Sessile Drop Evaporation and Leidenfrost Phenomenon

Problem statement: Quenching and cooling are important process in manufacturing industry for controlling the mechanical properties of materials, where evaporation is a vital mode of heat transfer. Approach: This study experimentally investigated the evaporation of sessile drop for four different heated surfaces of Aluminum, Brass, Copper and Mild steel with a combination of four different liquids as Methanol, Ethanol, Water and NaCl solution. The time of evaporation for the droplet on the hot metallic surface was measured and compared with a proposed correlation as well. With the time temperature plot of these experimental data, the Leidenfrost phenomena had been elucidated. In the pool boiling curve for liquid, just after the transition boiling region and before the film boiling region, the heat transfer approaches its minimum value. The corresponding temperature of this minimum value was termed as the Leidenfrost temperature and the phenomenon is known as Leidenfrost phenomena. According to the experimental data, the Leidenfrost temperature was within a range of 150-200°C for all the experimental conditions. Results: This revealed that Leidenfrost temperature was independent of thermo-physical properties of solid and liquid. Sessile drop evaporation time was the maximum for water, then decreases gradually for Nacl solution, methanol and was the minimum for ethanol for a particular solid material. On the other hand, this time was the highest for copper and the lowest for mild steel for a specific liquid. Conclusion: The experimental data for the evaporation time fairly agree with the proposed correlation within a certain range. The collected time and temperature data may be used as a good data bank for the researchers.