Turbulent deposition and gravitational sedimentation of an aerosol in a vessel of arbitrary shape

Abstract

A general formula for the rate of aerosol deposition due to turbulent diffusion, Brownian diffusion, and gravitational sedimentation in a turbulently mixed, enclosed vessel of arbitrary shape is derived. It is shown to reduce to the formula of Corner and Pendlebury Proc. Phys. Soc. B64, 645 (1951) for a cubical vessel. The result is essentially independent of the form of the eddy diffusivity near the wall and demonstrates that for vessels with non-vertical walls, sedimentation and diffusion are intimately coupled in determining the total deposition rate. The effect of inertia is estimated and used to assess the range of particle sizes for which the analysis is applicable.

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