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Tutorial: Langevin Dynamics methods for aerosol particle trajectory simulations and collision rate constant modeling

Journal Article · · Journal of Aerosol Science

The Langevin Dynamics (LD) method (also known in the literature as Brownian Dynamics) is routinely used to simulate aerosol particle trajectories for transport rate constant calculations as well as to understand aerosol particle transport in internal and external fluid flows. This tutorial intends to explain the methodological details of setting up a LD simulation of a population of aerosol particles and to deduce rate constants from an ensemble of classical trajectories. We discuss the applicability and limitations of the translational Langevin equation to model the combined stochastic and deterministic motion of particles in fields of force or fluid flow. The drag force and stochastic “diffusion” force terms that appear in the Langevin equation are discussed elaborately, along with a summary of common forces relevant to aerosol systems (electrostatic, gravity, van der Waals, …); a commonly used first order and a fourth order Runge-Kutta time stepping schemes for linear stochastic ordinary differential equations are presented. A MATLAB® implementation of a LD code for simulating particle settling under gravity using the first order scheme is included for illustration. Scaling analysis of aerosol transport processes and the selection of timestep and domain size for trajectory simulations are demonstrated through two specific aerosol processes: particle diffusion charging and coagulation. Fortran® implementations of the first order and fourth order time-stepping schemes are included for simulating the 3D motion of a particle in a periodic domain. Lastly, potential applications and caveats to the usage of LD are included as a summary.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Memphis, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); US National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0021206
OSTI ID:
1783173
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1815098
Journal Information:
Journal of Aerosol Science, Journal Name: Journal of Aerosol Science Vol. 155; ISSN 0021-8502
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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