PIV measurements on charged plumes-influence of SiO2 seeding particles on the electrical behavior

It is well known that an isothermal dielectric liquid can be driven by electroconvection. It has been demonstrated that two phenomena could generate space charge in isothermal dielectric liquids and then induce a fluid movement. These two electroconvective effects are bulk conduction and ion injection. In order to improve the performance of electroconvective devices, the velocity of the flows must be recorded as accurately and precisely as possible. In this paper, the particle image velocimetry (PIV) method that was originally developed in the field of experimental fluid mechanics is adapted to electroconvective flow measurements. The choice and the size of seeding particles are discussed. The influence of the seeding particles density on the current is measured. In this work, experiments were investigated on a typical two-dimensional charged plume flow produced between a blade and a flat plate. Both negative and positive polarities are also investigated.