Heterogeneous Nucleation of Naphthalene Vapor on Water Surface

The evaporation of a water drop into a ternary gaseous mixture of air, steam, and naphthalene vapor was investigated. The experimental results were compared with a theoretical prediction based on a numerical solution of coupled boundary layer equations for heat and mass transfer from a drop moving in ternary gas. In the experiments the naphthalene vapor condensed on the water drop as a supercooled liquid even at temperatures far below the melting point of naphthalene. The condensation on drop surface is discussed in terms of classical theory of heterogeneous nucleation on smooth surfaces.