Curvature dependence of the interfacial heat and mass transfer coefficients

Abstract

Nucleation is often accompanied by heat transfer between the surroundings and a nucleus of a new phase. The interface between two phases gives an additional resistance to this transfer. For small nuclei the interfacial curvature is high, which affects not only equilibrium quantities such as surface tension, but also the transport properties. In particular, high curvature affects the interfacial resistance to heat and mass transfer. We develop a framework for determining the curvature dependence of the interfacial heat and mass transfer resistances. We determine the interfacial resistances as a function of a curvature. The analysis is performed for a bubble of a one-component fluid and may be extended to various nuclei of multicomponent systems. The curvature dependence of the interfacial resistances is important in modeling transport processes in multiphase systems.

Heat and mass transfer through interfaces of nanosized bubbles/droplets: the influence of interface curvature

“…They showed that there was little difference between the interface resistances with three choices of the dividing interface. 31 Resistances both for one-and two-component systems vary continuously with the interface curvature, from negative (bubbles) to zero (planar interfaces) to positive (droplet) values. For one component, also the first derivatives of the interface resistances are continuous.…”

“…Square gradient theory complements NEMD, Monte Carlo simulations and experiments, in that a comparison with these more sophisticated and time demanding approaches provides insight into the structure of the interface at the mesoscopic level. 26 We shall use equilibrium profiles combined with the integral relations to obtain interface resistances, [29][30][31] and compare these to results from the non-equilibrium square gradient model, with actual gradients in temperature, composition and pressure. 26,32 We present interface resistances which vary continuously with the interface curvature, from negative (bubbles) to zero (planar interface) to positive (droplet) values.…”

Tunable microbubble generator using electrolysis and ultrasound

“…For instance, in fundamental thermodynamics of nuclei growth, the high interfacial curvature affects not only equilibrium quantities such as surface tension but also heat and mass transports. [1][2][3] Considering micrometric bubbles, the resonant properties (resonant frequency and Q factor) depend on their size, on the physical characteristics of host medium and on the nature of the enclosed gas. For a given size, the measurement of the resonance makes it possible to estimate physical properties of the host medium or of the gas.…”