Regimes of evaporation of a drop of a water aerosol

This article examines regimes of evaporation of a drop of a water aerosol within a broad range of rates of heat supply. A classification of these regimes as a function of the local Mach number of the vapor on the external boundary of the Knudsen layer is proposed on the basis of a survey and analysis of existing studies and use of the equation of motion of a continuum in the space surrounding the drop. The regimes in the classification are termed diffusional, diffusional-convective, subsonic, sonic, and explosive (the limit of the sonic regime). Examples of calculation of drop temperature and radius are presented for all regimes. Approximate analytic relations are proposed for determining the maximum temperature and time of evaporation of the drop. The results obtained from these relations agree satsifactorily with exact numerical values.