Acoustic levitation in a free-jet wind tunnel

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Abstract
In this article we describe a laboratory device which provides stable acoustic levitation in the free-jet working section of a horizontal wind tunnel. This apparatus combination provides a covenient means for conducting experiments while maintaining a wall-less environment and relative motion between particle(s) and gas. This facility has been calibrated against the known evaporation of pure water. Applications of this facility to studies of the evaporation of volatile nonideal liquid mixtures, the condensation of water vapor onto an evaporating drop of 1-butanol and the remote thermometry of water drops using laser-induced fluorescence are described. We have successfully levitated drops of liquid ranging in diameter from ∼150 μm to ∼3 mm in laminar air streams whose velocities span the range from 25 to 350 cm/s. The lower limit in size is air speed dependent. Measurements of the evaporation of water agree exactly with literature predictions illustrating the lack of perturbations due to the acoustic field.

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