Scattering rates versus moments: Alternative Grad equations

Scattering rates (moments of collision integral are treated as independent variables, and as an alternative to moments of the distribution function, to describe the rarefied gas near local equilibrium. A version of the entropy maximum principle is used to derive the Grad-like description in terms of a finite number of scattering rates. The equations are compared to the Grad moment system in the heat nonconductive case. Estimations for hard spheres demonstrate, in particular, some 10% excess of the viscosity coefficient resulting from the scattering rate description, as compared to the Grad moment estimation.