Fine-tuning molecular acoustic models: Sensitivity of the predicted attenuation to the Lennard-Jones parameters

In a previous paper [Y. Dain and R. M. Lueptow, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 1955 (2001)], a model of acoustic attenuation due to vibration-translation and vibration-vibration relaxation in multiple polyatomic gas mixtures was developed. In this paper, the model is improved by treating binary molecular collisions via fully pairwise vibrational transition probabilities. The sensitivity of the model to small variations in the Lennard-Jones parameters-collision diameter (σ) and potential depth (ε)-is investigated for nitrogen-water-methane mixtures. For a N₂(98.97%)- H₂O(338ppm)-CH₄(1%) test mixture, the transition probabilities and acoustic absorption curves are much more sensitive to σ than they are to ε. Additionally, when the 1% methane is replaced by nitrogen, the resulting mixture [N₂(99.97%)-H₂O(338 ppm)] becomes considerably more sensitive to changes of σ_water. The current model minimizes the underprediction of the acoustic absorption peak magnitudes reported by S. G. Ejakov et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113, 1871 (2003)].