels, as expected in this case. Preliminary results are presented here: statistical and spectral analysis show that i) the potential gradient has a stronger daily cycle as compared with the gamma radiation, ii) most of the energy of the gamma signal is concentrated in the low frequencies (close to 0), contrary to the potential gradient that has most of the energy in frequency 1 (daily cycle) and iii) a short-term relation between gamma radiation and the potential gradient has not been found. Future work and plans are also discussed.

We provide an exact closed-form solution for the electrostatic interaction of two equal-sized conducting spheres. We calculate the capacitance coefficients for the spheres in terms of the q-analogue of the digamma function. In the near limit, when the two spheres are about to touch, the closed-form exact solutions allow for much faster numerical calculations than the well-known infinite series solutions. By analyzing the exact solution in the near limit, we provide Taylor series expressions for the capacitance coefficients in terms of the surface-to- surface separation of the two spheres.

There are several models describing the Global Electric Circuit of the Earth's atmosphere. Here it is used the common model and parameters of Global Electric Circuit to couple it with a local circuit less studied in literature. The first objective is to test different voltage sources describing thunderstorm activity and compare the output, Potential Gradient, with the known Carnegie Curve. Two sets of parameters are used, the first one from values found in literature and the second one from values tweaked to get the best agreement between the simulated Potential Gradient and the Carnegie Curve. This study is a first step in simulations regarding the coupling of the Global Electric Circuit (primary) to local electric circuit (secondary). One of the main objectives is to estimate the aerosol load on the local resistor in case of aerosol events, e.g. fires.

ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) has been a recognized source of damage to unprotected electronic components and assemblies in electronic system manufacture since around 1980. Since then, manufacturers handling ESD Sensitive components (ESDS) have set up ESD Protected Areas (EPAs) for the purpose, and internationally recognized ESD control standards supported by standard test methods and procedures have been developed. Meanwhile, development of ESDS device on-chip protection has continued. This paper examines the trends in ESDS component sensitivity, and the need for development of ESD control in EPAs. It asks if ESD protection is well understood by those in industry who have to implement it, and whether there is adequate education and research in the subject. Finally, it comments on whether the electronics industry and other industry areas where reliable and effective electrostatic control is required could learn from each other's practices.

This paper explores whether charge neutralisation from the side surface of an insulating plate is effective, on the basis of investigating the motion of positive and negative ions using 2-D numerical fluid simulations for different initial surface charge distributions and placements of an insulating plate to be neutralised.

Small wall mounted power supplies that plug directly into AC power mains and furnish power, usually low voltage DC, to equipment over a low voltage cable are ubiquitous in the electronic field. It is shown that these low voltage supplies can be the source of multiple ESD events that are fed to the connected system on the low voltage cable when an ESD event is applied to the system or directly to the power supplies. The multiple ESD events produce nasty current waveforms Examples of these waveforms and the measurement method are given. The results have been duplicated in three laboratories, results are presented from two of the three.

This paper presents work on the simulation of electrostatic charge build-up and decay in aircraft fuel systems. A model (EC-Flow) has been developed by BAE Systems under contract to Airbus, to allow the user to assess the effects of changes in design or in refuel conditions. Some of the principles behind the model are outlined. The model allows for a range of system components, including metallic and non-metallic pipes, valves, filters, junctions, bends and orifices. A purpose-built experimental rig was built at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton, UK, to provide comparison data. The rig comprises a fuel delivery system, a test section where different components may be introduced into the system, and a Faraday Pail for measuring generated charge. Diagnostics include wall currents, charge densities and pressure losses. This paper shows sample results from the fitting of model predictions to measurement data and shows how analysis may be used to explain some of the observed trends.

Electrostatic discharges from surfaces of plastic materials can be a source of ignition, when appear in explosive atmospheres. Incendivity of electrostatic discharges can be estimated using the transferred charge test. In the case of brush discharges not all the energy stored at the tested sample is released and the effective surface charge density (or surface potential) crater is observed after the discharge. Simplified model, enabling calculation of a charge transferred during electrostatic brush discharge, was presented. Comparison of the results obtained from the simplified model and from direct measurements of transferred charge are presented in the paper.

