Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Flame Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles with an Extended Population Balance Model

In the present study, a recently proposed extended population balance equation (PBE) model for aggregation and sintering is incorporated into a large eddy simulation-probability density function (LES-PDF) modelling framework to investigate synthesis of silica nanoparticles in a turbulent diffusion flame. The stochastic field method is employed to solve the LES-PBE-PDF equations, characterising the influence of the unresolved sub-grid scale motions and accounting for the interactions between turbulence, chemistry and particle dynamics. The models for gas-phase chemistry and aerosol dynamics are the same as those recently used by the authors to simulate silica synthesis in a laminar flame (Tsagkaridis et al. in Aerosol Sci Technol 57(4):296–317, 2023). Thus, by retaining the same kinetics without any adjustments in parameters, we focus on the modelling issues arising in silica flame synthesis. The LES results are compared with experimental in-situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data from the literature. Good agreement is found between numerical predictions and experimental data for temperature. However, the LES model underestimates the SAXS data for the primary particle diameter by a factor of two. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed in view of the previous laminar flame simulations.