Method and apparatus for evaporating multi-component liquids

An apparatus for evaporating a multi-component liquid solution, the apparatus comprising:

• a liquid reservoir containing a multi-component liquid;
• an atomizer for atomizing the multi-component liquid stored in the reservoir to form a mist or cloud of small liquid droplets and ejecting the atomized droplet upward into the atmosphere away from the surface on which the apparatus is supported,
• the liquid solution comprising a plurality of components having respective vapor pressures, the component having substantially the lowest vapor pressure being related to those droplets having the larger diameters such that
• 1.2×1012×Dp4/[H×Pv]≦1
• where Dp is the diameter, in centimeters, of the larger diameter droplets, H is substantially the height, in centimeters, to which said larger diameter droplets are ejected, and Pv is the vapor pressure, in millimeters of Hg, of the component having substantially the lowest vapor pressure;
• whereby the amount of unevaporated liquid that falls back upon said adjacent surface is minimized.

A method of determining the suitability of a multi-component liquid for use in an atomizer, the method comprising the step of:

• determining the component of multi-component liquid having substantially the lowest vapor pressure;
• determining the predicted diameter of the droplet having the largest diameter that will form by the atomizer;
• ascertaining the height to which the larger droplet will likely be ejected;
• and
• calculating whether the following condition is satisfied
• 1.2×1212×Dp4/[H×Pv]≦1
• where Dp is the diameter, in centimeters, of the droplet having the largest diameter, H is the height in centimeters, to which said larger diameter droplets are ejected and Pv is the vapor pressure, in millimeters of Hg, of the component having substantially the lowest vapor pressure,
• wherein the multi-component liquid is determined to be suitable for use with the atomizer when the condition is satisfied.