Evaporation of Water Into A Laminar Air and Superheated Steam Stream of
Evaporation of Water Into A Laminar Air and Superheated Steam Stream of
Evaporation of Water Into A Laminar Air and Superheated Steam Stream of
00/O
Printed in Great Brmm 0 I983 Pergamon Press Ltd.
Abstract- A numerical investigation was conducted to study the evaporation ofwater into a laminar stream of
air, humid air and superheated steam. Results were obtained both for variable properties and for constant
properties using the one-third rule. It was shown that belowacertain temperatureof thefreestream, named the
inversion temperature, water evaporation decreasesas the humidity of air increases ; and above the inversion
temperature, water evaporation increases as the humidity of air increases. The constant-property
approximation using the one-third rule yields accurate results for the evaporation rate of water except when
the free stream is mostly steam at high temperature.
NOMENCLATURE Superscripts
*> reference state;
CfX friction coefficient ;
> average;
CP,
specific heat of fluid [J kg-’ "C- ‘1;
> differentiation with respect to q.
mass diffusion coefficient [m2 s- ‘1;
r” dimensionless stream function ;
if,, latent heat of evaporation [J kg-‘] ;
I~ODU~ION
k thermal conductivity offluid [W m - ’ “C- ‘1;
L, length of water surface [m] ; DUE TO its widespread applications, such as in drying,
m, mass fraction ; film cooling and air conditioning, the subject of
m, mass flux [kg me2 s-l]; evaporation of water into an air stream has received
M, molecular weight ; considerable attention. Superheated steam has also
Nu, Nusselt number; been recommended as an attractive drying medium for
p, partial pressure [bar] ; materials that are not temperature sensitive. Wenzel
Pr, Prandtl number, pc,jk; and White [l] studied the drying of granular solids in
Re, Reynolds number, pixie ; superheated steam and reported higher drying rates in
SC, Schmidt number, $pD; superheated steam than in air at the same temperature
Sk Sherwood number ; and mass flow rate. Moreover, for the case of drying
T, temperature PC] ; with superheated steam, the water removed from the
4 velocity component in x direction [m s- ‘1; solids during the drying process becomes a part of the
G velocity component in y direction [m s- ‘1; drying medium whereas, in air drying, the moist air
x, horizontal spatial coordinate [m] ; must ultimately be replaced by fresh air heated to a
Y> vertical spatial coordinate [ml. suitable temperature. Yoshida and Hy6dB [2]
demonstrated that superheated steam can provide an
Greek symbols excellent medium for drying food products. As well as
?* independent similarity variable ; allowing a higher evaporation rate as compared to air
Q, dimensionless temperature of fluid ; at the same temperature and mass flow rate, steam is
i4 dynamic viscosity of fluid [kg m - 1 s- ‘1; cleaner and there is less oxidation in food, thus reducing
V, kinematic viscosity of fluid [m2 s - ‘J ; the loss in nutritional value during the drying process.
P, density of fluid [kg ms-3] ; Chu et al. [3] investigated experimentally the
stream function [kg m-l s-l]; evaporation of liquids into their superheated vapors.
z;,. ratio of local cp to cp, ; Three liquids were used, water, 1-butanol and benzene.
ratio of local k to k, ; They compared their results with available data using
;; ratio of local p to pL, ; air as the drying medium. They reported significantly
4, ratio of local p to pm. higher rate of evaporation with superheated vapor than
with air except when the superheated vapor
Subscripts temperature is relatively close to the saturation
a, air ; temperature. In fact, when the vapor is near its
ev, evaporation; saturation temperature, the evaporation rate should
0, fluid-water interface; approach zero, whereas evaporation will still occur
w, steam ; when air is at the saturation temperature of the liquid.
