Spraying and Evaporation Rate

Maybe this will help...

https://journals.aps.org/prx/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevX.8.031019

On atomization, that link is very close to a spray dryer.

I would think that elevating the water temperature as high as possible would facilitate rapid evaporation....and spraying into a low humidity environment, possibly a heated evacuated chamber...

https://www.bete.com/applications/disposal

https://www.bete.com/pdfs/BETE_SprayDryManual.pdf

To get consistent results you would need an enclosed controlled environment...You would have to know the contents of the leachate , any toxic compounds and a sound environmentally responsible disposal method...this might involve further processing or treatments...

Spraying the saline solution into the air in tiny droplets should increase the evaporation rate. The surface to volume ratio of droplets is inversely proportional to drop size. It would seem that a very tiny drop size would increase the rate of evaporation without limit, but I think the evaporation rate will be limited by how fast the heat of vaporization can be supplied by the surrounding air and how fast the water vapor can be removed. The problem is that the surrounding air soon becomes cold and damp, which puts a brake on evaporation. Supplying heat and removing water vapor is necessary in order to get an advantage out of small droplet size, IMHO.

It's a complicated problem. If I were you, I think I might try experimenting with it.

Maybe this document will help:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02626668409490924

It seems that the issue is not new and commercial solutions exist.

Thanks for the assistance

https://www.coldmistcooling.com.au/solutions/waste-water-evaporators-and-water-treatment-systems

"... the evaporation rate will be limited by how fast the heat of vaporization can be supplied by the surrounding air...."

As evaporation is driven by the difference between the vapor pressure of the liquid at the interface and the partial pressure of the gas at the interface, it seems that it would be beneficial to have the liquid drops/droplets entering at a much higher temperature than the air.

The liquid will have a higher specific heat.

If the condition of the droplets heating the air can be maintained (requires liquid be sufficiently heated above air temp and droplets not get excessively small) then the evaporation limiting cold-damp condition you describe could be avoided.

Heat certainly needs to added to drive evaporation, but adding it to the liquid to be evaporated is far better than heating then air.

Commercial water cannons used in mining and waste water treatment plants use spray nozzles and large fans to blow water 100m high in the air to allow for evaporation to take place . Even then effective evaporation is 30% to 70% of sprayed water . Heating the water and creating smaller droplets should improve evaporation rate. Wind is good for removal of damp air, however, drifing water vapor might result in deposits of salts out of designated area.

I would be wary of misting systems. They drift. Try just fountaining first. It only requires a pump. It worked for me in Florida.

This paper may be of interest, though it doesn't answer your question directly. Spraying over a pit increases evaporation by around 30% according to this paper, but at what expense in energy?