Experimental study of turbulent transport of nanoparticles in convective turbulence

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates how nanoparticles are transported and accumulate in convective turbulence, revealing the interplay of turbulent and molecular effects and their impact on nanoparticle distribution over time.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data and numerical simulations on nanoparticle transport in turbulent convection, highlighting the roles of turbulent diffusion, thermophoresis, and wall adhesion.

Findings

Nanoparticle density decreases exponentially over time.

Decay time varies with temperature difference, from 12.8 to 24 minutes.

Numerical simulations agree well with experimental results.

Abstract

We perform experimental study of turbulent transport of nanoparticles in convective turbulence with the Rayleigh number $\sim 10^8$ in the air flow. We measure temperature field in many locations by a temperature probe equipped with 11 E-thermocouples. Nanoparticles of the size $\sim 70$ nm in diameter are produced by Advanced Electrospray Aerosol Generator. To determine the number density of nanoparticles, we use Condensation Particle Counter. We demonstrate that the joint action of turbulent effects (which are important in the core flow) and molecular effects (which are essential near the boundaries of the chamber) results in an effective accumulation of nanoparticles at the cold wall of the chamber. The turbulent effects are characterised by turbulent diffusion and turbulent thermal diffusion of nanoparticles, while the molecular effects are described by the Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis, as well as the adhesion of nanoparticles at the cold wall of the chamber. In different experiments in convective turbulence in a chamber with the temperature difference $\Delta T$ between the bottom and top walls varying between $\Delta T= 29$ K to $\Delta T= 61$ K, we find that the mean number density of nanoparticles decreases exponentially in time. For instance, the characteristic decay time of the mean number density of nanoparticles varies from 12.8 min for $\Delta T= 61$ K to 24 min for $\Delta T= 29$ K. For better understanding of experimental results, we perform one-dimensional mean-field numerical simulations of the evolution of the mean number density of nanoparticles for conditions pertinent to the laboratory experiments. The obtained numerical results are in a good agreement with the experimental results.