A Lagrangian-Eulerian approach to modeling homogeneous condensation in high density gas expansions

Abstract

A computational approach to homogeneous nucleation is proposed based on Eulerian description of the gas phase expansion coupled with a Lagrangian approach to the cluster formation. A continuum, Euler/Navier-Stokes solver versatile advection code is used to model the gas transport, and a kinetic particle solver is developed in this work to simulate cluster nucleation and growth. Parameters in the new model were adjusted so as to match the known theoretical dimer formation equilibrium constants for the two gases under consideration, argon and water. Reasonable agreement between computed and available experimental data was found in terminal cluster size distributions for nozzle water expansions in a wide range of stagnation pressures. The proposed approach was found to be orders of magnitude faster than a comparable approach based on the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.