NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

MODULE 6
HUMIDIFICATION AND AIR CONDITIONING

LECTURE NO. 7

6.7 Evaporation loss of water in cooling tower:

Blowdown: During the cooling process of hot water in cooling tower, around 2%
water evaporates [1-3]. In the long run, it increases the solid content in the
circulating water. Some dust particles also come from the environment and mix
with circulating water. But the solid content of the cooled water must be kept
under a certain limit to avoid scaling or fouling on the heat exchange equipment.
A part of the circulating water is drained from the bottom of the cooling tower to
discard the deposited solids from the cooling tower. This is called blowdown. The
losses due to blowdown, evaporation, drift and leakage are compensated by
adding make-up water.

Water balance in cooling tower

M=B+D+E (6.38)
where, M is make-up water rate; B is blowdown rate; D is drift leakage loss rate;
E is evaporation loss.
Solid balance
M×C1=(B+D) ×C2+E×0 (6.39)
E  D  (r  1)
B (6.40)
(r  1)
where, r=C2/C1; C1 is dissolved solid concentration in the make-up water; C2 is
dissolved solid concentration in the circulating water.

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NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

Evaporation loss is estimated by a thumb rule as:

E=water flow rate (L)×range(ºF)×0.00085 gallon/min

The other design characteristics are pump horsepower, fan horsepower, source
of make-up water and drift eliminators.

Nomenclature
a contact area/tower volume, m2/m3 L Water flow rate, kg/m2s
cwL Heat capacity of liquid (water), kJ/kg.K V active cooling volume/plan
area, m3/m2
Gs Air rate, kg dry air/m2s Y/ Humidity, kg moisture/kg
dry air
hG Heat transfer coefficient of air film, Yw/ Saturation humidity,
kJ/m2.s.K kg moisture/kg dry air
hL Heat transfer coefficient of liquid z Cooling tower height, m
(water), kJ/m2.s.K
kG Mass transfer co-efficient of moisture λw Latent heat of vaporization
transport, kg/m2.s (pA) of water, kJ/kg
KY/ Overall mass transfer co-efficient, H Humid volume, m3/kg dry
air
kg/m3.s

References
1. Treybal, R. E., “ Mass-Transfer Operations”, 3rd Eddition, McGraw-Hill,
1981
2. Geankoplis, C.J., “Transport Processes and Separation Process
Principles”. 4th Edition, Prentice-Hall of India, New Delhi, 2005.
3. Dutta, B.K., “Principles of Mass transfer and Separation Processes”.
Prentice-Hall of India, New Delhi, 2007.

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NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

HUMIDIFICATION PROBLEM

Example Problem 6.1: A cooling tower is to be designed to cool water from

450C to 300C by countercurrent contact with air of dry bulb temperature 30 0C and
wet bulb temperature of 250C. The water rate is 5500 kg/m2.h and the air rate is
1.25 times the minimum. Determine the tower height if the individual gas-phase
mass transfer coefficient (kY/ā) is 5743.5 kg/m3h (ΔY/). The volumetric water side
heat transfer coefficient is given by hLā=0.059L0.51Gs, in Kcal/m3hK, where L and
Gs are mass flow rates of water and air (dry basis).
Antoine Equation: ln PAV (bar)=11.96481-3984.923/(T-39.724).

Solution 6.1:
TG1=30ºC
Tw=Tas=25ºC
Y1/  0.019 [From psychrometric chart]

H1/  (1.005  1.88  0.019)  30  2500  0.019kJ/kg

=78.7 kJ/kg
TL1=30ºC
Locate point Q(TL1, H 1/ ) (Lower terminal of operating line) at Q(30, 78.7) on TL-H/
plane.

Generation of Equilibrium curve

(i) Calculate pv from Antoine Equation: ln PAV (bar)=11.96481-3984.923/(T-
39.724).
pv 18.02
(ii) Y/  
( P  p ) 28.97
v

(iii)  
H /  (1.005  1.88  Y / )  (TG  T0 )  2500  Y / ; Here, reference temperature,

T0 is 0ºC.

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NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

lnPv
T (Antoine pv Y' H'
(ºC) Equation) (bar) (kg moist/kg dry air) kJ/kg dry air
21 -3.694517 0.024859 0.0156487 60.84463
23 -3.572406 0.028088 0.0177391 68.22991
25 -3.452184 0.031676 0.0200784 76.26473
27 -3.333809 0.035657 0.0226937 85.02109
29 -3.217237 0.040066 0.025615 94.57904
31 -3.102429 0.04494 0.028876 105.0278
33 -2.989343 0.05032 0.0325139 116.4669
35 -2.877943 0.05625 0.0365707 129.0081
37 -2.76819 0.062776 0.0410932 142.7765
39 -2.660049 0.069945 0.0461344 157.9135
41 -2.553483 0.07781 0.0517539 174.5789
43 -2.448459 0.086427 0.0580195 192.9541
45 -2.344944 0.095853 0.0650086 213.2463
47 -2.242905 0.10615 0.0728098 235.6928

Draw a tangent to the equilibrium line through Q. Slope of the tangent is 8.78.
L  cWL
Gs ,min 
slope
5500  4.187

8.78
=2623 kg/h.m2
Actual air rate =Gs,min×1.25
=2623×1.25 kg/h.m2
=
3279 kg/h.m2
Slope of the operating line
5500  4.187
Slope   7.02
3279
L cWL (TL 2  TL1 )  Gs( H 2/  H 2/ )

5500  4.187(45  30)  3279( H 2/  78.7)

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NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

H 2/  184 kJ/kg

Now, locate point P (TL2, H 2/ ) (Upper terminal of the operating line) at P (45, 184)
on TL-H/ plane.

We have,
hLā=0.059L0.51Gs
=0.059(5500)0.51(3279) kcal/m3h.K
=15637.9 kcal/m3hK=15637.9 ×4.187 kJ/m3h.K
=65,475.9 kJ/m3hK
hL a 65475.9
Slope of tie line=  /
  11.4
kY a 5743.5

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NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

Equilibrium line
250 Operating line
240
230
220
210
200
190
180
170 '
P(TL2,H2)
H (KJ/kg)

160
150
140
130
'

120
110
100
90
80
70 '
60
Q (TL1,H1)
Approach Range
50
22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tas TL1 TL2
0
TG, TL ( C)

A set of tie lines of this slope is drawn from several points on the operating line.
These tie lines meet the equilibrium line at (TLi, H i/ ). Hence, the points (H/, H i/ )

1
are obtained. The values of are plotted against TL and the integral
(H  H / )
i
/

TL 0
dTL
N tG   (H
TLi i
/
 H/)
is evaluated graphically.

TL 30 32.5 35 37.5 40 42.5 45

H/ 78.7 96.4 112.8 130.3 148.8 165.3 184
TLi 28.7 31.4 33.9 36.6 39 41.4 43.7
H i/ 93.0 107.5 123.2 139.9 158.4 177 198.8

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NPTEL – Chemical – Mass Transfer Operation 1

1
(H  H / )
/ 0.070 0.090 0.096 0.104 0.104 0.085 0.068
i

0.10

0.08

1
( H i/  H / ) 0.06

0.04

0.02

0.00
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45
0
TL ( C)

NtG=Area under the curve= (184-78.7)×0.088=9.27

Gs
H tG  =(3279/5743.5)m=0.56 m
kY/ a
Tower height= 9.27×0.56 m=5.19 m (Ans.)

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