Humidification:

Humidification operation is a example for an inter phase transfer

of mass and energy, when a gas and a pure liquid are brought
into contact.

In humidification process - liquid is transfer to gas phase - it is

vaporizes

In dehumidification process - liquid is transfer from gas phase to

liquid phase - It is condenses
Basic Terms in Humidification

Moles of water
Moles of air
p A  Partial pressure of water
pt  Total pressure
M A  Molecular weight of water
M B  Molecular weight of air

Ys  Absolute Humidity at saturation condition

p A  Equillibrium vapour pressure
 Basic Terms in Humidification
Unsaturated vapor-gas mixture

Dry Bulb Temperature - Temperature of air at unsaturated condition

Wet bulb Temperature - Temperature of air at saturated condition

Re lative saturation or relative humidity

pA
RH 
pA
p A partial pressure of A
p A partial pressure of A at saturation condition

Percentage of saturation or Percentage absolute humidity

Y Y
 100 or  100
Ys Ys
Basic Terms in Humidification
Volume of unit mass of dry gas and its accompanying vapor
at the prevailing temperature and pressure

Heat required to raise the temperature of unit mass of gas

and its accompanying vapor by one degree at constant
pressure
Adiabatic saturation process

Air Air
Water
Psychrometric chart

TDP Tad or T2
The cooling tower is one of the most important device in chemical
industries for example when the hot water come from heat
exchanger we use the cooling tower to cool it.

The purpose of cooling tower is to cool relatively warm water by

contacting with unsaturated air. The evaporation of water mainly
provides cooling.

In a typical water cooling water tower, warm water flows

countercurrent to an air stream. Typically, the warm water enters
the top of packed tower and cascades down through the packing,
leaving at the bottom.
Air enters at the bottom of the tower and flows upward through the descending
water.

The tower packing often consists of slats of plastic or of packed bed.

The water is distributed by troughs and overflows to cascade over slat gratings or
packing that provides large interfacial areas of contact between the water and air
in the form of droplets and films of water.

The flow of air upward through the tower can be induced by the buoyancy of the
warm air in the tower (natural draft) or by the action of a fan.

.
The water cannot be cooled
below the wet bulb
temperature
• Frame and casing: support exterior
enclosures
• Fill: facilitate heat transfer by
maximizing water / air contact
• Splash fill
• Film fill

• Cold water basin:

receives water at bottom of tower
Components of a cooling tower

• Drift eliminators: capture droplets in air stream

• Air inlet: entry point of air
• Louvers: equalize air flow into the fill and retain
water within tower
• Nozzles: spray water to wet the fill
• Fans: deliver air flow in the tower
Types of Cooling Towers

Natural Draft Cooling Towers

• Hot air moves through tower

• Fresh cool air is drawn into the tower
from bottom
• No fan required
• Concrete tower <200 m
• Used for large heat duties
 • Air drawn up
• Air drawnTypes
across of Cooling Towers through falling
falling water water
• Fill located • Fill located
Natural Draft Cooling Towers
outside tower inside tower

Cross flow Counter flow 21

(Gulf Coast Chemical Commercial Inc.) © UNEP 2006
 Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers

• Large fans to force air through circulated

water
• Water falls over fill surfaces: maximum heat
transfer
• Cooling rates depend on many parameters
• Large range of capacities
Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers

Three types
• Forced draft
• Induced draft cross flow
• Induced draft counter flow
Forced Draft Cooling Towers
• Air blown through tower
by centrifugal fan at air
inlet
• Advantages: suited for
high air resistance & fans
are relatively quiet
• Disadvantages:
recirculation due to high
air-entry and low air-exit
velocities
Induced Draft Cooling Towers
• Two types
• Cross flow
• Counter flow
• Advantage: less recirculation than forced draft towers
• Disadvantage: fans and motor drive mechanism require
weather-proofinh
Induced Draft Counter Flow CT
• Hot water enters at the top
• Air enters at bottom and exits at top
• Uses forced and induced draft fans
Induced Draft Cross Flow CT
• Water enters top and passes over fill
• Air enters on one side or opposite sides
• Induced draft fan draws air across fill
Measured Parameters

• Wet bulb temperature of air

• Dry bulb temperature of air
• Cooling tower inlet water temperature
• Cooling tower outlet water temperature
• Exhaust air temperature
• Electrical readings of pump and fan
motors
• Water flow rate
• Air flow rate
Performance Parameters
1. Range
2. Approach
3. Effectiveness
4. Cooling capacity
5. Evaporation loss
6. Cycles of concentration
7. Blow down losses
8. Liquid / Gas ratio
 Assessment of Cooling Towers