Generalised published guidelines indicated a new high shear slurry dispersion system should include inerting of the vessel headspace to avoid electrostatic ignition hazards. This paper describes how computer modelling of electric fields and potentials, combined with experimental measurements on laboratory scale equipment, was used to show that inerting is not warranted in this case. Ultimately the conclusion was that, subject to certain restrictions, an incendive electrostatic discharge in the new blender could be considered so unlikely that inerting or other protective measures would not be required.

The BG RCI has initiated investigations in order to improve the data basis for assessing the ignition hazard by electrostatic charging processes associated with the spraying of liquids. On the base of preliminary experiments, we established procedures for measurements of electric field strength and charging current in the presence of aerosol particles. Results obtained with three different nozzle types, variation of pressure and with built-in deflecting plate are presented.

In present guidelines and codes of practice it is strongly recommended to use dissipative filter media in dust separators, if the minimum ignition energy of the powder is below 3 mJ and/or a hybrid mixture may be present. Despite being in compliance with this rule and despite the filter media passed the relevant tests, burnt product was found in a dust separator of pharmaceutical production. Extensive investigations have shown that the demands made in the present standards on dissipative filter clothes are not sufficient to prevent ignition of deposited powder and ignition of an explosive atmosphere. Proposals for additional tests and requirements are presented in the paper.

In case of transmission and distribution networks, extra low frequency (typically 50 or 60 Hz) electric and magnetic fields have to be taken into consideration separately from each other. Health effects have been documented from exposures to both types of fields. Magnetic fields are qualified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (category "2B") by WHO's cancer research institute, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), so it is essential to protect the workers against their harmful effects. During live-line maintenance (LLM) electric fields can be shielded effectively by different kinds of conductive clothing, which are enclosed metal surfaces acting as a Faraday-cage. In practice laboratory measurements also prove their efficiency, the required shielding ratio is above 99% by the related standard.. A set of measurements have proved that regular conductive clothing used against the electric fields cannot shield the magnetic fields effectively at all. This paper introduces the possible risks of LLM from the aspect of the health effects of magnetic fields. Although in this case the principle of shielding the electric fields cannot be applied, new considerations in equipment design and technology can be used as a possible solution. Calculations and simulations based on the data of the Hungarian transmission network - which represents the European grid as a part of ENTSO-E - and high-current laboratory measurement results also prove the importance of the topic.

Transport of dry solid particles to a liquid is relevant to a number of emerging applications, including 'liquid marbles'. We report experiments where the transport of dry particles to a pendent water droplet is driven by an external electric field. Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials (silica, PMMA) were studied. For silica particles (hydrophilic, poorly conductive), a critical applied voltage initiated transfer, in the form of a rapid 'avalanche' of a large number of particles. The particle-loaded drop then detached, producing a metastable spherical agglomerate. Pure PMMA particles did not display this 'avalanche' behaviour, and when added to silica particles, appeared to cause aggregation and change the nature of the transfer mechanism. This paper is largely devoted to the avalanche process, in which deformation of the drop and radial compaction of the particle bed due to the electric field are thought to have played a central role. Since no direct contact is required between the bed and the drop, we hope to produce liquid marble-type aggregates with layered structures incorporating hydrophilic particles, which has not previously been possible.

A water droplet under an ac electric field with resonant frequency changes drastically its shape repeating extension and shrinkage, alternatively. To develop an electrostatic mixing method of small amount of liquid, resonant vibrating motion of a water droplet was investigated. Both horizontal and vertical fields were applied to the droplet placed on a super-hydrophobic plate with a contact angle of 150 degrees. From the video images of the droplet, the degree of deformation of the droplet shape was evaluated by deformation rate. Under the two-directional electric field, the deformation ratio at shrinkage was increased significantly. The height of the droplet varies from 1.2 to 1.8 times larger than that of the original droplet during vibrating motion. Furthermore, the deformation rate at shrinkage varies with time periodically due to rotating motion of the droplet. The vertical electric field might be effective to cause the turbulent flow inside of the droplet.

