A numerical simulation of the production of ultrafine particles in a thermal plasma reactor

Abstract

The problem of describing the evolution of the particle size distribution is considered. The authors use a statistical model, and they describe the evolution of the moments of the distribution instead of the distribution itself. Applying a macroscopic population balance to the moments equations leads to the formulation of conservation equations in terms of the moments of the distribution. Using psi -z coordinates reduces the problem to a one-dimensional problem in the direction of a stream line. This procedure is applicable when the ultrafine particles do not cross the stream lines, so that their lateral mobility is small with respect to the flow. The calculated temperature and average ultra-fine-particle diameter fields are presented for a simplified case, where a hot flow of argon with 10% iron vapor at 4000 K mixes with a pure argon flow at 2000 K.<>