Vapor flows along a plane condensed phase with weak condensation in the presence of a noncondensable gas

A steady flow of a vapor in a half space condensing at incidence onto a plane condensed phase is considered in the case where another gas that does not condense (the noncondensable gas) is present near the condensed phase. A systematic asymptotic analysis of the Boltzmann equation for hard-sphere molecules is performed in the case where condensation is weak, and the relation among the parameters of the vapor flow at infinity, those associated with the plane condensed phase, and the amount of the noncondensable gas is derived in an analytical form. The result supplements the numerical result for the relation for arbitrarily strong condensation obtained on the basis of a model Boltzmann equation and under the restriction that the vapor molecules are mechanically identical with the noncondensable-gas molecules [Taguchi et al., Phys. Fluids 15: 689 (2003)].