AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Abstract View
Generic Numerical Solutions to Aerosol General Dynamic Equation for Constant Rate Aerosol Reactors
Peter H. McMurry, CHENXI LI, University of Minnesota
Abstract Number: 482 Working Group: Aerosol Physics
Abstract Generic dimensionless solutions to the aerosol general dynamic equation are described for a system in which a condensable species is produced by chemical reaction at a constant rate. Solutions account for wall deposition, loss to preexisting aerosols, and dilution that may occur when samples withdrawn from a reactor are replenished with particle-free air. Also, two different mechanisms for vapor evaporation from clusters are included, including classical evaporation modeled with the Kelvin equation, and evaporation that occurs when chemical nucleation is occurring by acid-base reactions. Dimensionless parameters are defined to account for each of these processes. The dimensionless parameters are the natural variables for the nucleating system, and incorporate dependencies on aerosol physical/chemical properties (vapor pressure, molecular weight, particle density and surface tension, etc.) as well as system thermodynamic properties (e.g., temperature, pressure, etc.). The solutions provide numerically accurate and realistic descriptions of aerosol dynamics in systems, such as smog chambers, that satisfy certain simplifying constraints.