Abstract
The article gives the general formulation of the unidimentional unsteady problem of mass transfer under the action of an external electrostatic field. In the process, electric forces are in conformity with Cou- lomb’s law, and disperse particles are charged due to the “corona” discharge in the dielectric liquid. The dis- charge formation, as is also the case of gases, is the result of the dramatic inhomogeneity of the external elec- tric field. In its turn, this inhomogeneity is due to the punching of the enamel insulation of the high-voltage electrode. As a result the phenomena similar to those in gases appear, among them the convective stream, that is, they are electrohydrodynamic. In thus volume-charged liquid impurity particles are becoming also charged and under the action of the forces mentioned above are moving towards the opposite electrode that acts as a collector of impurities. The movement of particles is due to the electric convection transfer. The problem is formulated for unsteady conditions, however, this paper deals with solving it for steady diffusion state. It is demonstrated that because of low diffusion coefficient the diffusion flux does not account for the phenomenon observed in reality, that is, distribution of concentration in the area between the electrodes. The authors of this paper propose the notion of the “electircal’ diffusion flux, which can account for the observed regulariry both qualitatively and quantitatively. The paper discusses the results obtained.