Modeling of Aerosol Formation and Growth in a Laminar Flow Aerosol Generator Using Sectional Method

Abstract

A model of aerosol nucleation and growth in laminar flow aerosol generator is presented. Sectional method is employed for describing aerosol dynamics. Fixed grid is used for the size structure and is compared with moving grid solution for condensation growth. Model results are compared with exact solutions in the free molecular regime. The model closely reproduces the results of exact solution for constant rate reactor. The model is also validated against the experimental results available in the literature. For the system parameters used here, the inclusion of latent heat release and Kelvin effect have not shown any impact on particle formation and growth. The effect of cooling rate on the nucleation and growth is examined using the model. The rapid cooling of the vapor-carrier gas mixture in the condenser results in highly polydispersed aerosols. The results have shown that the heat and mass transfer properties of the vapor-carrier gas system have significant effect on vapor loss to wall and the final aerosol size distribution.