Acoustics and precondensation phenomena in gas-vapor saturated mixtures.

Starting from fundamental hydrodynamics and thermodynamics equations for thermoviscous fluids, a new modeling procedure, which is suitable to describe acoustic propagation in gas mixtures, is presented. The model revises the boundary conditions which are appropriate to describe the condensation-evaporation processes taking place on a solid wall when one component of the mixture approaches saturation conditions. The general analytical solutions of these basic equations now give a unified description of acoustic propagation in an infinite, semi-infinite, or finite medium, throughout and beyond the boundary layers. The solutions account for the coupling between acoustic propagation and heat and concentration diffusion processes, including precondensation on the walls. The validity of the model and its predictive capability have been tested by a comparison with the description available in the literature of two particular systems (precondensation of propane and acoustic attenuation in a duct filled with an air-water vapor saturated mixture). The results of this comparison are discussed to clarify the relevance of the various physical phenomena that are involved in these processes. The model proposed here might be useful to develop methods for the acoustic determination of the thermodynamic and transport properties of gas mixtures as well as for practical applications involving gas and gas-vapor mixtures like thermoacoustics and acoustics in wet granular or porous media.