ChE 305

HUMIDIFICATION
LUBNA AHMED

1
Outline
Humidification terminology
Humidity calculation from wet bulb temperature
Temperature-humidity Chart
Determination of humidity
Methods of increasing humidity
Dehumidification
Adiabatic saturation temperature
Temperature Humidity Chart

2
Humidification Terms
:


3
Humidity(H) :
mass of vapor associated with unit mass
of dry gas

Humidity of saturated
gas(Ho)
humidity of the gas when it is saturated
with vapor at a given temperature

Percentage humidity
100 (H/Ho)
Dew Point temperature at which the gas is saturated
with vapor
Humid volume volume occupied by unit mass of dry gas
and its associated vapor
Saturated volume Humid volume of saturated gas
Humidification Terms contd
:


4
Humid heat Heat required to raise unit mass of dry gas and
its associated vapor through temperature
difference at constant pressure
s = C
a
+ H C
w
Where C
a
and C
w
are specific heat capacities
of the gas and the vapor respectively
Percentage
relative humidity
(Partial pressure of vapor in gas/partial
pressure of vapor in saturated gas) 100

=

Humidification Terms contd
The relationship between the partial pressure of the vapor
and humidity of a gas :

Mass of vapor =
Mass of non-condensable gas =

Humidity, H =

Humidity of saturated gas, Ho =






5
Humidification Terms contd
Where,
Pw= partial pressure of vapor in gas
Pwo= partial pressure of vapor in the saturated gas at the same
temperature
Ma = mean molecular weight of the dry gas
Mw = molecular weight of the vapor
P= total pressure
R = gas constant
T= absolute temperature


6
Humidification Terms contd
Example:
In a vessel at 101.3 KN/m
2
and 300 K, the percentage relative
humidity of the water vapor in the air is 25. If the partial pressure
of water vapor when air is saturated with vapor at 300 K is 3.6
KN/m
2
. Calculate:
a)the partial pressure of the water vapor in the vessel
b) the specific volume of the air and water vapor
c) the humidity of the air and humid volume
d) the percentage humidity


7
Humidification Terms contd
Solution: a)the partial pressure of the water vapor in the vessel
% RH =
Or, 25 = 100 Pw/ 3.6
Or, Pw = 0.9 KN/m
2
b) the specific volume of the air and water vapor ( In 1 m
3
of air):
Mass of water vapor =
Mass of air =
Specific volume of water vapor at 0.9KN/m
2
= (1/0.0065) = 154 m
3
/Kg
Specific volume of air at 100.4 KN/m
2
= (1/1.167) =0.857m
3
/Kg


8
Humidification Terms contd
Solution
c) the humidity of the air and humid volume
Humidity = 0.0065/ 1.167 = 0.0055 kg/Kg
Humid volume = volume of 1 Kg air+ associated vapor
= specific volume of air at 100.4 KN/m
2
= 0.857m
3
/Kg
d) the percentage humidity



9
Humidification Terms
Wet bulb temperature (T
wb
)
At equilibrium the rate of heat
transfer from the gas just
balances that required to
vaporize the liquid and the
liquid is said to be at the wet-
bulb temperature



10
Humidity calculation from wet bulb
temperature


1. Mass and energy flux
N
1
= k (c
1i
-c
1
) = k c (y
1i
-y
1
)
q = h (T
i
-T)
Here,
C
1i
=

concentration of water vapor at wet bulbs surface
C
1
= concentration of water vapor in the bulk
Corresponding mole fractions are y
1i
and y
1
Ti= wet bulb temperature
T= bulk dry bulb temperature



11
Humidity calculation from wet bulb
temperature contd


2. The mass and energy fluxes are coupled
N
1

vap
= -q
Or, k c (y
1i
-y
1
)
vap
= h (T
i
-T) (1)
Here,

vap
= heat of vaporization of evaporating water
3. Using Chilton-Colburn analogy


For gases, Lewis Number
Equation (1) gives







12
Humidity calculation from wet bulb
temperature contd

4. Relative humidity


Thus relative humidity
- should be independent of the flow past the thermometers
- should vary linearly with the temperature difference between
the wet bulb and dry bulb temperature







13

Determination of humidity

Chemical Methods(using absorbents)
Determination of wet bulb temperature
Determination of dew point
Measurement in the change in length of a hair or fiber
Measurement of conductivity of a fiber
14
Methods of increasing humidity

Live steam may be added
Water may be sprayed into the gas
The gas may be mixed with a stream of gas of higher humidity
The gas may be brought into contact with water in such a way that
only part of the liquid is evaporated
How to obtain a high rate of humidification
The area of contact between the air and the water is made as large
as possible
- by supplying the water in the form of fine spray
- the interfacial area is increased by using packed column



