Computational fluid dynamics based sectional aerosol modelling schemes

A computational fluid dynamics based sectional aerosol model is introduced. One of the motivations and the first test case is the simulation of aeroso l formation via nucleation in laminar flow reactors. Simulation results are compared with experiments and simulations with other modelling concepts pr esented in the literature. The main scheme is based on a boundary layer typ e solution of sectional aerosol equations that uses flow fields provided a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Special attention has been paid to the computational aspects and it is demonstrated that the scheme yields ac curate grid-independent solutions in reasonable computation times. An alter native method based on full sectional Eulerian simulation has also been dev eloped. Due to excessive demands on CFD grid resolution, an attempt to simu late aerosol formation in a laminar flow reactor with this scheme failed to provide accurate predictions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.