Dynamics of Evaporating Aerosols in the Vicinity of Vortical Flows*

The dispersion and evaporation of droplets are fundamental processes in aerosol science and are

essential in many atmospheric, environmental, and medical flows, including the spread of

pathogens. Almost any relative air movement about an object is expected to create vortical flow

structures in its wake, depending on its geometry and flow conditions. Therefore, a new

mathematical analysis was carried out, studying the dynamics and dispersion of aerosols under the

influence of approaching vortical flow structures. Our theoretical analysis reveals non-intuitive

interactions between the vortical structure, particle relaxation time, gravity, and mass transfer rates.

The existence of optimal conditions for maximum settling distances is suggested, where the aerosol

entrainment reaches up to an order of magnitude larger than the vortex core length scales.

Phenomena that are not directly linked to vortical flows were isolated and thus the fundamental

influence of the carrier flow over the aerosol entrainment is investigated.