Inelastic Maxwell models for monodisperse gas–solid flows

Abstract

The Boltzmann equation for d-dimensional inelastic Maxwell models is considered to analyze transport properties for monodisperse gas–solid suspensions. The influence of the interstitial gas phase on the dynamics of solid particles is modeled via a viscous drag force. The Chapman–Enskog method is applied to solve the inelastic Boltzmann equation to first order in the deviations of the hydrodynamic fields from their values in the homogeneous cooling state. Explicit expressions for the Navier–Stokes transport coefficients are exactly obtained in terms of both the coefficient of restitution and the friction coefficient characterizing the amplitude of the external force. The conditions under which a hydrodynamic regime independent of the initial conditions is reached are widely discussed. Finally, the results derived here are compared with those previously obtained for inelastic hard spheres in steady state conditions by using the so-called first Sonine approximation.