Electrocoalescence of Water Droplets

An experimental setup has been created to study the electrocoalescence of submillimeter- and millimeter-sized water droplets on a hydrophobic dielectric surface. The dependences of the interdroplet distance on the droplet radius are studied. It is shown that drops on a hydrophobic surface exhibit patterns of spatial arrangement that are characteristic of drops of a droplet cluster and fog. The electric field strengths at which mass coalescence of droplets begin are measured. A new model of electrocoalescence based on the state diagram of a drop-ion plasma is proposed. The possible role of electrocoalescence in the problem of rapid rain formation in atmospheric clouds is discussed.