Coagulation Algorithms with Size Binning

✍ Scribed by David M. Stratton; Jason Gans; Eric Williams

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 233 KB
• Volume: 112
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9991
• DOI: 10.1006/jcph.1994.1106

✦ Synopsis

The Smoluchowski equation describes the time evolution of an aerosol particle size distribution due to aggregation or coagulation. Any algorithm for computerized solution of this equation requires a scheme for describing the continuum of aerosol particle sizes as a discrete set. One standard from of the Smoluchowski equation accomplishes this by restricting the particle sizes to integer multiples of a basic unit particle size (the monomer size). This can be inefficient when particle concentrations over a large range of particle sizes must be calculated. Two algorithms employing a geometric size binning convention are examined: the first assumes that the aerosol particle concentration as a function of size can be considered constant within each size bin; the second approximates the concentration as a linear function of particle size within each size bin. The output of each algorithm is compared to an analytical solution in a special case of the Smoluchowski equation for which an exact solution is known. The range of parameters more appropriate for each algorithm is examined. 1994 Academic Press, Inc.