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:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
- COMSOL Multiphysics® and
- Heat Transfer Module and
- Particle Tracing Module and
- either the CFD Module, Microfluidics Module, or Plasma Module
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Tabella delle Funzionalità and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.