Boundary conditions on the vapor liquid interface at strong condensation

Abstract

The problem of the formulation of boundary conditions on the vapor–liquid interface is considered. The different approaches to this problem and their difficulties are discussed. Usually, a quasi-equilibrium scheme is used. At sufficiently large deviations from thermodynamic equilibrium, a molecular kinetics approach should be used for the description of the vapor flow at condensation. The formulation of the boundary conditions at the vapor liquid interface to solve the Boltzmann kinetic equation for the distribution of molecules by velocity is a sophisticated problem. It appears that molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) can be used to provide this solution at the interface. The specific problems occur in the realization of MDS on large time and space scales. Some of these problems, and a hierarchy of continuum, kinetic and molecular dynamic time scales, are discussed in the paper. A description of strong condensation at the kinetic level is presented for the steady one-dimensional problem. A formula is provided for the calculation of the limiting condensation coefficient. It is shown that as the condensation coefficient approaches the limiting value, the vapor pressure rises significantly. The results of the corresponding calculations for the Mach number and temperature at different vapor flows are demonstrated. As a result of the application of the molecular kinetics method and molecular dynamics simulation to the problem of the determination of argon condensation coefficients in the range of temperatures of vapor and liquid ratio 1.0–4.0, it is concluded that the condensation coefficient is close to unity.