Capturing non-equilibrium phenomena in rarefied polyatomic gases: A high-order macroscopic model

A high-order macroscopic model for the accurate description of rarefied polyatomic gas flows is introduced based on a kinetic equation of Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK)-type, where the different energy exchange processes are accounted for by two collision terms. The order of magnitude method is applied to the primary moment equations to acquire the optimized moment definitions and the final scaled set of Grad's 36 moment equations for polyatomic gases. The two Knudsen numbers of the system are used for model reduction in terms of their powers, which yields a wide range of different reduced systems, a total of 13 different orders. These include, at lower order, a modification of the Navier-Stokes-Fourier (NSF) equations which shows considerable extended range of validity in comparison to the classical NSF equations. The highest order of accuracy considered gives a set of 18 regularized partial differential equations (PDEs) (R18). Attenuation and speed of linear waves are studied as the first application of the many sets of equations. For frequencies where the internal degrees of freedom are effectively frozen, the equations reproduce the behavior of monatomic gases.