The aim of this communication is to analyse the influence of water activity and total pressure on water evaporation.
The system is composed of liquid and gas phases, separated by a plane surface, contained in a cylinder whose volume is regulated by a piston. Water activity is regulated by saturated salt solutions and pressure by the piston. The experimental device and procedures were defined to limit the temperature variation at the interface. A transient method is used. From a steady state, a volume increment is imposed; the resulting non-equilibrium leads to an increase in the partial pressure of water vapour to the equilibrium pressure imposed by the solution. Numerical calculation shows little variation in temperature in the gas–liquid interface under the experimental conditions. An evaporation model is adopted taking into account chemical potential discontinuity at the interface. The surface flux evaporation and chemical potential jump at the interface are deducted from the total pressure recording. In the neighbourhood of equilibrium, the surface flux of phase change is shown to be proportional to the chemical potential jump. The surface coefficient of evaporation increases with the total pressure of the gas phase and water activity.

Surface evaporation rate, Chemical potential, Water activity, Gas pressure