Homogeneous nucleation rates of higher n-alcohols measured in a laminar flow diffusion chamber

Nucleation rate isotherms of n-butanol, n-pentanol, n-hexanol, n-heptanol, and n-octanol were measured in a laminar flow diffusion chamber using helium as carrier gas. The measurements were made at 250-310 K, corresponding to reduced temperatures of 0.43-0.50, and at atmospheric pressure. Experimental nucleation rate range was from 10(3) to 10(7) cm(-3) s(-1). The expression and accuracy of thermodynamic parameters, in particular equilibrium vapor pressure, were found to have a significant effect on calculated nucleation rates. The results were compared to the classical nucleation theory (CNT), the self-consistency corrected classical theory (SCC) and the Hale's scaled model of the CNT. The average ratio between the experimental and theoretical nucleation rates for all alcohols used was 1.5x10(3) when the CNT was used, and 0.2x10(-1) when the SCC was used and 0.7x10(-1) when the Hale's scaled theory was used. The average values represent all the alcohols used at the same reduced temperatures. The average ratio was about the same throughout the temperature range, although J(exp)/J(the) calculated with the Hale's scaled theory increased slightly with increasing temperature. The saturation ratio dependency was predicted closest to experiment with the classical nucleation theory. The nucleation rates were compared to those found in the literature. The measurements were in reasonable agreement with each other. The molecular content of critical alcohol clusters was between 35 and 80 molecules. At a fixed reduced temperature, the number of molecules in a critical cluster decreased as a function of alcohol carbon chain length. The number of molecules in critical clusters was compared to those predicted by the Kelvin equation. The theory predicted the critical cluster sizes well.