This paper describes the results of experiments on the effect of natural convection on the rate of evaporation from wetted plane surfaces. The evaporating surfaces employed are upward-facing horizontal circular disks 2 to 60 cm in diam, a downward-facing horizontal circular disk 60 cm in diam, and a vertical plate 150 cm high and 30 cm wide. The distributions of humidity close to the surfaces are measured in still air and the effective thicknesses of diffusion layers are determined.
It is found for the various upward-facing disks that the relation of the effective thickness δ
vs. the distance
x from the circumference gives a single curve: δ increases with
x at
x<10cm and remains constant at
x>10cm. The relation of δ
vs.
x for the downward-facing disk is similar except near the circumference where δ is somewhat thicker than for the upward-facing disks. For the vertical plate it is shown that the flow of air due to natural convection is laminar at
x (the vertical distance from the lower edge) <5cm and it becomes turbulent in the upper region.
The results are well correlated by dimensionless equations of the form
x/δ=
c(
GrD•Sc)
n.
Values of
c and
n are obtained experimentally.
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