Integral collision kernel for the growth of aerosol particles

Integral collision kernel is elucidated using experimental results for titania, silica and alumina nanoparticles synthesized by FCVD process, and titania submicron particles synthesized in a tube furnace reactor. The integral collision kernel was obtained from a particle number balance equation by the integration of collision rates from the kinetic theory of dilute gases for the free-molecule regime, from the Smoluchowski theory for the continuum regime, and by a semi-empirical interpolation for the transition regime between the two limiting regimes. Comparisons have been made on particle size and the integral collision kernel, showing that the predicted integral collision kernel agreed well with the experimental results in Knudsen number range from about 1.5 to 20.