Field Tests and Experiments on Visibility Modification
Abstract
Laboratory experiments on the scavenging of wet aerosol - of controlled sizes ranging from about 0.3 to 50 micrometers - by electrically charged collector drops have been performed. The consistent result was of a pronounced increase in measured values of collection efficiency above those found in the absence of electrical forces. Water drops of characteristic size around 0.1mm, carrying charges of several tenths of the Rayleigh limit, swept out essentially uncharged water droplets of size within the condensate size-band for fogs, with collection efficiencies E in the range approximately 20 to 25 (the corresponding nonelectrical values are significantly less than unity). A crude theoretical model of the capture process provided values of E in reasonable agreement with those measured. The principal of the technique would be to introduce highly charged drops into a fog. These would scavenge fog droplets with great efficiency - as indicated in the laboratory experiments - and the collector drops (now much larger, having swept out large numbers of fog droplets) would settle from the fog under the influence of gravity, leaving it with a substantially reduced liquid water content - and correspondingly enhanced visibility. Great Britain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA197956
Entities
People
- I. E. Consterdine
- J. Latham
- M. H. Smith
Organizations
- University of Manchester