2015 Sem 1 CN3132

Separation Processes (II)

Lecture 10:
Definitions in Humidification
Treybal: Chapter 7

Dr. ZHAO Dan

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
4 Engineering Drive 4, Blk E5, #02-16
Tel: (65) 6516 4679
chezhao@nus.edu.sg

Review: Concept

Packed Column Internals

Packing Materials
Specific Pressure Drop & Specific Liquid Holdup
Flooding and Pressure Drop Correlation
Calculation of Packed Column Diameter

Review: Equation
L' G 0.5
abscissa ' ( )
G L

G '2 F 0.2
ordinate
G L g c

Flooding curve: log10 Y 1.6678 1.085log X 0.29655(log X )2

L'

p (10 )(

G '2

lbmol
lb
(V
)(M.W. vapor
)
s
lbmol
Area Ac
' lb
G
s ft 2

Diameter d

4 Ac

Learning Outcomes of Lecture 10

Describe the mass transfer in evaporation and humidification
Understand the basic working mechanism of cooling tower
and evaporative cooler
Explain the common definitions in humidification
Apply those definitions in calculations

Evaporation & Humidification

Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs

from the surface of a liquid into a gaseous phase that is not
saturated with the evaporating substance.
The enthalpy of vaporization is the energy required to
transform a given quantity of a substance from a liquid into a
gas at a given pressure (often atmospheric pressure).
Humidification refers to the process of raising the water
vapor content of a gas.
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Case Study (1): Nuclear Cooling Tower

Beginning with the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the gigantic,
hyperboloid cooling tower became the primary visual symbol used by the
news media when covering nuclear power plants.
As a result, two understandable misconceptions were generated. First,
that cooling towers are a nuclear device. Second, the power plants
reactor is located inside the cooling tower.
There is yet another misconception common to cooling towers attached
to nuclear power plants; that the cloud pouring out of the tower is
radioactive.
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How does a cooling tower work?

A cooling tower intimately contacts a flow of warm water with a flow of

ambient air which is not saturated with water vapor.
That causes part of the warm water to evaporate and the air absorbs that
evaporated water.
The heat required to evaporate part of the water is derived from the
water itself and thus causes the water to cool.
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Case Study (2): Evaporative Cooler

An evaporative cooler (also swamp cooler, desert cooler and wet air
cooler) is a device that cools air through the evaporation of water.
The temperature of dry air can be dropped significantly through the phase
transition of liquid water to water vapor (evaporation), which can cool air
using much less energy than refrigeration.
In extremely dry climates, evaporative cooling of air has the added benefit
of conditioning the air with more moisture for the comfort of building
occupants.
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Definitions (1)
Absolute Humidity
The ratio (mass of vapor)/(mass of gas) is the absolute humidity Y.
If the quantities are expressed in moles, the ratio is the molal absolute
humidity Y.
Under conditions where the ideal-gas law applies,

y A pA
pA moles A

yB pB pt p A moles B

Y 'Y

M A pA M A
pA M A mass A

M B pB M B pt pA M B mass B

For air-water system at pressure of 1.0133105 Pa,

Y'

0.622 pH 2O
1.0133 105 pH 2O

kg H 2O
kg air

Ys '

0.622 PH 2O
1.0133 105 PH 2O

kg H 2O
kg air

Dry-bulb Temperature
This is the temperature of a vapor-gas mixture as ordinarily determined by
immersion of a thermometer in the mixture.

Percentage Saturation (Percentage Absolute Humidity)

Defined as 100Y/Ys and 100Y/Ys, where the saturated values Ys and Ys are
computed at the dry-bulb temperature of the mixture.
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Definitions (2)
Relative Saturation (Relative Humidity)
A percentage defined as 100pA/PA, where PA is the vapor pressure at
the dry-bulb temperature of the mixture.
Normally, relative saturation (100pA/PA) percentage saturation
(100Y/Ys).
pA
Y ' pt p A

PA
Ys '
pt PA

MA
M B p A pt PA

,
MA
PA pt p A
MB

PA p A ,

pt PA
Y ' pA
1,

pt p A
Ys ' PA

Humid Volume
The volume of unit mass (1 kg) of dry gas and its accompanying vapor
at the prevailing temperature and pressure.
1
1
tG 273 1.013 105
Y'
Y ' tG 273
H

8315

22.41

M
M
273
p
M
B
A
t
B M A pt

For air-water system at pressure of 1.0133105 Pa,

H (0.00283 0.00456Y ')(tG 273)

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Definitions (3)
Humid Heat
The heat required to raise the temperature of unit mass of gas and its
accompanying vapor one degree at constant pressure.
For a mixture of absolute humidity Y,
CS CB Y ' CA

For air-water system at pressure of 1.0133105 Pa,

CS 1005 1884Y ' J for mixture/(kg air) C

Enthalpy
The sum of the relative enthalpies of the gas and of the vapor content.
H ' CB (tG t0 ) Y '[CA (tG t0 ) 0 ] CS (tG t0 ) Y ' 0
For air-water system at pressure of 1.0133105 Pa and t0 = 0 C,
H ' (1005 1884Y ')tG 2502300Y ' J for mixture/kg air

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Summary
Treybal 3rd p. 234

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Example Question (1)

In a mixture of benzene vapor (A) and nitrogen gas (B) at a

total pressure of 800 mmHg and a temperature of 60 C, the
partial pressure of benzene is 100 mmHg. Express the
benzene concentration in mole fraction, volume fraction, and
absolute humidity.

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Example Question (2)

A gas (B)-benzene (A) mixture is saturated at 1 std atm, 50

C. The equilibrium vapor pressure of benzene is 275 mmHg
at 50 C. Calculate the absolute humidity if B is (a) nitrogen
and (b) carbon dioxide.

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