Implementation of the population balance equation in CFD codes for modelling soot formation in turbulent flames

• Published in: Chemical engineering science Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 87 - 95
• Main Authors: Zucca, Alessandro, Marchisio, Daniele L., Barresi, Antonello A., Fox, Rodney O.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Applied sciences; Chemical engineering; Combustion; Computational fluid dynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Hydrodynamics of contact apparatus; Particle formation; Population balance; Reactors; Sintering, pelletization, granulation; Solid-solid systems; Soot; Agglomeration; Combustion; Particle formation; Computational fluid dynamics; Soot; Population balance; Approximation; Hydrodynamics; Turbulent diffusion; Modeling; Aggregation; Particle size distribution; Fractal dimension; Diffusion flame; Oxidation; Kinetics; Aggregate
• ISSN: 0009-2509; 1873-4405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2004.11.061

The simulation of soot formation in turbulent diffusion flames is carried out within a CFD code, by coupling kinetics and fluid dynamics computations with the solution of the population balance equation via the Direct Quadrature Method of Moments, a novel and efficient approach based on a quadrature approximation of the size distribution of soot particles. A turbulent non-premixed ethylene–air flame is used as the test case for validation of the model. Simplified kinetic expressions are employed for modelling nucleation, molecular growth and oxidation of particles, along with a Brownian aggregation kernel. A recently proposed approach for modelling the evolution of fractal dimension is used with a monovariate population balance to predict the morphological properties of aggregates.