The SPABRINK EU project requires temporary adhesion of coloured solid "ink" particles to a surface, for later recovery and reuse. This is achieved through the use of dielectrophoretic force under the control of a voltage applied to an interdigitated electrode pattern on the polymer foil. One concern is the ability to hold particles under vibration conditions. In this paper we present an experimental study of the adhesion of 50-300 μm polymer particles to an experimental interdigitated electrode structure on flexible polymer foil. Powder loss as a function of calibrated displacement and applied voltage to the electrodes are presented. This is compared with theoretical results obtained by modelling adhesion using Pohl's equation in terms of an "adhesion factor". Some difficulties in directly comparing experimental and modelling results are discussed.

In spite of their extensive use for processing mixtures of granules exceeding 1 mm in size, very few industrial electrostatic separators are capable of handling micronized metals and plastics originating from waste electric and electronic equipment. The aim of the present work is to validate the possibility of using a novel belt-type electrostatic separator for the selective sorting of such particulate mixtures, the dimensions of which are in the order of 0.1 mm. In this type of separator, the metal particles get charged by electrostatic induction in contact with the grounded metal belt electrode, while the plastics remain uncharged in the electric field and are collected separately. The experiments are performed with 2-g samples of a mixture composed in equal proportions (50% - 50%) of Aluminium and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) particles of average diameter ranging between 125 μm and 250 μm. They enabled the evaluation of the effects and the interaction of two control variables of the process: the angle of inclination of the roll-type electrode and the high voltage applied to it.

Submicron and nanoparticles removal from flue or exhaust gases remain still a challenge for engineers. The most effective device used for gas cleaning in power plants or industry is electrostatic precipitator, but its collection efficiency steeply decreases for particles smaller than 1 micron. In this paper, fractional collection efficiency of two-stage electrostatic precipitator comprising of alternating electric field charger and DC supplied parallel-plate collection stage has been investigated. The total number collection efficiency for PM2.5 particles was higher than 95% and mass collection efficiency >99%. Fractional collection efficiency for particles between 300 nm and 1 μm was >95%.

The paper deals with processes of current passage through motionless low- conducting liquid in plane-plane electrode system at the injection and dissociation mechanisms of charge formation. The feature of the study is the joint consideration of an approximate analytical solution and the computer simulation. The latter is carried out in dimensionless form, which increases the generality of the results. The analysis of the structure of near-electrode layers in the transient regime and at various ratios between the injection and dissociation mechanisms of charge formation was performed.

The paper studies a particular electrode system, two flat parallel electrodes with a dielectric plate having a small circular hole between them. Its main feature is that the region of the strong electric field is located far from metal electrode surfaces, which permits one to preclude the injection charge formation and to observe field-enhanced dissociation (the Wien effect) leading to the emergence of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow. The described electrode system was studied by way of both computer simulation and experiment. The latter was conducted with the help of the particle image velocimetry (or PIV) technique. The numerical research used trusted software package COMSOL Multiphysics, which allows solving the complete set of EHD equations and obtaining the EHD flow structure. Basing on the computer simulation and the comparison with experimental investigation results, it was concluded that the Wien effect is capable of causing intense (several centimeters per second) EHD flows in low-conducting liquids and has to be taken into account when dealing with EHD devices.

An efficient and reliable method is introduced to understand the network behaviour of nano-fillers in a polymeric matrix under uniaxial strain coupled with small angle x-ray scattering measurements. The nanoparticles (carbon nanotubes) are conductive and the particles form a percolating network that becomes apparent source of electrical conduction and consequently the samples behave as a bulk conductor. Polyurethane based nanocomposites containing 2% w/w multiwall carbon nanotubes are studied. The electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite was (3.28×10^-5s/m).The sample was able to be extended to an extension ratio of 1.7 before fracture. A slight variation in the electrical conductivity is observed under uniaxial strain which we attribute to the disturbance of conductive pathways. Further, this work is coupled with in- situ time resolved small angle x-ray scattering measurements using a synchrotron beam line to enable its measurements to be made during the deformation cycle. We use a multiscale structure to model the small angle x-ray data. The results of the analysis are interpreted as the presence of aggregates which would also go some way towards understanding why there is no alignment of the carbon nanotubes.

