10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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Comparison of Different Aerosol Dynamics Models Based on Accuracy and Computational Time
GIRISH SHARMA, Sukrant Dhawan, Zhichao Li, David I. A. Dhanraj, Pratim Biswas, Washington University in St Louis
Abstract Number: 287 Working Group: Aerosol Modeling
Abstract Numerical simulation for aerosol dynamics is indispensable tool for predicting the evolution of particulate systems, which is useful for in-depth understanding of the experimental measurements, in atmosphere as well as aerosol reactors. These models permit the interaction of complex physical processes through simulation, which are then related to the experimental data. Different aerosol dynamics phenomena like chemical reaction, nucleation, condensation, coagulation, sintering, aggregate formation, and charging are described using general dynamic equation. Different numerical schemes have been developed over the years to simulate these processes which include method of moments, discrete model, sectional model, discrete-sectional model, and modal model. Each of these schemes has its own advantages and disadvantages. Among these, discrete representation of particle sizes is the most accurate representation of aerosol dynamics as it mimics the aerosol dynamics most closely, but this comes at a high computational cost whereas sectional model is computationally less intensive but has inaccuracies in small sizes. Method of moments and modal model are very fast but are not as accurate as sectional and discrete models. Although separate literature on all these models exists, the comparison between all the models based on their application under different conditions has not been investigated. In this work, the aim is to investigate the performance of different aerosol dynamics models under different applications. First, different models will be compared based on the accuracy of their results. Then, these models will be compared based on the computational time required to run a simulation with the same configuration. Finally, the performance of these models will also be analyzed on different computer processors. With the better understanding of the trade-off between accuracy and computational time, a recommendation will be made on choosing aerosol dynamics model for different applications.