Two-component aerosol dynamic simulation using differentially weighted operator splitting Monte Carlo method

Abstract

• A multi-component Monte Carlo (MC) method is developed for simulating aerosol dynamics. • Particle volume density and bivariate compositional distributions are obtained. • The inclusion of more than one component does not significantly render the algorithm more complex. • The study results are verified against a traditional sectional method (SM). • The newly developed multi-component MC method is more computationally efficient than SM for two-component aerosol systems. A differentially weighted operator splitting Monte Carlo (DWOSMC) method is further developed to study multi-component aerosol dynamics. The proposed method involves the use of an excellent combination of stochastic and deterministic approaches. Component-related particle volume density distributions are examined, and the computational accuracy and efficiency of the two-component DWOSMC method is verified against a sectional method. For the one-component aerosol system, the sectional method is more computationally efficient than the DWOSMC method, while for two-component aerosol systems, the DWOSMC method proves to be much more computationally efficient than the sectional method. Using this newly developed multi-component DWOSMC method, compositional distributions of particles can be obtained to determine simultaneous coagulation and condensation processes that occur in different regimes of two-component aerosol systems.