ELECTRON-DENSITY AND HYDROGEN DISTRIBUTION IN AN ETHANOL-LOADED INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA

The effect of an ethanol-loaded sample solution when aspirated into an inductively coupled plasma was investigated. It was found that increasing concentrations of ethanol resulted in a proportional increase in the intensity of the Halpha line. The electron density, as calculated both with and without Abel inversion, also increased with increasing ethanol concentration. Mass flow rates of the aerosol increased with an increase in the ethanol concentration. This resulted in a relative mean drop-size distribution which increased from 2 mum for water to greater-than-or-equal-to 4.5 mum for 25% ethanol. A mechanism is suggested to explain the increases encountered.