The aim of this paper is to establish the conditions in which the vibrating capacitive probe of an electrostatic voltmeter could be employed for mapping the electric potential at the surface of non-uniformly charged insulating bodies. A first set of experiments are performed on polypropylene non-woven media (thickness: 0.4 mm; fiber diameter: 20 μm) in ambient air. In a second set of experiments the non-uniformity of charge is simulated using five copper strips (width: 2 mm or 3 mm; distance between strips: 2 mm). All the strips are connected to a high-voltage supply (V_s = 1000 V). The sample carrier is attached to a computer-controlled positioning system that transfers it under the capacitive probe (TREK, model 3451) of an electrostatic voltmeter (TREK, model 1341B). The measurements are performed at various relative speeds V_b between the sample and the probe, and for various sample rates F_e. A first set of experiments point out that the electric potential displayed by the electrostatic voltmeter depends on the spacing h between the sample and the probe. The diameter D of the spot "seen" by the probe is approximately D ≈ 8h/3. From the second set of experiments performed with the test plate, it can be concluded that the surface potential can be measured with the media in motion, but the accuracy is limited by the spatial resolution defined by k = V_b/F_e.

During of course of determining the mechanism by which electrostatic discharge affects electronic equipment, the process is complicated by the fact that the energy of the ESD event is dispersed across the whole of the electronic system and its connections. A collection of methods is presented whereby the effects of ESD on electronic equipment and potentially other objects can be determined. These methods narrow down the parts of the system affected by applying E and H field stresses locally in the system. Although the stresses are not necessarily ESD, they model the local effects of ESD within the system and allow determination of which parts of the system are affected by ESD so the specific design fixes can be applied to the appropriate parts of the system.

Direct and compensating methods of non-contact potential measurements on constant charge objects are distinguished and discussed in the paper. It is well known that in case of potential measurements using direct method the measured voltage value is lower in comparison to that in a non disturbed state. However in case of application of a compensating method, values of measured potential are higher. It is shown that in both of discussed cases approaching of the conducting object by the particular voltmeter (probe) leads to changes of the total capacitance of the object. Approximated relations for estimation of relative error of potential measurements for both of distinguished groups of methods were also given.

A novel probe for charge measurements was simulated, designed and tested. It consisted of two coaxial induction probes which were grounded via a current sensing circuit. As a charged spherical object passed the probe, data was collected and analyzed using a PC running a program compiled with LabVIEW. Two simultaneous current signals were integrated to obtain induced charges as a function of time. Then, Gaussian curves were fitted to the data and widths and amplitudes were collected for further processing. According to simulations performed with Comsol MultiPhysics, object charge, distance from the probe and size could be calculated using the above mentioned Gaussian peak parameters. The probe was calibrated and tested using induction charged water droplets and frictionally charged insulating spheres.

Recent research shows that electrostatic precipitation is a gentle method to collect airborne microorganisms and preserve their cultivability. However, the corona discharge used to charge the particles and the high electric field used to capture them are known to have a germicidal effect. The present paper investigates this paradoxical situation. Vegetative cells of E. coli and B. subtilis and spores of A. fumigatus and B. subtilis were deposited on different media and subjected to electrostatic fields of different strengths and polarities for controlled time periods. Vegetative cells are inactivated on cultivation agar plates, but remain cultivable when exposed on a stainless steel electrode and transferred afterwards onto agar plates. For the investigated conditions, spores were not affected by the corona discharge. Further experiments with a pH indicator show that chemical reactions occur when an aqueous media is exposed to the discharge. Some of these reactions are likely to create hydrogen peroxide which is known to kill a broad range of microorganisms. It is therefore highlighted that collecting electrodes in electrostatic air samplers should rather be dry conductive media.

Electric discharges, depending on their character, can emit different types of energy, resulting in different effects. Single electrostatic discharges besides generation of electromagnetic pulses are also the source of N acoustic waves. Their specified parameters depending on amount of discharging charge enable determination of value of released charge in a function of acoustic descriptor (e.g. acoustic pressure). Presented approach is the basics of acoustic method for measurement of single electrostatic discharges, enabling direct and contactless measurement of value of charge released during ESD. Method for measurement of acoustic effect of impact of a single electrostatic discharge on the environment in a form of pressure shock wave and examples of acoustic descriptors in a form of equation Q=f(p_a) are described. The properties of measuring system as well as the results of regression static analyses used to determine the described relationships are analysed in details.

