A moving finite element method for the population balance equation

A moving finite element algorithm has been compared against the upwind‐differencing and Smolarkiewicz methods for the population balance equation of multicomponent particle growth processes. Analytical solutions and an error function have been used to test the numerical methods. The moving finite elements technique is much more accurate than other methods for a wide range of parameters. Since this method uses moving grids, it is able to model very narrow particle size distributions. It is also shown that the method can be extended to solve condensational growth problems which include particle curvature and non‐continuum mass transfer effects.