1. Range
Hot Water Temperature (In)
Difference between
cooling water inlet and
outlet temperature:

Range
(In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
Range (°C) = CW inlet Tower
temp – CW outlet temp

Cold Water Temperature (Out)

High range = good
Approach

performance
Wet Bulb Temperature (Ambient)
2. Approach
Difference between cooling tower
outlet cold water temperature and
ambient wet bulb temperature:
Hot Water Temperature (In)

Approach (°C) =
CW outlet temp – Wet bulb temp

Range
(In) to the Tower
Low approach = good performance (Out) from the
Tower

Cold Water Temperature

(Out)
Approach
Wet Bulb Temperature
(Ambient)
Assessment of Cooling Towers

3. Effectiveness
Effectiveness in %
Hot Water Temperature (In)

= Range / (Range + Approach)

= 100 x (CW temp – CW out temp) /

Range
(CW in temp – Wet bulb temp) (In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
Tower
High effectiveness = good
performance
Cold Water Temperature
(Out)
Approach
Wet Bulb Temperature
(Ambient)
4. Cooling Capacity
Heat rejected in kCal/hr or tons of refrigeration (TR)

= mass flow rate of water X specific heat

X temperature difference Hot Water Temperature (In)

High cooling capacity = good

performance

Range
(In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
Tower

Cold Water Temperature

(Out)
Approach
Wet Bulb Temperature
(Ambient)
5. Evaporation Loss
Water quantity (m3/hr) evaporated for
cooling duty
Hot Water Temperature
= theoretically, 1.8 m3 for every (In)
10,000,000 kCal heat rejected

Range
= 0.00085 x 1.8 x circulation rate (m3/hr) (In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
x (T1-T2) Tower

T1-T2 = Temp. difference between inlet Cold Water Temperature

(Out)
and outlet water

Approach
Wet Bulb Temperature
(Ambient)
6. Cycles of concentration (C.O.C.)
Ratio of dissolved solids in circulating water to the
dissolved solids in make up water

7. Cycles of concentration (C.O.C.)

Depend on cycles of concentration and the evaporation
losses

Blow Down = Evaporation Loss / (C.O.C. – 1)

8. Liquid Gas (L/G) Ratio
Ratio between water and air mass flow rates

Heat removed from the water must be equal to the heat

absorbed by the surrounding air

L(T1 – T2) = G(H2 – H1)

L/G = (H2 – H1) / (T1 – T2)

T1 = hot water temp (oC)

T2 = cold water temp (oC)

Enthalpy of air water vapor mixture at inlet wet bulb temp (h1) and outlet wet
bulb temp (h2)
Energy Efficiency Opportunities

1. Selecting a cooling tower

2. Fills
3. Pumps and water distribution
4. Fans and motors
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Capacity
• Heat dissipation (kCal/hour)
• Circulated flow rate (m3/hr)
• Other factors
Range
• Range determined by process, not by system
Approach
• Closer to the wet bulb temperature
• = Bigger size cooling tower
• = More expensive
Heat Load
• Determined by process
• Required cooling is controlled by the desired operating
temperature
• High heat load = large size and cost of cooling tower

Wet bulb temperature – considerations:

• Water is cooled to temp higher than wet bulb temp
• Conditions at tower site
• Not to exceed 5% of design wet bulb temp
• Is wet bulb temp specified as ambient (preferred) or inlet
• Can tower deal with increased wet bulb temp
• Cold water to exchange heat
Relationship Approach and Wet bulb temperature

• If approach stays the same (e.g. 4.45 oC)

• Higher wet bulb temperature (26.67 oC)
= more heat picked up (15.5 kCal/kg air)
= smaller tower needed
• Lower wet bulb temperature (21.11 oC)
= less heat picked up (12.1 kCal/kg air)
= larger tower needed
2. Fill media

• Hot water distributed over fill media and

cools down through evaporation
• Fill media impacts electricity use
• Efficiently designed fill media reduces pumping costs
• Fill media influences heat exchange: surface area,
duration of contact, turbulence
Comparing 3 fill media: film fill more efficient
Splash Fill Film Fill Low Clog
Film Fill

