Classical nucleation theory of homogeneous freezing of water: thermodynamic and kinetic parameters

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 5514-5537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Ickes ◽  
André Welti ◽  
Corinna Hoose ◽  
Ulrike Lohmann

Different formulations of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of CNT are evaluated against measured nucleation rates.

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1713-1739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Ickes ◽  
André Welti ◽  
Ulrike Lohmann

Abstract. Heterogeneous ice formation by immersion freezing in mixed-phase clouds can be parameterized in general circulation models (GCMs) by classical nucleation theory (CNT). CNT parameterization schemes describe immersion freezing as a stochastic process, including the properties of insoluble aerosol particles in the droplets. There are different ways to parameterize the properties of aerosol particles (i.e., contact angle schemes), which are compiled and tested in this paper. The goal of this study is to find a parameterization scheme for GCMs to describe immersion freezing with the ability to shift and adjust the slope of the freezing curve compared to homogeneous freezing to match experimental data. We showed in a previous publication that the resulting freezing curves from CNT are very sensitive to unconstrained kinetic and thermodynamic parameters in the case of homogeneous freezing. Here we investigate how sensitive the outcome of a parameter estimation for contact angle schemes from experimental data is to unconstrained kinetic and thermodynamic parameters. We demonstrate that the parameters describing the contact angle schemes can mask the uncertainty in thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. Different CNT formulations are fitted to an extensive immersion freezing dataset consisting of size-selected measurements as a function of temperature and time for different mineral dust types, namely kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, microcline (K-feldspar), and Arizona test dust. We investigated how accurate different CNT formulations (with estimated fit parameters for different contact angle schemes) reproduce the measured freezing data, especially the time and particle size dependence of the freezing process. The results are compared to a simplified deterministic freezing scheme. In this context, we evaluated which CNT-based parameterization scheme able to represent particle properties is the best choice to describe immersion freezing in a GCM.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Ickes ◽  
A. Welti ◽  
U. Lohmann

Abstract. Heterogeneous ice formation by immersion freezing in mixed-phase clouds can be parameterized in general circulation models (GCMs) by Classical Nucleation Theory (CNT). CNT parameterization schemes describe freezing as a stochastic process including the properties of insoluble aerosol particles, so called ice nuclei, in the droplets. There are different ways how to describe the properties of aerosol particles (i.e. contact angle schemes), which are compiled and tested in this paper. The goal of this study is to find a parameterization scheme for GCMs to describe immersion freezing with the ability to shift and adjust the slope of the freezing curve compared to homogeneous freezing to match experimental data. The results of using CNT are very sensitive to unconstrained kinetic and thermodynamic parameters in the case of homogeneous freezing leading to uncertainties in calculated nucleation rates Jhom of several orders of magnitude. Here we investigate how sensitive the outcome of a parameter estimation for contact angle schemes from experimental data is to kinetic and thermodynamic parameters. We show that additional free parameter can mask the uncertainty of Jimm due to thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. Different CNT formulations are fitted to an extensive immersion freezing dataset as a function of particle diameter (d), temperature T and time t for different mineral dust types, namely kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, microcline (K-feldspar) and Arizona test dust. It is investigated how accurate different CNT formulations (with the estimated fit parameters) reproduce the measured freezing curves, especially the time and particle size dependence of the freezing process. The results are compared to a simplified deterministic freezing scheme. It is evaluated in this context which CNT based parameterization scheme to represent particle properties is a good choice to describe immersion freezing in a GCM.


CrystEngComm ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaiyu Yang

A relation between induction time and metastable zone width has been developed based on Classical Nucleation Theory, by which relation metastable zone width has been extrapolated from the induction time results and compared with experimental values. Influences of several thermodynamic and kinetic parameters on metastable zone width have been estimated.


Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Mark D. Tarn ◽  
Sebastien N. F. Sikora ◽  
Grace C. E. Porter ◽  
Jung-uk Shim ◽  
Benjamin J. Murray