A non-contact surface resistivity probe for materials with resistivity greater than 10⁹ Ω has been developed using surface potential measurement combined with corona charging. The probe is composed of a grid type corona charger and a surface voltmeter located next to the charger. A test material was placed below the probe without contact to the material at a gap of 2 mm. The time variation of the surface potential and the saturation surface potential beneath the charged area are theoretically a function of the surface resistivity; therefore, measurement of the rise time and the saturation potential can be used to predict the surface resistivity in the ranges of lower and higher surface resistivity, respectively. The calibration equation for the probe was determined by solving the circuit equation for a one-dimensional simple circuit model and by extension of the simple model to the actual probe arrangement using experimentally derived constants. The lower surface resistivity, ρ_sal (from 10⁹ to 8×10¹³ Ω), can be predicted from ρ_s = 1.0×10¹¹×T_m^1.64 using a 63% rise time, T_m. The higher surface resistivity, ρ_sah (from 8×10¹³ to 10¹⁶ Ω), can be predicted using the equation ρ_s = 3.0×10¹⁴×V_m^1.70 with the converted surface potential, V_m.

Streamer is a channel of a low temperature plasma growing due to ionization in the area of the strong electric field at the tip of the channel. Streamer investigation presents a technically highly complicated task due to fleetingness of the process: growing velocity is 10⁶-10⁷ m/s and characteristic duration is 10^-8-10^-7 s. The electric current pulse registration is a moderate method for investigating so fast process. However, the major part of streamer current investigations refers to low voltage range (about 10³-10⁴ V) and short streamers length range 10^-2-10^-1 cm. Also positive streamers are usually considered and there is a lack of information about current pulses caused by negative streamers. Both positive and negative streamers and their interaction are considered in the present paper. A multibranch streamer corona emerging at voltages above 250 kV and in long gaps (above 40 cm) was investigated.

The voltage response method measures the decay and return voltages on a charged and shorted dielectric and from the slopes of these voltages the specific conductivity and the polarization conductivity of the material can be determined. These two numbers can characterize the main dielectric processes, namely the conductivity and the polarization, however the phenomenon of polarization is the sum of numerous elementary polarization processes with different intensities and time constants. By changing the shorting time of a charged insulation the elementary polarization processes can be examined separately and the whole polarization spectrum can be investigated more precisely. This paper introduces how the voltage response measurement technique is extended by the variation of discharging times and the mathematical model of the measurement is described. Measurements on a model dielectric and on a dielectric material were carried out and the results have been compared by the results of the calculations.

Corona ionisation from AC HV power lines (HVPL) can release ions into the environment, which have the potential to electrically charge pollutant aerosol in the atmosphere. It has been hypothesised that these charged particles have an enhanced probability of being deposited in human airways upon inhalation due to electrostatic attraction by image charge within the lung, with implications for human health. Carbonaceous aerosol particles from a Technegas generator were artificially charge-enhanced using a corona charger. Once generated, particles were passed through the charger, which was either on or off, and stored in a 15 litre conducting bag for ∼20 minutes to observe size and charge distribution changes over time. Charge states were estimated using two Sequential Mobility Particle Sizers measuring the size and mobility distributions. Charge-neutral particles were measured 7 times and positive particles 9 times, the average charge-neutral value of x was 1.00 (sd = 0.06) while the average positive value was 4.60 (0.72). The system will be used to generate positive or charge neutral particles for delivery to human volunteers in an inhalation study to assess the impact of charge on ultrafine (size < 100 nm) particle deposition.

