Kinetic theory study of steady evaporation from a spherical condensed phase containing inert solid particles

Steady evaporation from a spherical and heterogeneous condensed body into vacuum is considered. Inert solid particles, initially embedded in the condensed phase, are liberated and collisionally accelerated by the evaporating gas molecules. A simple mathematical model for the flow is proposed and executed by the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. For small Knudsen numbers, the results are compared with a continuum solution including Knudsen layer corrections obtained by a moment method, demonstrating that these corrections are leading order effects in the treatment. © 1997 American Institute of Physics