Mesoscopic Lattice Boltzmann Modeling of the Liquid-Vapor Phase Transition

TL;DR

This paper introduces a mesoscopic lattice Boltzmann model that simulates liquid-vapor phase transitions by incorporating molecular interactions and ensuring thermodynamic consistency.

Contribution

It presents a novel lattice Boltzmann approach that models both short-range and long-range molecular interactions with double distribution functions, aligning with kinetic theory.

Findings

Successfully models liquid-vapor phase transition dynamics.

Ensures thermodynamic consistency in the mesoscopic framework.

Incorporates molecular interactions through equation of state and force terms.

Abstract

We develop a mesoscopic lattice Boltzmann model for liquid-vapor phase transition by handling the microscopic molecular interaction. The short-range molecular interaction is incorporated by recovering an equation of state for dense gases, and the long-range molecular interaction is mimicked by introducing a pairwise interaction force. Double distribution functions are employed, with the density distribution function for the mass and momentum conservation laws and an innovative total kinetic energy distribution function for the energy conservation law. The recovered mesomacroscopic governing equations are fully consistent with kinetic theory, and thermodynamic consistency is naturally satisfied.