Heat and mass transfer in processes of condensation relaxation of supersaturated vapor

The process of volume condensation of vapor from a vapor-gas mixture after a sudden creation of the supersaturated state is analyzed. According to the approach, adopted in physical kinetics, the time of condensation relaxation as a time interval during which the initial supersaturation degree is reduced e-fold has been introduced. Numerical and analytical analysis of the process with due account of release of the phase-transition heat have been used to establish scaling relations, connecting the time of the condensation relaxation and the number density of droplets with the nucleation rate at the initial instant. It is shown that the produced relations give a principal opportunity for experimental determination of the nucleation rate by recording temperature oscillograms in the condensed vapor volume.