Exact solution of a coagulation equation with a product kernel in the multicomponent case

In this paper, we obtain the general solution for the continuous Smoluchowski equation in the multicomponent case with a product kernel as a series expansion. The solution of the problem involves the Laplace transform in several dimensions. We obtain a nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) of the advective kind generalizing the one previously given by other authors for the mono-component case.As in its relative mono-component case, gelation is produced at some point, the conditions for its occurrence being the same as those for the mono-component case, though substituting a sum of derivatives by a derivative in the Laplace transform field. We demonstrate that for a multicomponent particle size distribution (PSD) of multiplicative form, it is sufficient for one of the marginal PSDs to generate instantaneous gelation for the occurrence of instantaneous gelation in the multicomponent PSD.The general solution is applied to several specific cases, a discrete case that recovers a previously known solution, and another two continuous cases which can be used to check numerical methods designed to directly solve the Smoluchowski equation in more general cases.We have compared the solutions for the multicomponent PSD for constant, additive and product kernels and we conjecture about the relation existing between the functional forms for the solutions both in the mono-component and the multicomponent case.Finally, we have analysed the shape of the solutions for multicomponent PSD for constant, additive and product kernels for very small masses of components, obtaining a qualitatively different behaviour for the product kernel. This has effects in the mixing state of the sol phase as time passes.