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Influence of the Turbulence Effect on the Rainfall Scavenging Coefficient

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Abstract

Rainfall removal of aerosol particles is an important atmospheric aerosol self-scavenging process. Studying the scavenging mechanism of rainfall on aerosol particles and develo** a suitable theoretical model are of great significance for preventing and controlling aerosol pollution and improving the accuracy of air quality forecasting. In this paper, the influence of the turbulence effect on aerosol capture by raindrops is investigated using numerical simulation, and the contribution of the turbulence effect to the capture of aerosol particles by raindrops, Et, is given via the introduction of dimensionless parameters. The scavenging coefficients of the accumulated model particles calculated by simultaneously considering seven mechanisms, namely, Brownian diffusion, interception, inertial impaction, thermophoretic action, diffusiophoretic action, electrostatic action, and the turbulence effect, were found to be 2–10 times higher than those calculated using the currently commonly used Slinn formula (which considers only Brownian diffusion, interception, and inertial impaction). A rainfall scavenging of polydisperse aerosol prediction model was established by taking the actual rainfall events in Guangzhou City, China, as an example and considering seven mechanisms simultaneously, and the characteristics of small particulate matter (PM2.5) changes over time simulated using the model matched well with the actual measurements.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

Funding

The work was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi (NO. 2024GXNSFAA010159, NO. 2021GXNSFAA220079, and NO. 2018GXNSFBA281082).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, China

    **ng Gao, Yanqiu Zuo & Hongqiang Wang

  2. Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Water Pollution Control and Water Safety in Karst Areas, Guilin, 541004, China

    Hongqiang Wang

  3. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, Guilin, 541004, China

    Hongqiang Wang

Authors
  1. **ng Gao
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  2. Yanqiu Zuo
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  3. Hongqiang Wang
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Contributions

Hongqiang Wang and Yanqiu Zuo conceived and designed the research. **ng Gao wrote the manuscript. Finally, all authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hongqiang Wang.

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Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Appendix

Appendix

Symbolics

Meanings

Symbolics

Meanings

Dp

Raindrop diameter (m)

λ

Mean free range of air molecules (m)

dp

Aerosol diameter (m)

P

Atmospheric pressure (Pa)

Ddg

Raindrop mean geometric diameter (μm)

Cp

constant-pressure specific heat of air (m2·s−2·K−1)

Ri

Aerosol mean geometric diameter (μm)

Scw

Schmidt number for water in the air

Pe

Pelect number of particles

Dw

Diffusion coefficient of water vapor in air (m2·s−1)

Sc

Schmidt number of the particle

D

Particle diffusion coefficient

(m2·s−1)

Re

Reynolds number of raindrops

Mw

Molecular weight per level

St

Stokes number of the particle

Ma

The average molecular weight of air

Pr

Prandtl number of air

K

Empirical constant (N·m2·C−2)

St*

Critical Stokes number of the particle

Qr

The average charge of a raindrop (C)

Cc

Cunningham correction factor

qr

The average charge of a particle (C)

k

Interception parameter

RH

Relative humidity (%)

V(Dp)

Raindrop settling velocity (m·s−1)

α

0(electrically neutral) ~ 7(highly charged)

V(dp)

Particle settling velocity (m·s−1)

\(P_{w}^{0}\)

Saturated vapor pressure of water at Tw (Pa)

μa

Aerodynamic viscosity

(kg·m−1·s−1)

\(P_{a}^{0}\)

Saturated vapor pressure of water at Ta (Pa)

μw

Raindrop dynamic viscosity (kg·m−1·s−1)

σ

The standard deviation of raindrop geometry

ρa

Air density (kg·m−3)

σi

Geometric standard deviation of the ith mode of the aerosol

ρw

Raindrop density (kg·m−3)

N0

Initial total raindrop concentration (m−3)

ρp

Aerosol density (kg·m−3)

Ni

The total concentration of aerosol in mode i (m−3)

kb

Boltzmann constant (J·K−1)

I

Rainfall intensity (mm·h−1)

Ta

Air temperature (K)

I

Turbulence intensity (%)

Tw

Raindrop surface temperature (K)

K

Energy gradient function

ka

Thermal conductivity of air (J·m−1·s−1·K−1)

  

kp

Thermal conductivity of aerosol (J·m−1·s−1·K−1)

  

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Gao, X., Zuo, Y. & Wang, H. Influence of the Turbulence Effect on the Rainfall Scavenging Coefficient. Aerosol Sci Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-024-00234-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-024-00234-8

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