Investigation of thermocapillary convective patterns and their role in the enhancement of evaporation from pores

The present work investigates the evaporation process from a liquid meniscus formed in capillary tubes of various sizes. A very strong convection within the liquid phase is observed; it is proposed that the nonuniform evaporation from the meniscus leads to a temperature gradient along the interface causing a surface tension gradient, which is the driving mechanism for the convection. The observed convection is shown to be clearly correlated to the evaporation rate and the volatility of the liquid. Unlike Marangoni convection observed by imposing a temperature gradient, this is a self-induced driving gradient caused by evaporative cooling effect. The Marangoni roll in the liquid phase has been visualized and characterized using seeding particles. It is shown in the present study that the observed convection contribute in enhancing the heat-mass transfer from the pore. The experimental results show that when the meniscus recedes inside the pore, the convection slows down and eventually stops. A theoretical model is developed to describe the temperature gradient, which establishes due to the evaporative cooling effect between the centre and the wedge of the meniscus. The results of the model show a good qualitative agreement with the experimental observations. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.