An electrospray in a gaseous crossflow

An experimental study on the dynamics of an electrospray (ES) injected into a test chamber with a gaseous crossflow is presented. The study is relevant to the ion introduction into mass spectrometers that use ES as the ion source. Bending and trajectory of the ES plume is determined for a range of air crossflows and for different ES injection locations with respect to the crossflow centerline. It is shown that the ES injection conditions correlate with the intensity detections of a mass spectrometer. The effect of crossflow on the cone jet and ES performance are also discussed. A new hysteresis phenomenon for the electrospray in crossflow is detected.