Experimental Evaluation of Heat Transfer Coefficient from Temperature Profiles Above the Evaporating Water Surface

Abu-Zienah, Hamza and Poós, Tibor (2026) Experimental Evaluation of Heat Transfer Coefficient from Temperature Profiles Above the Evaporating Water Surface. ICTEA : INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THERMAL ENGINEERING, 1 (1). ISSN 2562-9034

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Abstract

Evaporation from open liquid surfaces is a fundamental process in many engineering applications, including cooling technologies, desalination, drying systems, and atmospheric liquid evaporation. In this context, alongside experimental measurements, curve-fitting techniques are applied to characterize the temperature distribution above the evaporating surface. This approach enables the estimation of the thermal boundary layer thickness and the determination of the heat transfer coefficient based on the resulting temperature gradient. In this study, an experimental investigation was conducted to analyze the temperature distribution above an evaporating water surface under forced convection at bulk air temperatures of 40°C, 50°C, and 60°C. The air flows over the open water surface at a controlled velocity of 1.5 m/s. The temperature field above the liquid surface was measured using multiple thermocouples positioned at different vertical distances from the interface. In addition, supplementary measurements were conducted to determine the surface temperature, bulk air temperature, and ambient humidity conditions. By using the measured temperature profile, the heat transfer coefficient was evaluated from the temperature gradient at the surface. The results of this study also showed that the heat transfer coefficient is higher than Nusselt correlation and decreases as the thermal boundary layer thickness increases, which is consistent with classical heat transfer theory. © 2026, Toronto Metropolitan University. All rights reserved.

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