Measuring Charge Of An Aerosol

[sfpservices]

Hi,
I was wondering how I would go about measuring the electrical charge of an aerosol (A sodium chloride aerosol generated using a compressed air type nebulizer and dried using compressed at approximately 100 l/min flow) I have seen Faraday cup used for such measurement but was hoping for something portable and easy to use. Also how would I go about proving that it is in electrical equilibrium (The spec I have been given states that the aerosol needs to be neutralised to an electrical equilibirum with a Boltzmann distribution).
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Regards

Alex

 

[chrisbaird]

I don't have much experience, but this sounds similar to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_drop_experiment" : let the aerosol particles drift into a chamber, than apply an electrostatic force against gravity using charged plates until the forces cancel and the particle sits stationary. The higher the charge to mass ratio of the particle, the smaller electric field you need to counter gravity.