Model of aerosol evolution in high supersaturated glycerol-air vapor mixtures

Abstract

A mathematical model for the formation of condensation aerosols from highly supersaturated vapor-air mixtures is presented. The model is suitable for systems with very high nucleation rates that result in aerosol mass densities >1 g/m3. It accounts for nucleation, non-isothermal condensation, coagulation and indirectly for coalescence of the newly formed particles. It applies kinetic theory to determine the nucleation rate and treats nucleation and coagulation in separate stages, but both are coupled with non-isothermal condensation. A statistical approach based on the Weibull function is used to estimate the size distribution of the droplets (particles). The model has been applied to study the formation of glycerol aerosols in Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems. The model qualitatively reproduces the observed trend that the aerosol particle size decreases as the puff flow rate increases. Within the model framework, at lower puff flow rates higher particle concentrations occur leading to higher rates of coagulation which result in larger particle size aerosol. Copyright © 2021 American Association for Aerosol Research.