Aerosol

Everyone uses aerosol! But what is aerosol? Color spray, mosquito insecticide or anything that is under pressure and released as a fine spray. How does aerosol work? Aerosol is made up of two components which are the product and propellant. What is propellant and what is its function? The propellant act as the 'engine', the driving force of the aerosol.

The propellant mainly exists as liquefied gas in the head space above the product. When the aerosol valve is opened, the propellant pushes the product out of the can. The amount of propellant remains the same in the head space. However the space increases, leading to a drop in pressure. Some of the common propellants used are liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), chloroflorocarbon (CFC), carbon dioxide, compressed air and nitrogen gas.