An arrangement of a needle and a sonic orifice has been developed which is capable of converting the corona current into free small ions with 100% efficiency. Positive and negative ion concentrations of 1011 ions/cm3 in the sonic jet and total ion outputs of 1014/sec have been achieved using 2.5 cfm of free air at 30 psig through a116−in⁠. orifice. Theoretical and experimental studies of the ion decay rate in the jet show that the concentrations drop off approximately as the square of the distance from the ionizer.

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© 1962 The American Institute of Physics.
1962
The American Institute of Physics
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