The homogeneous freezing of water is important in the formation of ice in clouds, but there remains a great deal of variability in the representation of the homogeneous freezing of water in the literature. The development of new instrumentation, such as droplet microfluidic platforms, may help to constrain our understanding of the kinetics of homogeneous freezing via the analysis of monodisperse, size-selected water droplets in temporally and spatially controlled environments. Here, we evaluate droplet freezing data obtained using the Lab-on-a-Chip Nucleation by Immersed Particle Instrument (LOC-NIPI), in which droplets are generated and frozen in continuous flow. This high-throughput method was used to analyse over 16,000 water droplets (86 μm diameter) across three experimental runs, generating data with high precision and reproducibility that has largely been unrepresented in the microfluidic literature. Using this data, a new LOC-NIPI parameterisation of the volume nucleation rate coefficient (JV(T)) was determined in the temperature region of −35.1 to −36.9 °C, covering a greater JV(T) compared to most other microfluidic techniques thanks to the number of droplets analysed. Comparison to recent theory suggests inconsistencies in the theoretical representation, further implying that microfluidics could be used to inform on changes to parameterisations. By applying classical nucleation theory (CNT) to our JV(T) data, we have gone a step further than other microfluidic homogeneous freezing examples by calculating the stacking-disordered ice–supercooled water interfacial energy, estimated to be 22.5 ± 0.7 mJ m−2, again finding inconsistencies when compared to theoretical predictions. Further, we briefly review and compile all available microfluidic homogeneous freezing data in the literature, finding that the LOC-NIPI and other microfluidically generated data compare well with commonly used non-microfluidic datasets, but have generally been obtained with greater ease and with higher numbers of monodisperse droplets.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (21) ◽  
pp. 31867-31889
Author(s):  
K.-T. O ◽  
R. Wood

Abstract. In this work, based on the well-known formulae of classical nucleation theory (CNT), the temperature TNc = 1 at which the mean number of critical embryos inside a droplet is unity is derived and proposed as a new approximation for homogeneous freezing temperature of water droplets. Without consideration of time dependence and stochastic nature of the ice nucleation process, the approximation TNc = 1 is able to reproduce the dependence of homogeneous freezing temperature on drop size and water activity of aqueous drops observed in a wide range of experimental studies. We use the TNc = 1 approximation to argue that the distribution of homogeneous freezing temperatures observed in the experiments may largely be explained by the spread in the size distribution of droplets used in the particular experiment. It thus appears that this approximation is useful for predicting homogeneous freezing temperatures of water droplets in the atmosphere.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (24) ◽  
pp. 7431-7449 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-P. Chen ◽  
A. Hazra ◽  
Z. Levin

Abstract. The rate of ice nucleation in clouds is not easily determined and large discrepancies exist between model predictions and actual ice crystal concentration measured in clouds. In an effort to improve the parameterization of ice nucleating in cloud models, we investigate the rate of heterogeneous ice nucleation under specific ambient conditions by knowing the sizes as well as two thermodynamic parameters of the ice nuclei – contact angle and activation energy. Laboratory data of freezing and deposition nucleation modes were analyzed to derive inversely the two thermodynamic parameters for a variety of ice nuclei, including mineral dusts, bacteria, pollens, and soot particles. The analysis considered the Zeldovich factor for the adjustment of ice germ formation, as well as the solute and curvature effects on surface tension; the latter effects have strong influence on the contact angle. Contact angle turns out to be a more important factor than the activation energy in discriminating the nucleation capabilities of various ice nuclei species. By extracting these thermodynamic parameters, laboratory results can be converted into a formulation that follows classical nucleation theory, which then has the flexibility of incorporating factors such as the solute effect and curvature effect that were not considered in the experiments. Due to various uncertainties, contact angle and activation energy derived in this study should be regarded as "apparent" thermodynamics parameters.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 14419-14465 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-P. Chen ◽  
A. Hazra ◽  
Z. Levin

Abstract. The rate of ice nucleation in clouds is not easily determined and large discrepancies exist between model predictions and actual ice crystal concentration measured in clouds. In an effort to improve the parameterization of ice nucleating in cloud models, we investigate the rate of heterogeneous ice nucleation under specific ambient conditions by knowing the sizes as well as two thermodynamic parameters of the ice nuclei – contact angle and activation energy. Laboratory data of freezing and deposition nucleation modes were analyzed to derive inversely the two thermodynamic parameters for a variety of ice nuclei, including mineral dusts, bacteria, pollens, and soot particles. The analysis considered the Zeldovich factor for the adjustment of ice germ formation, as well as the solute and curvature effects on surface tension, the latter effects have strong influence on the contact angle. Contact angle turns out to be a more important factor than the activation energy in discriminating the nucleation capabilities of various ice nuclei species. By extracting these thermodynamic parameters, laboratory results can be converted into a formulation that follows classical nucleation theory, which then has the flexibility of incorporating factors such as the solute effect and curvature effect that were not considered in the experiments.


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