Modeling Multicomponent Aerosol Particle Growth By Vapor Condensation

A new “moving-sectional” method is presented to solve the dynamics of multicomponent aerosol particle growth by vapor condensation in a closed system. The method controls numerical diffusion and stiffness by adapting the method of characteristics to a sectional representation of the aerosol. An exact solution for a closed system is presented, and the “moving-sectional” method gives excellent agreement when tested against this solution. Four cases are presented to demonstrate the importance of the solute, Kelvin, and latent heat effects.