00, free stream. This leads to a critical temperature at which the rate of
373
374 L. C. CHOW and J. N. CAIING
evaporation into its superheated vapor is equal to the (1.013 bar). It is assumed that the water -Huid Interface
rate of evaporation into air. Chu et al. [4] studied the is stationary and no energy is supplied from beneath the
evaporation of water into superheated steam-air interface. Hence, the energy required for the
mixtures. Again, they reported that superheated steam evaporation ofwater must come from the stream itself.
will help the drying rate when mixed with air. Furthermore. it is assumed that the gradients of the
Yoshida and Hybdd [S] also investigated the velocity, u, the mass concentrations. IX, and tn,. and the
evaporation of water into air, humid air and temperature, T, in the flow direction arc much smaller
superheated steam. Since it is generally accepted that than those in the direction transverse to the llow so thar
water evaporation decreases as the humidity of air the boundary-layer approx~mat~orls are valid.
increases, they were particularly concerned with the The governing equations are
critical (inversion) temperature mentioned above. They
showed experimentally the existence of an inversion mass ,i}
temperature. Above the inversion temperature, water
evaporation actually increases as the humidity of air
increases and the evaporation rate is the highest for
pure superheated steam. Trommelen and Crosby f6]
investigated the evaporation of water from drops of
nine different materials. The drops were approximately
1.5 mm in diameter and both superheated steam and
dry air were employed as drying media. They also
reported the possible existence of an inversion
temperature.
The objective of the present work is two fold. First,
the physical reason for the existence of the inversion
temperature is investigated. The situation considered The boundary conditions are
here is a laminar boundary-layer flow of air, steam or a
for y > 0, at x = 0. 2.l= Ii,,. C = 0,
mixture of the two over a water surface. Laminar Row is
chosen so that analytical expressions for the ‘1.= ?‘, _ isi
evaporation rate can be obtained. Thus, the physical
ma = tn,,.
explanation for the above phenomenon can be focused
upon. In the present problem, the temperature profile for I > 0. at 1’= 0, U = 0. C = f!*(S),
across the boundary layer is very steep and the
7’ = I;,(X), 16)
thermophysical properties can change s~gni~cantly.
Numerical results are obtained both for variable in, = m,,(r).
properties and for constant properties using a reference
for x > 0, as y -+ ‘x, u = U.,l’ = 0,
state, namely, the one-third rule. It is well established
that the one-third rule is suitable for convective heat T = 7;. (7)
transfer [7] and for simultaneous heat and mass
112,= 111,* .
transfer of droplets [g]. The second objective of the
present study is to verify the suitability ofthe one-third At the interface, y = 0, the fluid velocity, o&), and the
rule for the present situation. temperature, T,(x), can be obtained by the following
relations :
( 1Oi
Similarity soIutions
at 4 = 0, 4,m:+ Ffrn* = 0, (20)
For laminar flows of air or air-stream mixtures, since
there is no energy supplied from below the fluid-water
f h f$
interface, the interfacial temperature, T,(x), should be attl=O, ##= -zPrmP--- (21)
equal to the wet bulb tem~rature of the free stream. c,_(G - T,)
Hence, it is reasonable to assume T,(X) to be constant where h,, is the latent heat of evaporation at the
along the water surface. For the case when the free interfacial temperature, T,.
stream is pure superheated steam, the interfacial Again, as discussed in the previous section, when the
temperature should be equal to the saturation free stream is composed of pure superheated steam, the
tem~rature of steam at one atmosphere (lOO*C). species equation and the associated boundary
The invariance of the interfacial temperature, ‘I& conditions will simply be ignored.
with x allows great simplification of the solution
procedure. It can be shown that similarity solutions for Reference state-the one-third rule
the present problems exist [9]. First, the continuity The above analysis is repeated by evaluating the
equation can be eliminated by using the stream thermophysical properties p, g, k, cp and L)at a reference
function as a dependent variable, state with temperature T* and air mass concentration
*
m,,
(11)
T* = TO+ & 7;, - TO),
(22)
By introducing the following variables : m,* = ma0 +&m,, -m,,).
G = (P*Pcuu,x)l’z~
the governing equations, equations (2)-(4), become
g= y
( >1/Z,
5.
VX
* = (Pw,4”2f,
(23)
CA(f’!#,)‘l’ -+-Mf’/4$Y = 09 (13) u = z&y,
*= ;
( >‘i2(sf’-f).
