An extended quadrature method of moments for population balance equations

Population balance equations (PBE) for a number density function (NDF) arise in many applications of aerosol technology. Thus, there has been considerable interest in the development of numerical methods to find solutions to PBE, especially in the context of spatially inhomogeneous systems where moment realizability becomes a significant issue. Quadrature-based moment methods (QBMM) are an important class of methods for which the accuracy of the solution can be improved in a controlled manner by increasing the number of quadrature nodes. However, when a large number of nodes is required to achieve the desired accuracy, the moment-inversion problem can become ill-conditioned. Moreover, oftentimes pointwise values of the NDF are required, but are unavailable with existing QBMM. In this work, a new generation of QBMM is introduced that provides an explicit form for the NDF. This extended quadrature method of moments (EQMOM) approximates the NDF by a sum of non-negative weight functions, which allows unclosed source terms to be computed with great accuracy by increasing the number of quadrature nodes independent of the number of transported moments. Here, we use EQMOM to solve a spatially homogeneous PBE with aggregation, breakage, condensation, and evaporation terms, and compare the results with analytical solutions whenever possible. However, by employing realizable finite-volume methods, the extension of EQMOM to spatially inhomogeneous systems is straightforward.

► A new way (EQMOM) is proposed to reconstruct a number density function. ► EQMOM is used to solve population balance equations (PBEs). ► EQMOM yields a continuous, realizable number density function. ► EQMOM is shown to be robust, computationally efficient, accurate. ► EQMOM is applicable to a wide range of PBEs problems (e.g., evaporation).