Polyethylene particles of various sizes are present in industrial gas-dispersion reactors and downstream processing units. The contact of the particles with a device wall as well as the mutual particle collisions cause electrons on the particle surface to redistribute in the system. The undesirable triboelectric charging results in several operational problems and safety risks in industrial systems, for example in the fluidized-bed polymerization reactor. We studied the charging of polyethylene particles caused by the particle-particle interactions in gas. Our model employs the Discrete Element Method (DEM) describing the particle dynamics and incorporates the 'Trapped Electron Approach' as the physical basis for the considered charging mechanism. The model predicts the particle charge distribution for systems with various particle size distributions and various level of segregation. Simulation results are in a qualitative agreement with experimental observations of similar particulate systems specifically in two aspects: 1) Big particles tend to gain positive charge and small particles the negative one. 2) The wider the particle size distribution is, the more pronounced is the charging process. Our results suggest that not only the size distribution, but also the effect of the spatial segregation of the polyethylene particles significantly influence the resulting charge distribution 'generated' in the system. The level of particle segregation as well as the particle size distribution of polyethylene particles can be in practice adjusted by the choice of supported catalysts, by the conditions in the fluidized-bed polymerization reactor and by the fluid dynamics. We also attempt to predict how the reactor temperature affects the triboelectric charging of particles.

Cone discharges, also known as bulking brush discharges, can arise when charged insulating powder accumulates in a heap in silos. They can be an effective ignition source to relatively ignition sensitive powders and therefore represent a possible electrostatic hazard. The current international guidance on control of electrostatic hazards (IEC/TS 60079-32-1 [1]), endorses the usage of electrostatic modelling to estimate the electric field above the powder heap. "Such model calculations should be based on the charge to mass ratio, bulk density and filling rate of the powder, the relative permittivity and resistivity of the bulked powder as well as the silo geometry." This study shows a practical demonstration of this modelling technique. It also examines whether the shape of the heap affects the strength of the electric field above the powder heap, and thus the likelihood of cone discharges from occurring.

Much of the current literature on dielectrophoresis (DEP) relates to micro or nano scale particles; typically in micro-fluidic type experiment geometries. In contrast, this work focusses on the application of DEP forces to larger, micro-scale particles in air. Since DEP scales with particle volume, it can apply a significant force on surprisingly large objects. When using very small particles it is often sufficient to use Pohl's method [1] whereby the particle is considered to be spherical and where it does not interact with the externally applied electric field. For the larger particles used in this work, the spherical approximation does not necessarily hold. DEP forces are therefore calculated using the finite element method (FEM) which permits the use of arbitrary particle shapes. In this model the electric field is solved in the presence of a polarizable particle, the DEP force is then calculated using the Maxwell stress tensor method [2]. The development of this model allows the investigation of the DEP forces acting on non-spherical particles for a specific experimental electrode geometry.

The behavior of coils in case of fast transient pulses is different from that they show at low frequencies. If the dimensions of the coil, i.e. mainly the length of the winding is much shorter than the wavelength of the signal on the coil, a lumped element model can be effectively used taking the capacitances of windings into consideration. In this study a different type of straight, layered coil have been investigated in order to determine parameters of a lumped circuit model of the windings. The frequency dependent parameters are modeled by analytical and finite element calculations and the results are compared to the results of measurements on coils. The finite element method can improve the accuracy of parameter estimation.

This work presents a numerical simulation of the Electric Double Layer (EDL) development process at a solid/liquid interface for adsorption and corrosion models. First, the study is conducted for static EDL development (without liquid flow) until it reaches a static equilibrium. Afterwards, the EDL is perturbed by a laminar liquid flow leading to flow electrification phenomena (dynamic study). The charge conservation equations of the liquid species have been implemented in an industrial code. A parametric study was performed to consider different chemical reaction scenarios and different models.

This paper describes the modeling of two-dimensional electric fields inside linear actuators where cavities in the cooling environment are present. A semi-analytical model based on Fourier series is extended for cavities and incorporates the curvature of corners. The model shows good agreement with finite element analysis. The effect of position and sizes of the cavity are investigated as well as the curvature of the corners of the cavity.

One of important and successful environmental applications of atmospheric-pressure corona discharge or plasma is electrostatic precipitator (ESP), which have been widely used for coal- or oil-fired boilers in electric power plants and particulate matter control emitted from industries such as glass melting furnace system, etc. In the ESPs, steady high voltage is usually applied to a pair of electrodes (at least, one of these has sharp edge). Unsteady pulsed high voltage is often applied for the collection of high-resistivity particulate matter (PM) to avoid reverse corona phenomena which reduce the collection efficiency of the ESPs. It was found that unsteady high voltage can treat hazardous gaseous components (NO_x, SO_x, hydrocarbon, and CO, etc.) in the exhaust gas, and researches were shifted from PM removal to hazardous gases aftertreatment with unsteady corona discharge induced plasmas. In the paper, recent results on diesel engine and industrial boiler emission controls are mainly reviewed among these our research topics.

