A unified Monte Carlo approach for population balance simulation of particle coagulation and breakage

Abstract

This paper proposes a unified Monte Carlo approach to model simultaneous particle coagulation and breakage processes. Based on the reconstruction of stochastic weighted particles, the present approach treats coagulation and breakage in a unified sense and resamples the weighted particle population globally. The prediction results are validated through several benchmark coagulation-breakage cases with known analytical solutions, and the performances are compared with those of conventional combination approaches. It is confirmed that, in terms of resolving particle size distribution and moments, the proposed reconstruction approach generally yields higher computational accuracy and efficiency, with especially reduced statistical noise for long-time simulations. The simple implementation, the unified treatment for different dynamic processes, and the well-balanced accuracy and efficiency make this new approach a promising candidate for solving general population balance problems of particles.