Numerical and Statistical Approach of Aerosols Coagulation Process Affecting Global Climate

Abstract

Atmospheric aerosols stand for a complex mixture of microscopic solid or liquid droplets particles suspended in atmosphere, consisting of both natural and anthropogenic origin. The aim of this work is to study the atmospheric aerosols coagulation process greatly enhanced by the Van der Waals forces and monitored by the Brownian motion. We focus on the evolution of the mass concentration of particles, which is consistent with existing regulations, and we focus on the density change of the particles during the particle growth processes. We analyse an approach for solving Smoluchowski’s coagulation equation employing the Monte Carlo probabilistic method based on the use of random numbers in repeated experiments. Additionally, several numerical simulations have been implemented and evaluated regarding their CPU times and their accuracy in terms of mass concentrations. The time step influence on the zeroth moment error is verified, as well as on the total number of simulated particles.