Transfers, Interfaces & Processes (TIPs)

Research topics

Evaporation and boiling

Presentation

Experimental, theoretical and numerical research is conducted in parallel on both fundamental and applied aspects of evaporation and boiling. Several configurations are considered, such as liquid films, (sessile) drops and bubbles, including the coupling between microscopic effects (such as intermolecular forces acting near contact lines, or chemical/geometrical heterogeneities leading to hysteresis), and macroscopic ones (such as gravity-induced flows, capillarity, …).

The emphasis is most often on generic aspects common to several specific situations, such as for instance the occurrence of surface-tension-driven instabilities as observed for evaporating liquids films or droplets, or the influence of wetting properties on the dynamics of vapor bubbles, Leidenfrost drops and liquid/vapor menisci in heat transfer devices.

Part of this research involves the development of experiments in microgravity, such as parabolic flights, sounding rockets or the International Space Station, in the framework of large-scale research networks funded by the European Space Agency. Such experiments, which typically allow to focus on the role of interfacial forces in the absence of gravity, involve the use of powerful optical techniques such as interferometry, infrared thermography, … and the development of image analysis software (such as wavelet-based techniques). Recently, we have been the key science team members for ESA’s future ISS Heat Transfer Host 2 experiments: Drop Evaporation (DrE) and Marangoni in Films (MiF) modules. Our team’s primary focus will be on vapour interferometry. In relation to these modules, we have been participating in parabolic flight campaigns (VINNIG, 2019 and VIDER, 2022) and sounding rocket campaigns (MASER 14 and MASER 15), mainly funded by ESA and BELSPO.

On the theoretical point of view, the multiscale nature of studied phenomenal makes asymptotic techniques (such as matched asymptotic expansions) particularly powerful to simplify complicated boundary-value problems and possibly obtain accurate analytical results.

Contact: Pierre Colinet

Media

Researchers

Selected publications

Charlier, J., Rednikov, A. Y., Dehaeck, S., Colinet, P., & Terwagne, D. Water–propylene glycol sessile droplet shapes and migration: Marangoni mixing and separation of scales. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 933, 2022

Garivalis, A. I., Di Marco, P., Dehaeck, S., Rednikov, A., & Colinet, P. Experimental study on evaporation of droplets in microgravity and in the presence of electric field. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2177(1), 012047, 2022

Parimalanathan S.K., Dehaeck S., Rednikov A., & Colinet P. Controlling the wetting and evaporation dynamics of non-ideal volatile binary solutions. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 592, 319-328, 2021

Rabani, R., Sadafi, H., Machrafi, H., Abbasi, M., Haut, B., & Dauby, P. Influence of evaporation on the morphology of a thin film of a partially miscible binary mixture. Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects, 612, 126001. 2021

Sadafi, H., Rabani, R., Dehaeck, S., Machrafi, H., Haut, B., Dauby, P., & Colinet, P. Evaporation induced demixing in binary sessile drops. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 602, 125052. 2020

Keiser, L.,  Bense, H., Colinet, P., Bico, J., & Reyssat, E. Marangoni bursting: Evaporation-induced emulsification of binary mixtures on a liquid layer. Physical Review Letters, 118, 074504. 2017

Savva, N., Rednikov, A., & Colinet, P. Asymptotic analysis of the evaporation dynamics of partially-wetting droplets. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 824, 574-623. 2017

van Limbeek, M.A.J., Klein Schaarsberg, M.H., Sobac, B., Rednikov, A., Sun, C., Colinet, P., & Lohse, D. Leidenfrost drops cooling surfaces: theory and interferometric measurement. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 827, 614–639. 2017

Sobac, B., Rednikov, A., Dorbolo, S., & Colinet, P. Self-propelled Leidenfrost drops on a thermal gradient: a theoretical study. Physics of Fluids, 29, 082101. 2017

Mekhitarian, L., Sobac, B., Dehaeck, S., Haut, B., & Colinet, P. Evaporation dynamics of completely wetting drops on geometrically textured surfaces. Europhysics Letters, 120(1). 2017

Rednikov, A. & Colinet, P. Asymptotic analysis of the contact-line microregion for a perfectly wetting volatile liquid in a pure-vapor atmosphere. Physical Review Fluids, 2, 124006. 2017

Talbot, P., Sobac, B., Colinet, P., Rednikov, A., & Haut, B. Thermal transients during the evaporation of a spherical liquid drop. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 97, 803-8017. 2016

Sobac, B., Talbot, P., Haut, B., Rednikov, A., & Colinet, P. A comprehensive analysis of the evaporation of a liquid spherical drop. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 438, 306-317. 2015

Projects

  • DITRASOL project

    Drying-Induced Phase Transitions in Solutions. PI: Pierre Colinet and Benoit Haut

    Funded by the FNRS
  • MAP-MANBO and PRODEX Heat transfer projects

    European Network on boiling-related research, involving the preparation of experiments in microgravity. PI: Pierre Colinet

    Funded by BELSPO-ESA
  • MAP and PRODEX Evaporation projects

    European Network on evaporation-related research, involving the preparation of experiments in microgravity. PI: Pierre Colinet

    Funded by BELSPO-ESA
  • DIPCOM

    Microgravity effects on partial phase separation and structure formation in thin films – solvent effects on a model system for organic optoelectronics. PI: Benoit Haut

    Funded by BELSPO-ESA
  • PhD thesis of Pedro Marques

    PI: Benoit Scheid

    Funded by the FNRS