THE ROLE OF NUCLEATION IN THE INITIAL PHASES OF A RAPID DEPRESSURIZATION OF A SUBCOOLED LIQUID

A two-fluid model with zero slip between the phases but which allows for unequal phase temperatures, changing interfacial area and the effect of heterogeneous nucleation has been used to evaluate the initial depressurization of a subcooled or saturated light. The results compare favourably with existing water and dichlorodifluoromethane experiments and suggest that the algorithm, in association with well-tabulated data, could be used to evaluate the heterogeneous nucleation factor.