Measurement of droplet size distribution in superheated emulsion

Abstract

Superheated liquids nucleate to vapour as a result of radiation induced phase transition. Superheated emulsion detectors have been developed using this property of superheated liquid. The emulsion is prepared by shearing the superheated liquid in a viscoelastic aqueous gel medium under pressure resulting in numerous superheated droplets of different sizes. The droplets nucleate, independent of one another, as a result of radiation interaction. The stability (i.e., the lifetime) of these droplets in the emulsion in presence of radiation (or without radiation) is strongly dependent on the size of the droplets. The smaller the size, the larger will be the lifetime. In order to characterize the emulsion, a proper understanding of the droplet size distribution is important. A method for the measurement of droplet size distribution is presented.