!f$
r = 0, f=.L 0 = 0,
f’ = 0, asg-+m, f’=l,
m, = maco> (28)
m, = m,,,
e = 0, o= 1.
376 L. C. CHOW and J. N. (‘HLJ~C,
14 (
6
5 INVERSION
“2 POINT
x I maw = 0.
4
2 maw = 0.5
3 ma, = I.0
I
_..I
100 I50 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
To3 (‘C)
To help explain the existence of the inversion a significant percentage increase in the temperature
temperature, the variable-property results are given in potential T, - To compared to the temperature
detail in Table 1. Also, in Fig. 4, the interfacial potential for the pure steam case. This explains the
temperature T, is plotted versus the free stream mass generally accepted fact that water evaporates faster in
concentration for various free stream temperatures. It air than in moist air. However, if T, is large, the
can be seen that the presence of air depresses T, from percentage change in the temperature potential is not
100°C to the wet bulb temperature. significant when To is depressed.
The heat transfer from the free stream to the water The other quantity that governs the heat transfer is
surface can be written as the heat transfer coefficients, h. The k depends on the
Reynolds number, the Prandtl number and the thermal
Q = Ti(L-GT,) (34) conductivity approximately in the following manner :
where his the heat transfer coefficient. For low T,, the
depression of Todue to air-water vapor diffusion causes h = C Re’i2PraklL (35)
VARIABLE - PROPERTY
RESULTS
L I I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I1
0. 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
maoD
FIG. 3. The evaporation rates vs mass fractions of air in the free stream.
37x L. C. CHOW and J. N. CHUNG
‘1 ma0
where C is a numerical constant which depends on the 30% heating advantage to steam over air. These
evaporation rate, a is approximately equal to 0.33 for advantages are compensated by the higher thermal
low evaporation rate (when T, - To is of the order of a conductivity of air compared to that of steam (as much
few hundred “C or less). as 25% higher for air than for steam). Another factor
The Prandtl number ofsteam is approximately unity, that contributes favorably to the evaporation rate of
whereas the Pr for air is about 0.7. The Prandtl number water into steam is that the interfacial temperature is
effect gives a 12”/0heating advantage to steam over air. higher, and the latent heat of evaporation at 100°C is
Steam has a smaller dynamic viscosity as compared to lower than that at a lower wet bulb temperature.
air. Hence, for the same mass flux, steam can have a Re At high free stream temperature, the effect of the
over 60”/, higher than that of air. This effect will give a interfacial temperature depression due to the presence
00 \\
As
I Ta =
2 T,, =
70 3 Te, =
4 T, =
5 Te, =
mam
FIG. 4. The water surface temperatures for various free stream conditions.
Evaporation of water into a laminar stream 379
of air is not as significant as the factors that affect the the Reynolds number for turbulent flows than for
heat transfer coefficient. Thus, at high T,, the laminar flows, hence, for turbulent flows, the increase in
evaporation rate of water actually increases as the free fifor the steam case will overcome the depression of T,
stream steam mass concentration increases. at a lower free stream temperature. For evaporation of
Other useful information that can be obtained from water from drops, Trommelen and Crosby [6] reported
Table 1 are the friction coefficient, the Nusselt number an inversion temperature of about 250°C which agrees
and the Sherwood number. with the present work. Their drops were small in size
and the free stream Reynolds number was about 100.
Friction &~e~~ient, cp Hence, the Sow was laminar over most of the drop
surface with a trailing laminar vortex street. It can be
p-au
Cf
-=
2 [ 8Y 0 II’ Pm%
2
shown [9] that for this situation, the heat transfer
coefficient li has a similar trend as given by equation
(35). The agreement in the value of the inversion
= C#,U‘/fkp& R&i I@. (36)
temperature shows that the present model is plausible.
