Kinetic theory Boltzmann equation

The mathematical model most widely used for steady-state behavior of a reactor is diffusion theory, a simplification of transport theory which in turn is an adaptation of Boltzmann s kinetic theory of gases. By solving a differential equation, the flux distribution in space and time is found or the conditions on materials and geometry that give a steady-state system are determined. 

In its more advanced aspects, kinetic theory is based upon a description of the gas in terms of the probability of a particle having certain values of coordinates and velocity, at a given time. Particle interactions are developed by the ordinary laws of mechanics, and the results of these are averaged over the probability distribution. The probability distribution function that is used for a given macroscopic physical situation is determined by means of an equation, the Boltzmann transport equation, which describes the space, velocity, and time changes of the distribution function in terms of collisions between particles. This equation is usually solved to give the distribution function in terms of certain macroscopic functions thus, the macroscopic conditions imposed upon the gas are taken into account in the probability function description of the microscopic situation. 

The quantities n, V, and (3 /m) T are thus the first five (velocity) moments of the distribution function. In the above equation, k is the Boltzmann constant the definition of temperature relates the kinetic energy associated with the random motion of the particles to kT for each degree of freedom. If an equation of state is derived using this equilibrium distribution function, by determining the pressure in the gas (see Section 1.11), then this kinetic theory definition of the temperature is seen to be the absolute temperature that appears in the ideal gas law. 

Clearly, there are two quite different types of models for a gas flow the continuum models and the molecular models. Although the molecular models can, in principle, be used to any length scale, it has been almost exclusively applied to the microscale because of the limitation of computing capacity at present. The continuum models present the main stream of engineering applications and are more flexible when applying to different macroscale gas flows however, they are not suited for microscale flows. The gap between the continuum and molecular models can be bridged by the kinetic theory that is based on the Boltzmann equation. 

The early theories for the transport coefficients were based on the concept of the mean free path. Excellent summaries of these older theories and their later modifications are to be found in standard text books on kinetic theory (J2, K2). The mean-free-path theories, while still very useful from a pedagogical standpoint, have to a large extent been supplanted by the rigorous mathematical theory of nonuniform gases, which is based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation. This theory is... 

Finally, we note that all the statistical equations of this chapter could have been borrowed directly from the kinetic theory of gases by simply changing the variables. We illustrate this now by going in the opposite direction. For example, if we replace the quantity 3/n 2 by m/ kBT and replace L by v in Equation (69), we obtain the Boltzmann distribution of molecular velocities in three dimensions. If we make the same substitutions in Equation (73), we obtain an important result from kinetic molecular theory ... 

An interesting, but probably incorrect, application of the probabilistic master equation is the description of chemical kinetics in a dilute gas.5 Instead of using the classical deterministic theory, several investigators have introduced single time functions of the form P(n1,n2,t) where P(nu n2, t) is the probability that there are nl particles of type 1 and n2 particles of type 2 in the system at time t. They use the transition rate A(nt, n2 n2, n2, t) from the state with particles of type 1 and n2 particles of type 2 to the state with nt and n2 particles of types 1 and 2, respectively, at time t. The rates that are used are obtained by assuming that only uncorrelated binary collisions occur in the system. These rates, however, are only correct in the thermodynamic limit for a low density system. In this limit, the Boltzmann equation is valid from which the deterministic theory follows. Thus, there is no reason to attach any physical significance to the differences between the results of the stochastic theory and the deterministic theory.6... 

A. Fick, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig) 170, 50 (1855). He actually set up his two laws for the temporal spreading of the concentration of a tracer substance, not for the probability. The first evolution equation for a probability was the Boltzmann equation [L. Boltzmann Vorlesungen tiber Gastheorie I (J. A. Barth, Leipzig, 1896)], following Maxwell s theory of gas kinetics. 

There is a close connection between molecular mass, momentum, and energy transport, which can be explained in terms of a molecular theory for low-density monatomic gases. Equations of continuity, motion, and energy can all be derived from the Boltzmann equation, producing expressions for the flows and transport properties. Similar kinetic theories are also available for polyatomic gases, monatomic liquids, and polymeric liquids. In this chapter, we briefly summarize nonequilibrium systems, the kinetic theory, transport phenomena, and chemical reactions. 

The kinetic theory leads to the definitions of the temperature, pressure, internal energy, heat flow density, diffusion flows, entropy flow, and entropy source in terms of definite integrals of the distribution function with respect to the molecular velocities. The classical phenomenological expressions for the entropy flow and entropy source (the product of flows and forces) follow from the approximate solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation. This corresponds to the linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics approach of irreversible processes, and to Onsager s symmetry relations with the assumption of local equilibrium. 

If the collisions of molecules produce a chemical reaction, the Boltzmann equation is modified in obtaining the equations of change these problems are addressed and analyzed in the context of quantum theory, reaction paths, saddle points, and chemical kinetics. Mass, momentum, and energy are conserved even in collisions, which produce a chemical reaction. 

We can describe irreversibility by using the kinetic theory relationships in maximum entropy formalism, and obtain kinetic equations for both dilute and dense fluids. A derivation of the second law, which states that the entropy production must be positive in any irreversible process, appears within the framework of the kinetic theory. This is known as Boltzmann s H-theorem. Both conservation laws and transport coefficient expressions can be obtained via the generalized maximum entropy approach. Thermodynamic and kinetic approaches can be used to determine the values of transport coefficients in mixtures and in the experimental validation of Onsager s reciprocal relations. 

The net rate of bubble generation, H, describes redistribution of mass in bubble-bubble interactions. Thus, H is a nonlinear functional of F(x,m,t) and Equations (2) and (3) are a pair of coupled, nonlinear, integro-differential equations in the bubble number density, similar to Boltzmann s equation in the kinetic theory of gases (26,27) or to Payatakes et al (22) equations of oil ganglia dynamics. 

The equations for conservation of mass, momentum, and energy for a one-component continuum are well known and are derived in standard treatises on fluid mechanics [l]-[3]. On the other hand, the conservation equations for reacting, multicomponent gas mixtures are generally obtained as the equations of change for the summational invariants arising in the solution of the Boltzmann equation (see Appendix D and [4] and [5]), One of several exceptions to the last statement is the analysis of von Karman [6], whose results are quoted in [7] and are extended in a more recent publication [8] to a point where the equivalence of the continuum-theory and kinetic-theory results becomes apparent [9]. This appendix is based on material in [8]. 

The rigorous approach to a kinetic-theory derivation of the fluid-dynamical conservation equations, which begins with the Liouville equation and involves a number of subtle assumptions, will be omitted here because of its complexity. The same result will be obtained in a simpler manner from a physical derivation of the Boltzmann equation, followed by the identification of the hydrodynamic variables and the development of the equations of change. For additional details the reader may consult [1] and [2]. 

The kinetic theory of evaporation, first given by Clausius, i is briefly described in 5 and 17.III the quantitative description, which has not so far led to very satisfactory results, is based on Boltzmann s equation (4), 19.111, it being assumed that each molecule leaving the liquid for the vapour phase must overcome an attractive force-field and do the work w=Sp. If n, N are the numbers of molecules per cm. in the vapour and liquid ... 

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