Thermal Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Evaporating Thin Liquid Film for Vapor Generation

Thin film evaporation (TFE) plays an important role in many industrial applications, such as power generation, cooling, and thermal management. Effective evaporation takes place in the thin liquid film region with relatively low film thickness and low intermolecular forces. In this paper, a numerical approach based on the thermal lattice Boltzmann method (TLBM) is employed to investigate the heat and mass transfer phenomena in TFE. The TLBM approach is validated by simulating some benchmark problems, and is then used to study a vapor generation problem where TFE is involved. Specifically, vapor is generated from evaporating pores, the solid walls of which are hydrophilic. Factors that affect the overall vapor generation efficiency are investigated via the numerical approach. Methods that can improve the overall efficiency are further proposed. Simulations reveal that distributed scenarios (using distributed small pores instead of a big one) and hydrophobic pore ends render more efficient vapor generation.