Abstract

Abstract Although use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for simulating precipitation (and particulate systems in general) is becoming a standard approach, a number of issues still need to be addressed. One major problem is the computational expense of coupling a standard discretized population balance (DPB) with a CFD code, as this approach requires the solution of an intractably large number of transport equations. In this work the quadrature method of moments (QMOM) is tested for size‐dependent growth and aggregation. The QMOM is validated by comparison with both Monte Carlo simulations and analytical solutions using several functional forms for the aggregation kernel. Moreover, model predictions are compared with a DPB to compare accuracy, computational time, and the number of scalars involved. Analysis of the relative performance of various methods for treating aggregation provides readers with useful information about the range of application and possible limitations.