Lack of energy conservation in lattice Boltzmann models leads to unrealistically high values of the bulk viscosity. For this reason, the lattice Boltzmann method remains a computational tool rather than a model of a fluid. A novel lattice Boltzmann model with energy conservation is derived from Boltzmann’s kinetic theory. Simulations demonstrate that the new lattice Boltzmann model is the valid approximation of the Boltzmann equation for weakly compressible flows and microflows.

• Received 13 July 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.260605