A VERY EFFECTIVE NEW METHOD TO SOLVE THE POPULATION BALANCE EQUATION WITH PARTICLE-SIZE GROWTH

This paper advances a very effective new method to solve the populatio n balance equation (PBE) in which size growth, coalescence, breakage, and other phenomena of particles (such as nucleation) can be included. The calculation is divided into several sub-steps based on the princi ple of operator splitting. A growth step, a coalescence step, and a br eakage step etc. are performed within one time step for a batch reacto r or one space step for a column reactor. The discretization equations of the PBE are extremely simple and a stable calculation can always b e obtained with this method. A sample calculation for a liquid/gas-liq uid dispersion is provided. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.