Evaporation rates of alkanes and alkanols from acoustically levitated drops

Evaporation constants of acoustically levitated drops from the homologue series of n-alkanes and 1-alkanols in ambient air have been evaluated by size and temperature measurements. The size of the pure liquid drops, within a diameter range of 0.1 to 2.5 mm, was monitored using a CCD camera, while temperature measurements were carried out by IR thermography. During drop evaporation, water from a humid environment with a relative humidity between 5 and 80% was condensed on the drop surface and in the case of n-pentane, the condensed water froze as a result of the evaporative cooling.