Nusselt number, Nu. Finally, the variable-property results are compared
10
with the results using the one-third rule. In Fig. 5, the
Nu = - kg x/[k,(T,-T,)] evaporation rates of water for both variable and
[ constant properties are plotted versus the free stream
= [c@‘], Rez’. temperature for the m,, = 1 and mam = 0 cases. The
(37)
results using the one-third rule agree well with the
Sherwood number, Sh. variable-property results, except when the freestreamis
mostly steam at high temperature. It appears that the
one-third rule approximation works very well, even at
Sh = - pDdm, x/[pmDm(mWo-m,,)]
aY I Cl very high temperature, when the free stream is mostly
[
air. However, when there is a significant amount of
= [#,mejSc], Rez2 Sc,/(m,, -m,,). (38) steam in the free stream, the one-third rule does not
apply for temperatures above 300°C.
Next, the present results are compared with previous
experimental investigations. According to the de-
finition of the inversion temperature, this temperature CONCLUSIONS
is about 250°C. Both Chu et al. [4] and Yoshida and
The evaporation ofwater into a laminar stream ofair,
Hy6dd [S] reported a much lower inversion
superheated steam or a mixture of the two is analyzed.
temperature of approximately 170°C. However, their
Numerical results are obtained both for variable
flow geometries were different and also their flows were
properties and for constant properties using the one-
turbulent. The difference in the inversion temperatures
third rule. The following conclusions can be made :
is probably due to the following reason. For the same
mass flux, steam has a higher Reynolds number than (1) For the same mass flux of the free stream, and at
air. Since the heat transfer coefficient depends more on low free stream temperatures, water evaporates faster
} ma, - 0.0
8- maa = 1.0
?-
s
x 6-
* =
--
4-
,i 3-
- VARIABLE PROPERTY
-- 1/S RULE
1-F .E” 2 -
- I-
01”““““““‘1 ‘1 1
100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
Tm (“Cl
REFERENCES . I I.
I?
L. Wenzel and R. R. White, Drying granular solids in
superheated steam, Ind. Engng Chem. 43, 1X29- lY37
(1951). I?.
T. Yoshida and T. Hybdd, Superheated vapor speeds
drying of foods, Food Enyny 38, 86-87 (1966). 14.
J. C. Chu, A. M. Lane and D. Conklin, Evaporation of
liquids into their superheated vapors, Int. Engny Chem. 15
45, 1586-1591 (1953).
J. C. Chu. S. Finelt, W. Hoerrner and M. S. Lin. Drying
R&wn-~ On &die numkriquement I’tvaporation de I’eau dans l’ecoulement laminaire d’air. d’:ur humlde CL
de vapeur surchauff&e, Des r&sultats sont t,%enus pour des propri&is variables ou constantes utilisant la r2gle
1,‘3. On montre qu’au-dessous d’une certaine tempkraturc de I’Ccoulement libre. appelie lempGraturi:
d’inversion, I’&vaporation de I’eau dkcroit quand I’humiditk de I’air augmente: et au-dessus de la tempCrature
d’inversion, l’tvaporation augmente quand I’humiditk de I’air augmente. L’approximation proprittes
constantes utilisant la rigle l/3 donne des rttsultats prCcis pour le dtbit d’Cvaporation de I’eau. exceptC quantl
l’tcoulement Iibre est principalement de la vapeur :I haute remptrature.
Zusatnmenfassung Zur Untersuchung der Verdunstung von Wasser In elnen laminaren Strom \,,n Lur‘t.
feuchter Luft und iiherhitztem Dampf wurde eine numerivche Untersuchung durchgefiihrt. E\ \\urden
Ergebnisse sowohl fiir variable Stoffeigenschaken als such fiir konstanle StofTeigenschaften tinter
Verwendung der 1!3-Regel erhalten. Es zeigte sich. da8 unterhalh cincr hcstimmten Temperatur dcr frcicri
StrBmung, die Inversionstemperatur genannt wird, die Verdunstung des Wassers rnll runchmender
Luftfeuchtigkeit abnimmt. Overhalb der Inversionstemperalur nimmt die Wasser\erdunstung mii
zunehmender Luftfeuchtigkeit zu. Die Naherungsliisung mir kons~anten Stoffeigenschafien rinl<r
Verwendung der l/3-Regel fiihrt zu genauen Ergebnissen fiir die Verdunstungsrale tiei Wa\cer\.
ausgenommen, dal3 die freie Strsmung tiberwiegend Dampf bei hoher Tcmperatur enlhZll