Enhanced charge transfer in dielectric fluids containing conducting particles

The motion of conducting particles in electrically stressed dielectric fluids has been examined with the intention of explaining enhanced charge transfer between electrodes in the fluid-particle system. The motion of the particles is due to induction charging and the consequent forces exerted on the particles by an electric field. It is shown that the usual assumptions relating to the velocity of such particles are not substantiated by experiments. The dependence of the enhanced charge transfer on the applied field is derived for one particular case. For this case the study of particle motion shows that particles of different sizes move with a charge equivalent to a maximum voltage on the particle of the order of 16 v. If it is assumed that the particles initially become charged when in contact with one of the electrodes, and on leaving the electrodes are shielded so that the effective charge is reduced, it is possible to show that the current is proportional to the square of the applied voltage, which is in agreement with experimental results.