Formation and Elimination of Satellite Droplets during Monodisperse Droplet Generation by Using Piezoelectric Method

One of the key questions in the generation of monodisperse droplets is how to eliminate satellite droplets. This paper investigates the formation and elimination of satellite droplets during the generation of monodisperse deionized water droplets based on a piezoelectric method. We estimated the effects of two crucial parameters—the pulse frequency for driving the piezoelectric transducer (PZT) tube and the volume flow rate of the pumping liquid—on the generation of monodisperse droplets of the expected size. It was found that by adjusting the pulse frequency to harmonize with the volume flow rate, the satellite droplets can be eliminated through their coalescence with the subsequent mother droplets. An increase in the tuning pulse frequency led to a decrease in the size of the monodisperse droplets generated. Among three optimum conditions (OCs) (OC1: 20 mL/h, 20 kHz; OC2: 30 mL/h, 30 kHz; and OC3: 40 mL/h, 40 kHz), the sizes of the generated monodisperse deionized water droplets followed a bimodal distribution in OC1 and OC2, whereas they followed a Gaussian distribution in OC3. The average diameters were 87.8 μm (OC1), 85.9 μm (OC2), and 84.8 μm (OC3), which were 8.46%, 6.14%, and 4.69% greater than the theoretical one (81.0 μm), respectively. This monodisperse droplet generation technology is a promising step in the production of monodisperse aerosols for engineering applications.