Evaluation of droplet evaporation characteristics and its influencing factors in high-temperature gaseous environment

Abstract

Droplet evaporation is widely present in nature and industrial production, involving heat and mass transfer between the droplet and the surrounding gas environment. This study investigates the evaporation of individual spherical droplets in a high-temperature gas environment under both stationary and forced convection conditions, using theoretical and numerical approaches. The results show that the established evaporation model can effectively reflect the temperature change during droplet evaporation. When the droplet evaporates in a gaseous environment, the equilibrium temperature of the droplet is influenced by environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity. Compared to environmental temperature, humidity has a more significant impact on the equilibrium temperature of the droplet, making it the dominant factor affecting the evaporation temperature. The evaporation rate of the droplet is influenced by environmental humidity. When the air humidity is below 0.5, the variable-rate evaporation aligns closely with the numerical simulation results (droplet lifetime). When the air humidity is above 0.5, the simulation results are slightly higher but still have a small relative error. As the environmental humidity increases, the evaporation rate of the droplet is suppressed, leading to an increase in its lifetime. Establishing an appropriate droplet evaporation model not only deepens our understanding of the internal mechanisms of droplet evaporation but also provides practical guidance for enhancing heat and mass transfer in droplets.