Historically, gas discharges have been difficult to stabilize at atmospheric pressure, and this has confined them to operation at low pressure under vacuum conditions. However, recent advances in plasma technology have enabled stable high pressure gas discharges up to and even exceeding atmospheric pressure. One significant advantage of operating at atmospheric pressure is that the plasma can be brought into contact with non-conventional substrates, especially soft materials such as plastics, biological tissue, and aqueous solutions. This last example is of prime interest as plasma/liquid interactions have a number of important implications in applications ranging from water purification to plasma medicine. In this paper, recent work studying the impact of electrons in the plasma inducing reactions in aqueous solutions is discussed. These studies include measurements of the bulk solution as the electrons induce long-lived species as well as interfacial measurements directly at the plasma/liquid interface to probe the behaviour of electrons traversing from the plasma into the liquid.

Abatement of NOx and particulate matters (PM) of marine diesel exhaust gas using microwave (MW) non-thermal plasma is presented in this paper. NOx mainly consist of NO and less concentration of NO₂ in a typical two stoke marine diesel engine and microwave plasma generation can completely remove NO. MW was generated using two 2kW microwave sources and a saw tooth passive electrode. Passive electrode was used to generate high electric field region within microwave environment where high energetic electrons (1-3eV) are produced for the generation of non-thermal plasma (NTP). 2kW gen-set diesel exhaust gas was used to test our pilot-scale MW plasma reactor. The experimental results show that almost 100% removal of NO is possible for the exhaust gas flow rate of 60l/s. It was also shown that MW can significantly remove soot particles (PM, 10nm to 365nm) entrained in the exhaust gas of 200kW marine diesel engine with 40% engine load and gas flow rate of 130l/s. MW without generating plasma showed reduction up to 50% reduction of PM and with the plasma up to 90% reduction. The major challenge in these experiments was that igniting the desired plasma and sustaining it with passive electrodes for longer period (10s of minutes) as it required fine tuning of electrode position, which was influenced by many factors such as gas flow rate, geometry of reactor and MW power.

This study proposes the characterization of a surface sliding discharge that extends over a length of 80 mm. The gas ionization is caused by series of high voltage pulses with nanosecond rising and decaying times while ion drift is forced by a negative DC component. Different plasma diagnostics such as electrical measurements, iCCD visualizations and strioscopy have been performed. They highlight that a threshold mean electric field between both air-exposed electrodes is required to fully establish a sliding discharge. Compared to a single nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge, the sliding discharge results in an energy consumption increase. Moreover, the pressure wave induced by the discharge is strongly impacted.

Surface plasma discharges, and more specifically dielectric barrier discharge, find several applications in aerodynamic due to their capability to produce a local flow at the dielectric wall. The present study proposes a numerical method to estimate the EHD force by using experimental velocity information. Here, this method is used in a parametric study and the obtained results are compared with force balance measurements. It is shown that the EHD volume force increases in space and in amplitude for increasing voltage and increasing AC frequency. Furthermore the force distribution expands in an homothetic manner.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the main substances linked to global warming, and its emission should be reduced. In this study, a CO₂ reduction treatment using an adsorbent and a nonthermal plasma flow is investigated. This treatment comprises a physical adsorption process and nitrogen (N₂) plasma reduction process. In the physical adsorption process, CO₂ is adsorbed by the adsorbent. In the N₂ plasma reduction process, the adsorbed CO₂ is reduced to CO by a nonthermal plasma flow that is generated by a plasma reactor with a circulating N₂ plasma flow. The generated CO can be reused as a fuel. We estimate this experimental results by calculating conversion efficiency of CO₂ to CO. In the N₂ plasma reduction process, the CO concentration reaches approximately 1%, regardless of the number of experiments, and conversion efficiency reaches at most 5.3%.

