Discrete element method model of soot aggregates

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Demidov, Egor V., Gor, Gennady Y., Khalizov, Alexei F.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Demidov, Egor V.
Gor, Gennady Y.
Khalizov, Alexei F.
author_facet Demidov, Egor V.
Gor, Gennady Y.
Khalizov, Alexei F.
contents Soot is a component of atmospheric aerosols that affects climate by scattering and absorbing the sunlight. Soot particles are fractal aggregates composed of elemental carbon. In the atmosphere, the aggregates acquire coatings by condensation and coagulation, resulting in significant compaction of the aggregates that changes the direct climate forcing of soot. Currently, no models exist to rigorously describe the process of soot restructuring, reducing prediction accuracy of atmospheric aerosol models. We develop a discrete element method contact model to simulate restructuring of fractal soot aggregates, represented as assemblies of spheres joined by cohesion and by sintered necks. The model is parametrized based on atomic force spectroscopy data and is used to simulate soot restructuring, showing that the fraction of necks in aggregates determines the restructuring pathway. Aggregates with fewer necks undergo local compaction, while aggregates with nearly-full necking prefer global compaction. Additionally, full compaction occurs within tens of nanoseconds, orders of magnitude faster than the time scale of soot aging through condensation. An important implication is that in atmospheric soot aggregates, the rate of condensation determines how many necks are fractured simultaneously, affecting the restructuring pathway, e.g., producing highly compact, thinly-coated soot as observed in recent studies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_14254
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Discrete element method model of soot aggregates
Demidov, Egor V.
Gor, Gennady Y.
Khalizov, Alexei F.
Computational Physics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Soot is a component of atmospheric aerosols that affects climate by scattering and absorbing the sunlight. Soot particles are fractal aggregates composed of elemental carbon. In the atmosphere, the aggregates acquire coatings by condensation and coagulation, resulting in significant compaction of the aggregates that changes the direct climate forcing of soot. Currently, no models exist to rigorously describe the process of soot restructuring, reducing prediction accuracy of atmospheric aerosol models. We develop a discrete element method contact model to simulate restructuring of fractal soot aggregates, represented as assemblies of spheres joined by cohesion and by sintered necks. The model is parametrized based on atomic force spectroscopy data and is used to simulate soot restructuring, showing that the fraction of necks in aggregates determines the restructuring pathway. Aggregates with fewer necks undergo local compaction, while aggregates with nearly-full necking prefer global compaction. Additionally, full compaction occurs within tens of nanoseconds, orders of magnitude faster than the time scale of soot aging through condensation. An important implication is that in atmospheric soot aggregates, the rate of condensation determines how many necks are fractured simultaneously, affecting the restructuring pathway, e.g., producing highly compact, thinly-coated soot as observed in recent studies.
title Discrete element method model of soot aggregates
topic Computational Physics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.14254