Abstract Electrospray offers unique atomization of liquids, whereby micro- or nano-droplets with very narrow size distributions are generated from electrified Taylor cones. To scale up this process, many electrospray emitters must be operated simultaneously, while the flow rate per emitter must remain low enough to preserve stability. To cope with the electrostatic repulsion between the various elements in the system, it is common to position the emitters very near a counter-electrode. Instead, we have studied the conditions leading to robust scalable spraying by using linear arrays of electrosprays in which the counter-electrode is far compared to the inter-emitter separation. In our design, a row of emitter tubes protrudes out of a backplate, and the counter-electrode is a flat collector plate (droplet collection plate set at a high negative electric potential). In addition, electrodes at both ends of the array enable uniform electrical field conditions, while preventing electrical gaseous discharges. Strong electrostatic interactions are expected between the spray plumes and the Taylor cones. Nonetheless, we show that this geometry is scalable without bound, both by electric field computations as by experiments performed under different geometrical configurations, liquid flow rates per emitter, and electrical conductivities of the liquid (mainly, NaCl/MEG solutions). The onset voltage necessary to stabilize the spraying at all emitter positions approaches a plateau as the number of operated emitters increases. Eventually, at high enough potential difference, the cones and sprays misalign, pointing in directions in consonance with minute zig-zag misalignments of the emitters, revealing the importance of small imbalances in the electrostatic forces at the Taylor cones.

中文翻译：

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线性阵列中无提取器电喷雾的放大

摘要 电喷雾提供了独特的液体雾化，从而从带电的泰勒锥中产生尺寸分布非常窄的微米或纳米液滴。为了扩大这个过程，许多电喷雾发射器必须同时运行，而每个发射器的流速必须保持足够低以保持稳定性。为了应对系统中各种元件之间的静电排斥，通常将发射器放置在非常靠近反电极的位置。相反，我们通过使用电喷雾的线性阵列研究了导致稳健可扩展喷雾的条件，其中反电极与发射极间的分离相去甚远。在我们的设计中，一排发射管伸出背板，对电极为扁平集电板（微滴集电板设置在高负电位）。此外，阵列两端的电极可实现均匀的电场条件，同时防止气体放电。预计喷雾羽流和泰勒锥之间会发生强静电相互作用。尽管如此，我们表明这种几何形状是可以无限扩展的，无论是通过电场计算还是在不同几何配置下进行的实验、每个发射器的液体流速和液体的电导率（主要是 NaCl/MEG 溶液）。随着操作的发射器数量的增加，在所有发射器位置稳定喷射所需的起始电压接近平台。最终，在足够高的电位差下，