Particle deposition behavior simulated by the stochastic method

Abstract

The deposition of colloidal particles onto the collector surface in two-dimensional flows is studied using the Brownian dynamics simulation method. By using the Kuwabara model to characterize the flow field, the effects of the total interaction energy curves of various shapes on the collection efficiencies of Brownian particles are examined. The simulation results are tested against published experimental data of the deposition rates of Brownian particles, for the cases of the repulsive double layer interactions (Elimelech, M., O'Melia, R.C., 1990. Effect of particle size on collision efficiency in the deposition of Brownian particles with electrostatic energy barriers. Langmuir, 6 (6) 1153–1163.) and of the attractive double layer interactions (Elimelech, M., 1991. Kinetics of capture of colloidal particles in packed beds under attractive double layer interactions. J. Colloid Interface Sci., 146 (2), 337–352). The simulation results with the Brownian diffusion taken into account in the particle deposition mechanisms give a better fit with these experimental data than that obtained without considering the Brownian diffusion.