Moment-transport equation ensemble average

The remaining chapters in this book are organized as follows. Chapter 2 provides a brief introduction to the mesoscale description of polydisperse systems. There, the mathematical definition of a number-density function (NDF) formulated in terms of different choices for the internal coordinates is described, followed by an introduction to population-balance equations (PBE) in their various forms. Chapter 2 concludes with a short discussion on the differences between the moment-transport equations associated with the PBE and those arising due to ensemble averaging in turbulence theory. This difference is very important, and the reader should keep in mind that at the mesoscale level the microscale turbulence appears in the form of correlations for fluid drag, mass transfer, etc., and thus the mesoscale models can have non-turbulent solutions even when the microscale flow is turbulent (i.e. turbulent wakes behind individual particles). Thus, when dealing with turbulence models for mesoscale flows, a separate ensemble-averaging procedure must be applied to the moment-transport equations of the PBE (or to the PBE itself). In this book, we are primarily... 

Chapter 2 provides a brief introduction to the mesoscale description of polydisperse systems. In this chapter the many possible number-density functions (NDF), formulated with different choices for the internal coordinates, are presented, followed by an introduction to the PBE in their various forms. The chapter concludes with a short discussion on the differences between the moment-transport equations associated with the PBE, and those arising due to ensemble averaging in turbulence theory. 

In the case of turbulent advection velocity, the transported quantity in the PBE (i.e. the NDF) fluctuates around its mean value. These fluctuations are due to the nonlinear convection term in the momentum equation of the continuous phase. In turbulent flows usually the Reynolds average is introduced (Pope, 2000). It consists of calculating ensemble-averaged quantities of interest (usually lower-order moments). Given a fluctuating property of a turbulent flow f>(t,x), its Reynolds average at a fixed point in time and space can be written as... 

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