The mechanism of surface cooling by a horizontal layer of liquid evaporating at low reduced pressures

We investigated the process of cooling the surface with a thin layer of liquid at low reduced pressures, consisting of two characteristic periods. In the first period, coherent structures in the form of plumes appeared in the layer. In the second period, the layer was destroyed with the formation of structures in the form of moving “craters,” accompanied by a massive droplet ejection, intense mixing, and pressure and temperature growth. At the point of layer destruction, thermodynamic equilibrium was established within the system.