Evaporation of an aerosol plume from an inkjet printhead

Evaporation of an aerosol plume from an inkjet printhead | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaporation of an aerosol plume from an inkjet printhead Xavier Lefebvre, Etienne Robert This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5360656/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The size of aerosol droplets is a critical factor in evaluating the risks associated with airborne pathogen transmission, yet it is highly variable due to evaporation. Additionally, the close proximity of water droplets within an aerosol plume can slow their evaporation, thereby further complicating risk assessments. To investigate these complexities, a versatile experimental setup was developed using the XAAR XJ128 inkjet printhead to generate droplets of 50 μm in diameter for detailed evaporation characterization within a plume. The droplet evaporation process was monitored via Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA), which provided size distribution and velocity measurements at various positions along the vertical axis of the falling droplets. These experimental results were compared to a theoretical model for isolated droplet evaporation in quiescent air. Droplet number density significantly influenced evaporation, with measured evaporation rates in the plume, originally at a relative humidity of 30%, comparable to the theoretical model under 60-80% relative humidity when nearly all printhead nozzles were active. The effect of number density on evaporation was also analytically evaluated. Notably, the complete evaporation of droplets in this configuration could theoretically increase relative humidity up to 89% locally when all nozzles were used, while using about one-third of the nozzles resulted in a local relative humidity up to 33%. These insights underscore the importance of further investigating the evaporation dynamics of airborne aerosol droplets in the context of pathogen transmission. The use of an inkjet printhead demonstrates its significant potential for generating a controlled aerosol plume, offering a promising avenue for future research in this critical area. Fluid dynamics Airborne transmission Water droplets Evaporation Inkjet printhead Aerosol plume Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5360656","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":377318240,"identity":"7ca2e2fe-92b6-417f-88ba-dc5b18f0b5fa","order_by":0,"name":"Xavier Lefebvre","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Polytechnique Montréal","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xavier","middleName":"","lastName":"Lefebvre","suffix":""},{"id":377318241,"identity":"550ccdcb-b954-4b59-ad39-b5889fabdaab","order_by":1,"name":"Etienne Robert","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Polytechnique Montréal","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Etienne","middleName":"","lastName":"Robert","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-10-30 10:38:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5360656/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5360656/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":72099743,"identity":"904a6c18-ac7a-48b5-8625-eec01896d535","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-22 12:01:36","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":486388,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"InkjetXLEiF.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5360656/v1_covered_1be8cce3-f051-49e2-a161-9fac1c3d2fb7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Evaporation of an aerosol plume from an inkjet printhead","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Fluid dynamics, Airborne transmission, Water droplets, Evaporation, Inkjet printhead, Aerosol plume","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5360656/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5360656/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe size of aerosol droplets is a critical factor in evaluating the risks associated with airborne pathogen transmission, yet it is highly variable due to evaporation. 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