TY - JOUR

T1 - The start of the nucleation process in heated composite droplets: A semi-analytical model

AU - Chernov, Andrey A.

AU - Antonov, Dmitrii V.

AU - Strizhak, Pavel A.

AU - Sazhin, Sergei S.

N1 - This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant 075-15-2025-007) (contributions by D.V. Antonov, P.A. Strizhak and S.S. Sazhin, Sections 1, 3–7) and by the Russian Science Foundation (grant number 22-19-00092-II) (contribution by A.A. Chernov, Section 2). It was initiated by work on a project supported by the Royal Society (UK) (grant IEC 192007).

PY - 2026/6/1

Y1 - 2026/6/1

N2 - A model for the start of the nucleation process during liquid overheating, based on the kinetic theory of phase transformation, is developed and applied to the analysis of puffing/micro-explosion in composite water/n-dodecane droplets. The contributions of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleations, both of which are mainly controlled by the free energy of the formation of a critical nucleus, are considered. The nucleation temperature is identified as the maximal temperature in the volume in which the nucleation process starts. The heterogeneous nucleation rate is shown to be a strong function of the wetting angle at the surfaces of the particles that are the sources of heterogeneity. The sensitivity of the nucleation rate to this angle is shown to lead to the sensitivity of the predicted nucleation temperature to this angle. This temperature is shown to be a weak function of the rate of temperature change dT/dt for homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. It is shown that, for real-life values of input parameters, the predicted nucleation temperatures are reasonably close to those inferred from experimental data, both original in-house and previously published. The new model allows us to gain new insight into the physical background of the phenomenon.

AB - A model for the start of the nucleation process during liquid overheating, based on the kinetic theory of phase transformation, is developed and applied to the analysis of puffing/micro-explosion in composite water/n-dodecane droplets. The contributions of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleations, both of which are mainly controlled by the free energy of the formation of a critical nucleus, are considered. The nucleation temperature is identified as the maximal temperature in the volume in which the nucleation process starts. The heterogeneous nucleation rate is shown to be a strong function of the wetting angle at the surfaces of the particles that are the sources of heterogeneity. The sensitivity of the nucleation rate to this angle is shown to lead to the sensitivity of the predicted nucleation temperature to this angle. This temperature is shown to be a weak function of the rate of temperature change dT/dt for homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. It is shown that, for real-life values of input parameters, the predicted nucleation temperatures are reasonably close to those inferred from experimental data, both original in-house and previously published. The new model allows us to gain new insight into the physical background of the phenomenon.

KW - Experimental observations

KW - Nucleation rate

KW - Nucleation temperature

KW - Puffing/micro-explosion

KW - Superheated liquid

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105028241335

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cb3546cd-dd04-3548-853c-da3659ae9e92/

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2026.128405

DO - 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2026.128405

M3 - Article

VL - 260

JO - International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

JF - International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

SN - 0017-9310

M1 - 128405

ER -