Experimental investigation of convective processes within horizontal evaporating liquid layer under shear-stress of inert gas flow is presented. Average evaporation flow rate of HFE-7100 liquid layer under Nitrogen gas flow is measured with the help of two independent methods. Influence of the gas velocity, the gas/liquid temperature and the liquid depth on the evaporation flow rate has been studied. At increasing of the liquid depth the average evaporation flow rate has a local maximum. With growth of the gas/liquid temperature from 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C the local maximum is shifted from 3 mm to 5 mm of the liquid depth. Visualization and analysis of the flow patterns on the gas-liquid interface have been performed. It is found out that the maximum evaporation flow rate is achieved at a stable and uniform convective flow within the liquid layer in the direction opposite to the gas flow. The results reported in this paper is a contribution to the preparation of the experiment on the International Space Station in the frame of the scientific project "Convection and Interfacial Mass Exchange" (CIMEX) of the European Space Agency. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.