Charge generation due to friction between stainless steel and fused quartz in a vacuum was measured, and it was found that the density of the charge separation at the friction contact was 4×10^-4 C/m² In experiments in ambient gas, reduction of the separated charge caused by microgap gas discharge was observed. The residual rate of the charge, which is the ratio of charge accumulation in an ambient gas to that in a vacuum, in argon ambient gas was small, and it seemed to be effective for the relaxation of generated static electricity due to friction between solids.

The use of polymers as materials for sliding machine components is due to their low cost, ease of manufacturing, as well as appropriate mechanical and thermal properties. The aim of this paper is to present the experimental bench designed for the study of the triboelectric charge generated in sliding conformal contacts between flat polymer materials. The experiments were performed with 4-mm-thick samples of polystyrene and 5-mm-thick samples of poly-vinyl-chloride.The normal contact force can be adjusted using an appropriate control system and measured by a force sensor (± 50 N). The translational back-and-forth motion of the samples is produced by a crank-shaft system that generates a sinusoidal translational speed profile, with amplitudes between 12 and 50 mm/s, for strokes of 36 to 60 mm. The distribution of charge at the surface of the samples is measured by the capacitive probe of an electrostatic voltmeter (± 10 kV). The experiments pointed out that this bench enables the evaluation of the non-uniformity of the electric charge accumulated on the sliding bodies and the study of the correlations that might exists between this charge and the external forces applied to the contact.

Triboelectric charging causes serious problems in the industrial processing of powders. We focus on the charging of polyethylene (PE) powder particles, whose agglomeration can cause serious economic problems in PE production in fluidized-bed reactors. The 'cascade method' apparatus, i.e., a slide followed by the Faraday's pail, was utilized to observe the particle-wall charging of PE particles in friction contact with various materials (glass, aluminium, PE) and allowed us to characterize the charging dynamics. Our results indicate that the evolution of the charge on the particles follows a saturation curve, where the saturated state is represented by maximum (outcome) charge. Such a trend can be conveniently fitted by a function representing the first-order dynamics. We determine the dependency of charging dynamics on various factors, e.g., the humidity, the slide surface roughness and the slide material. Our measurements imply that air humidity influences the charging process substantially more than the choice of the slide material. Moreover, we observe significant charging even in the case of the same materials being in contact. The work contributes to a better understanding of tribocharging and the estimation of charging-related parameters provides the input for the modelling of this complex process.

Electrospinning is a process which can quickly and cheaply create materials of high surface to volume and aspect ratios from many materials, however in application toward drug delivery this can be a strong disadvantage as well. Diffusion of drug is proportional to the thickness of that device. In moving from macro to micro to nano-sized electrospun materials drug release rates change to profiles that are too fast to be therapeutically beneficial. In this work we use molecular interactions to further control the rate of release beyond that capable of diffusion alone. To do this we create materials with molecular pockets, which can "hold" therapeutic drugs through a reversible interaction such as a host/guest complexation. Through these complexes we show we are able to impact delivery of drug from electrospun materials, and also apply them in tissue engineering for the reversible presentation of biomolecules on a fiber surface.

It is well known that a person walking on a floor will liberate electrostatic charge. The amount of charge that can be accumulated on a person by walking is dependent on many factors that are also well understood. Among these factors is the electrical resistance between a person and ground. The electrical resistance of footwear, other clothing, a person's skin resistance and the contact resistance between footwear and the floor impact the total resistance of the system. As important as measuring resistance may be as an evaluation method, it does not take into account triboelectric generation of charge. The recent revisions of ANSI/ESD S20.20[1] from the ESD Association and IEC61340-5-1[2] from IEC TC101 - Electrostatics, both include a dynamic walking test since experience in recent years has shown that resistance alone does not predict how a footwear and flooring system will actually perform. The USA group ASHRAE1, commissioned a study to evaluate electrostatic charge generation inside data centres as influenced by environmental moisture (relative and absolute humidity)[3][4]. The reason for this study is that past data centre operating guidelines have called for a very narrow range of temperature and humidity control, largely because of the anecdotal evidence that moderate to high RH impacts static electricity generation and accumulation. This results in a massive consumption of electricity to maintain a narrow window of temperature and environmental moisture. Broadening or eliminating humidity controls could result in a major saving of electricity and money.