Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

9-2013

Abstract

A simple correlation is developed to compute the evaporation rates of sessile drops and small puddles which are evaporating under the influences of both diffusion and natural convection of the vapor-air mixture surrounding the drop. The correlation is based on experiments conducted with eight hydrocarbons, which provide a factor of 16.6 variation in volatility as indicated by the equilibrium vapor pressures, a factor of 3.6 variation in molecular mass, and a factor of 2.2 variation in mass diffusivity, and thus the correlation is applicable for liquids having a broad range of properties. The correlation predicts the evaporation rates to within a root-mean-square (RMS) error of 6.5% over the broad range of conditions. Limitations of the correlation are investigated, and when one of the species is excluded, the RMS error is reduced to 4.9%. There are two main differences between this new correlation and the correlations that have been published previously. The first difference is the new correlation reduces to an expression for diffusion-limited evaporation as the density difference between the vapor-air mixture at the surface of the drop and the ambient air becomes negligible, or when the drop size becomes very small. The second difference is the form of the dependency on the density difference ratio, which in previous correlations is obtained solely through the Rayleigh number (Ra). This new correlation contains a term which represents the influence of natural convection on the evaporation rate and this term provides insight into the nature of the coupling of the diffusive and convective transport of the vapor.

Identifier

10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.04.051

Publisher

Elsevier

Publication Information

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

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