18. Bubble Creation in Water and Water Mixtures – Consequences of the Extended Theory of Nucleation

The objective of this article is to examine the consequences raised from the extension of the classical theory of homogeneous nucleation presented in the preceding publications. The theory takes into account the real properties of fluids (liquid mixtures) and assumes that non-equilibrium (dissipative) effects associated with irreversible processes involved in nucleus formation are responsible for changing the nucleation barrier predicted by the classical theory. These effects can increase the nucleation work for condensation and decrease the nucleation work for boiling and cavitation. This article focuses on bubble nucleation in water rather than droplet nucleation. After the basics of the theory are given, some of the fundamental relations of the theory are examined to obtain the relations for bubble growth controlled by evaporation or gas diffusion processes.