Theoretical Investigation on Rapid Evaporation of a Saline Droplet During Depressurization

This paper reports a theoretical investigation on rapid evaporation of a saline droplet during depressurization. A mathematical model was developed to simulate the droplet temperature variation by considering the ambient pressure change, the heat transfers due to evaporation and convection at the droplet surface, accompanying the heat and mass transfer inside the droplet. The component diffusion and the temperature gradient inside the droplet were mainly discussed by comparing the numerical droplet temperature with the experimental data. The result shows that, the variation of internal concentration is small, while the temperature gradient within the droplet is significant during the evaporation process. In addition, the influencing factors of the droplet temperature variation were analyzed, such as: the final ambient pressure, theinitial salt concentration and the initial droplet temperature. The present model calculations help to understand the thermodynamic process of rapid evaporation of a saline droplet during depressurization.