Possible L/G Ratio 1.1 – 1.5 1.5 – 2.0 1.4 – 1.8

Effective Heat Exchange 30 – 45 150 m2/m3 85 - 100 m2/m3
Area m2/m3
Fill Height Required 5 – 10 m 1.2 – 1.5 m 1.5 – 1.8 m
Pumping Head 9 – 12 m 5–8m 6–9m
Requirement
Quantity of Air Required High Much Low Low
3. Pumps and water distribution
• Pumps:
• Optimize cooling water treatment
• Increase cycles of concentration (COC) by cooling
water treatment helps reduce make up water
• Indirect electricity savings

• Install drift eliminators

• It is very difficult to ignore drift problems in cooling towers.
Nowadays most of the end user specifications assume a 0.02%
drift loss. The production of PVC, manufacturers have improved
drift eliminator designs. As a result drift losses can now be as low
as 0.003 – 0.001%.
4. Cooling Tower Fans
• Fans must overcome system resistance,
pressure loss: impacts electricity use
• Fan efficiency depends on blade profile
• Replace metallic fans with FBR blades (20-30% savings)
• Use blades with aerodynamic profile (85-92% fan
efficiency)
Applications of Humidification

• Cooling of liquid (Cooling Towers)

• Cooling of gases
• Recovery of vapors from gas mixtures
• Dehumidification in pharmaceutical industries
• Application in drying technology
 Drying
The separation operation of drying converts a solid, semi-solid or liquid feedstock
into a solid product by evaporation of the liquid into a vapor phase via application of
heat

Drying is applied
•Chemical Industries,
•Agricultural,
•Biotechnology,
•Food,
•Ceramics,
•Pharmaceutical,
•Pulp and paper,
•Mineral processing, and
•Wood processing industries.
Drying is more energy-intensive unit operations

•due to the high latent heat of vaporization and

•the inherent inefficiency of using hot air as the (most common) drying medium.
Purposes of drying

Drying is carried out for one or more of the following reasons:

• To avoid or eliminate moisture which may lead to corrosion

• To improve or keep the good properties of a material, e.g.

flowability, compressibility.

• To reduce the cost of transportation of large volume

materials ( liquids)

• To make the material easy or more suitable for handling.

Preservative.
 Basic Terms in Drying
Moisture Content: (Wet basis)
Weight of moisture per unit weight of wet
substance

Moisture Content: (dry basis)

Weight of moisture per unit weight of bone
dry substance
Constant rate drying period:
Rate of drying per unit dry area is constant.
It occurs during surface water evaporation

Falling rate drying period:

Rate of drying per unit dry area is varies with respect to time.
It occurs when evaporation of water present in the pores starts

Critical moisture content

It is the moisture content when the constant rate drying period ends and falling rate
drying period starts.
Equilibrium moisture
•At a given temperature and pressure, the moisture content of the solid is equilibrium with the
gas-vapor mixture. It is the limiting moisture content to which a given material can be dried under
specific temperature of air and humidity.

Bound moisture:
Liquid is physically or chemically bounded in the solid pores and hence it exert a vapor pressure
lower than that of pure liquid at the same temperature.

Unbound moisture:
Moisture in solid which exerts vapor pressure equal to that of pure liquid at the same temperature.

Free moisture content:

Moisture content in excess of the equilibrium moisture content at given air humidity and
temperature
Determination of drying time

Ms Ms  Xc  Xe 
Drying time  (Xi  XC )  ( X c  X e ) ln 
A NC A NC X X 
 f e 

cons tan t rate period falling rate period

Ms  Mass of solids
A  Drying surface
X i  Intial moisture content
XC  Critical moisture content
Xe  Equilibrium moisture content
Xf  Final moisture content
NC  Drying rate
NC  k y  Ys  Y 
 k y is mass transfer coefficient
 Ys is Absolute Humidity at saturation condition
 Y is Absolute Humidity
Crystallization
Crystallization   is the process of formation of solid crystals
precipitating from a solution. Crystallization is also
a chemical solid–liquid separation technique, in
which mass transfer of a solute from the liquid
solution to a pure solid crystalline phase occurs.

Many physical, chemical, mechanical and rheological properties of

solid materials depend on the size and shape of the particle.

examples :

•pigments for paintings (TiO2),

•catalysts,
•pharmaceuticals,
•food products,
•materials for electronics,...
 Solubility (kg of solute/kg of solvant)
Cs(T) generally increases with
temperature

Temperature (°C)

Principle of cooling crystallization is purely

thermal transition from an undersaturation
state (T1) to a supersaturation state (T2)
T

T2 T1