COMPARISON OF THE METHOD OF CHARACTERISTICS WITH A FINITE-DIFFERENCE SCHEME FOR CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS SIMULATION

The method of characteristics is a numerical algorithm which is well s uited to the simulation of first order, partial differential equations . In this study, the method of characteristics is extended to enable t he simulation of crystallization processes even when the crystal growt h rate varies with crystal size. A finite difference scheme and the me thod of characteristics are compared in terms of simulation results of a crystallization process. When the method of characteristics is empl oyed, the numerical result is not affected by the mesh size, whereas t he numerical solution obtained by applying a finite difference scheme shows strong mesh dependency. Since the numerical results obtained usi ng the finite difference scheme are significantly different from those obtained using the method of characteristics, it is shown that the fi nite difference solution is strongly influenced by the numerical dispe rsion.