15
Methods of increasing humidity contd

Two methods of changing the humidity and temperature from A(
1
,
H
1
) to B (
2
, H
2
) can be traced on the humidity chart:
Method 1
Saturating the air by water artificially maintained at the dew point
of the air of humidity H
2
(line AC)
And then heating at constant humidity to 2 (line CB)
16
Methods of increasing humidity contd

Method 2
The air is heated (line AD) so that its adiabatic saturation
temperature corresponds with the dew point of air of humidity H
2

It is then saturated by water at the adiabatic saturation
temperature (line DC) and heated at constant humidity to
2
(line
CB)
17
Methods of increasing humidity contd

Example: Air at 300K and 20% RH is to be heated in two
stages with intermediate saturation with water to 90%RH so
that the final stream is at 320 K and 20%RH. What is the
humidity of the exit stream and the conditions at the end of
each stage?
18
19
Dehumidification
Dehumidification of air can be affected by bringing it into contact
with cold surface, either liquid or solid. ( T )
The humidity can be reduced by compressing air, allowing it to
cool again to its original temperature and draining off the water
that has been condensed. (P )
20
Adiabatic Saturation Temperature
The adiabatic saturation temperature is a thermodynamic
property of moist air that is defined as the temperature that
the air stream would achieve if it were allowed to become
saturated adiabatically.
These conditions are achieved in an infinitely tall thermally
insulated humidification column through which gas of a
given initial temperature and humidity flows counter-
currently to the liquid under conditions where the gas is
completely saturated at the top of the column.
21
Adiabatic Saturation Temperature contd
Temperature and humidity
differences are a maximum
at the bottom and zero at
the top.
Hence the rates of transfer
of heat and mass decrease
progressively from bottom to
the top of tower
22
Adiabatic Saturation Temperature contd
On the basis of unit mass of dry gas:



where, s= humid heat of the gas
= latent heat of vaporization at
s

The equation indicates an approximately linear relationship
between humidity and temperature for all mixtures of gas
and vapor having the same adiabatic saturation
temperature
s

23
Adiabatic Saturation Temperature contd
The air-water system is
unique, so that the adiabatic
saturation temperature is the
same as the wet bulb
temperature.
If unsaturated gas is brought
in contact with water at
s ,
there is no tendency for the
temperature of the water to
change .
In this case, the adiabatic
cooling line represents the
conditions of gases of
constant T
wb
as well as
s

24
Figure: Saturation of air with
water at adiabatic saturation
temperature
Temperature-humidity Chart


25
Properties of air water systems are summarized in psychrometric charts:

Temperature-humidity Chart contd

Following quantities are plotted against temperature:
1. The humidity H for various values of the %RH
2. The specific volume of dry gas. This is linear function of
temperature
3. The saturated volume, this increases more rapidly with
temperature than the specific volume of dry gas
4. The latent heat of vaporization
5. The humid heat is plotted as abscissa
6. Adiabatic cooling lines are included in the diagram and they have
a slope of (s/ )

26


Temperature-humidity Chart contd
27
Temperature-humidity Chart contd
28
Example: Drying and dehumidifying
Two and a half cubic meters of lumber is being dried at
60C dry bulb temperature and 52C wet bulb temperature.
The drying rate of the lumber is 12.5 kg of water per hour. If
outside air is at 27C dry bulb temperature and 80% relative
humidity, how much outside air is needed per minute to
carry away the evaporated moisture
29
Example: Drying and dehumidifying
30
HR
= (92.0 18.0) g/kg dry air
= 74.0 g/kg dry air
wa1 = drying rate/HR
= (12.5 kg/hour)/(0.074 kg/kg
dry air)
= 168.9 kg dry air/hour
VF1=(wa1)(v1)
=(168.9 kg dry air/hour)(0.87
m
3
/kg dry air)
= 147 m
3
/hour
= 2.45 m
3
/minute


Example: Cooling and dehumidifying
Moist air at 50C dry bulb temperature and 32% relative
humidity enters the cooling coil of a dehumidification kiln
heat pump system and is cooled to a temperature of 18C. If
the drying rate of 6 m3 of red oak lumber is 4 kg/hour,
determine the kW of refrigeration required.
31
Example: Cooling and dehumidifying
32
HR
= (25.2 12.9) g water/kg dry air
= 12.3 g water /kg dry air
wa = drying rate/HR
= (4 kg water/hour)/(0.0123 kg
water/kg dry air)
= 325.2 kg dry air/hour