VAPOR CONDENSATION ON MULTIPLE SPHERES AND SPHEROIDS IN THE NEAR-CONTINUUM REGIME

Local and global condensation rates on multiple aerosol particles are of interest in studies on nonspherical particles and dense aerosols. To acquire understanding of these rates, the diffusion equation for multiple axi-symmetric particles (spheres and spheroids) is solved numerically with the continuum and jump boundary conditions. For the two sphere case, the results are verified against an analytical solution. Effects of particle sizes, separation distances, jump distance, saturation densities, and shape on local and global condensation rates are studied. The condensation rates show a complex and interesting dependence on these parameters. To provide a simple recipe for estimation of the role of these parameters on the global condensation rates, several shape factors are also discussed.