Homogeneous nucleation in supersaturated vapors of methane, ethane, and carbon dioxide predicted by brute force molecular dynamics.
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is applied to the condensation process of supersaturated vapors of methane, ethane, and carbon dioxide. Simulations of systems with up to a 10(6) particles were conducted with a massively parallel MD program. This leads to reliable statistics and makes nucleation rates down to the order of 10(30) m(-3) s(-1) accessible to the direct simulation approach. Simulation results are compared to the classical nucleation theory (CNT) as well as the modification of Laaksonen, Ford, and Kulmala (LFK) which introduces a size dependence of the specific surface energy. CNT describes the nucleation of ethane and carbon dioxide excellently over the entire studied temperature range, whereas LFK provides a better approach to methane at low temperatures.
Horsch
Martin
M
Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 9, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
Vrabec
Jadran
J
Bernreuther
Martin
M
Grottel
Sebastian
S
Reina
Guido
G
Wix
Andrea
A
Schaber
Karlheinz
K
Hasse
Hans
H