On Microtransport Phenomena in Minute Droplets: A Critical Review

Abstract

Liquid droplets are abundant in nature and industry. Their industrial applications are very broad. They appear in the forms of sessile, impinging, and hanging/suspending droplets, undergoing evaporation or solidification depending upon ambient conditions. In the present article, a critical review is presented for the important literature pertinent to microtransport phenomena in minute droplets. Thermocapillarity is the principal motivating force in convective heat and mass transfer, phase change, and instability inside the droplets, supplemented in part by the buoyancy force. The dimensionless governing parameters are identified and their roles in droplet transport phenomena are determined. This article includes 135 references.