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Updated: Jul 5, 2025

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Nonequilibrium liquid-vapor interfaces: Linear and nonlinear descriptions
Henning Struchtrup1, Hans Christian Öttinger2
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 2Y2.
Abstract:
While it is often assumed that liquid-vapor interfaces in nonequilibrium processes are in states of local thermodynamic equilibrium, this might not be the case for strong deviations from equilibrium. Clausius-Clapeyron equations for bulk properties yield a consistently defined temperature of the interface that is close to the liquid bulk temperature. The alternative interface temperature defined through the surface tension will be different for stronger nonequilibrium processes. Structural variables are introduced to extend the thermodynamic description of interfaces to a wider range of processes. Interfacial resistivities will depend on interface temperature as well as mass and heat flux through the interface.
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