Quadrature method of moments for aggregation-breakage processes

Area of Science:

• Chemical Engineering
• Computational Science
• Particle Technology

Background:

• Particulate systems analysis requires solving population balance equations (PBEs).
• Integrating PBEs with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is crucial for industrial processes but computationally expensive.
• Existing methods often increase simulation time due to numerous scalar transport equations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extend the Quadrature Method of Moments (QMOM) to incorporate particle breakage.
• To reduce the computational cost of simulating particulate systems within CFD.
• To validate the extended QMOM for scenarios involving aggregation and breakage.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Quadrature Method of Moments (QMOM) for solving population balance equations.
• Integrated QMOM with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.
• Tested the extended QMOM across 10 different aggregation-breakage competition cases.

Main Results:

• Successfully extended QMOM to include particle breakage.
• Demonstrated QMOM's efficiency in reducing computational load for CFD simulations.
• Achieved asymptotic solutions for various aggregation and breakage competition scenarios.

Conclusions:

• QMOM is an efficient and validated method for simulating particulate systems with breakage.
• The extended QMOM offers a computationally advantageous approach for industrial CFD simulations.
• This method provides accurate solutions for complex particle interaction dynamics.