Analytical solution for dynamic evaporation of liquid in isothermal condition

Abstract

An analytical solution based on a diffuse interface model is presented for an isothermal evaporation problem under sub-saturation pressure. The macroscopic equations are derived from the free-energy method, widely recognized in the lattice Boltzmann literature, distinguishing our approach from conventional evaporation models that rely on jump conditions or pure kinetic theory. The interface behavior is fully described by differential equations, eliminating the need for assumptions such as local equilibrium at the interface. We derive an exact analytical solution for the inviscid case and propose an approximate solution when viscosity effects are considered. Our model unveils a novel relationship between evaporation rate and viscosity, providing new insights that have not been thoroughly explored in the literature. The analytical results are validated through numerical simulations using the open-source parallel library OpenLB, demonstrating excellent agreement in predicting the physical behavior of the evaporation phenomena within the framework of diffuse interface methods.