Work

Effect of Electric Field on Internal Heat-Flow Characteristics During Evaporation of a Sessile Droplet

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Electric-field-enhanced evaporation is an innovative approach to reducing the energy consumption of evaporation processes. To investigate the effect of an electric field on droplet heat-flux characteristics during evaporation, this study numerically simulated the evaporation of pinned sessile droplets on a solid substrate under a parallel-plate electrode configuration. The results show that increasing the plate voltage (from 2 kV to 4 kV) can significantly enhance the surface flow velocity, with the maximum increase reaching 157% in the early stage of evaporation; however, this enhancement diminishes as evaporation progresses. At higher voltages, the internal flow field of the droplet transitions from a single circulation to a double-circulation structure, and the influence of voltage on the droplet's bulk internal temperature gradient is limited, with the maximum temperature difference remaining below 1 K. When the ambient temperature is below 308.15 K, the electric field enhancement of evaporation is most pronounced: compared with natural (no-field) evaporation, the drying time is reduced by approximately 15.5%. However, when the ambient temperature exceeds 308.15 K, the electric field enhancement decreases markedly. These findings provide a theoretical basis for electric-field-assisted evaporation technologies and inform directions for parameter optimization.

Source: Micromachines

DOI: 10.3390/mi17060730

Authors: Jiewen Deng, Jiacheng Liu, Li Gan, Guangyuan Kang, Xingyu Shi, Haiting Liu

Institution: Northeast Electric Power University

Language: English

Topic: Electrowetting and Microfluidic Technologies

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,534