Simulation of the operation of a laminar-flow diffusion chamber to study homogeneous nucleation: Part II

A new mathematical model of the operation of a laminar-flow diffusion chamber is studied numerically. The domains of applicability of the standard mathematical model, which have been qualitatively estimated earlier, are confirmed. The nature of the carrier gas is found to substantially influence the volume of the nucleation zone in the chamber. In particular, the nucleation zone volume in the case of argon as a carrier gas is one order of magnitude larger than that in the case of helium, all other things being equal. Analysis of Vohra and Heist’s experiments using the new mathematical model shows that nonlinear interaction between growing droplets is of key importance at a relatively high vapor supersaturation. The role of a locally nonuniform supersaturation field arising near droplets in the nucleation zone is estimated.