Experimental study of the water evaporation rate on stainless steel plate in a wind tunnel.

Humidity is a determining factor for the bacterial contamination. In a food production plant, the surfaces in contact with food should be cleaned and dried as much as possible after use. To achieve this objective, the understanding of water evaporation from a solid surface is, thus, necessary. The water evaporation rate depends on the room conditions; temperature, velocity, humidity. Experiments were performed in a wind tunnel in which ambient condition were controlled. Water droplets were deposited on a stainless steel plate; wet surface and water weight were measured at different times. The influences of the percentage of wet surface and the ambient conditions (humidity, temperature and air velocity) on the evaporation rate were studied. It was observed that the air velocity and temperature difference between the air and the plate are the main influencing parameters.