Thermophoresis

Application ID: 12617


When a temperature gradient in a gas exists, suspended particles will tend to move from regions of high temperature to low. The force which produces this effect is called the thermophoretic force. Gas molecules colliding with a particle from the hot side have a higher velocity than the cold side, which results in a net force towards cold areas. This effect can be exploited to create thermal precipitators which can filter out undesirable particles from a feed gas. It can also be used in chemical vapor deposition, to inhibit the arrival of particle contaminants on the surface of a susceptor. This model simulates the size of a particle-free zone above a heated susceptor for different temperature gradients.

This model requires the Particle Tracing Module and the Heat Transfer Modules.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: