Assignment

Submit by 1st May

Humidification Operations
Q1. Water is to be cooled from 318 K to 303 K in an induced draft counterflow cooling tower
at a rate 6000 kg/m2h. The air is admitted at a rate 5000 kg dry air/ m 2h. The wet-bulb
temperature for the location is 298 K. The estimated mass transfer coefficient k ya is 150
hl a
kmol/m3 h. Determine the height of the packed section given that the ratio =¿ 20 kJ / Kg
ky a
K. The saturation enthalpy of air versus temperature data are as follows:

Temperature, K 283 288 293 298 303 308 313 318 323
Enthalpy, kJ/kg 29.1 41.8 57.2 76.0 99.4 128.7 165.7 212.8 273.6

Q2. The cooling tower in previous problem is supplied with water at a total circulation rate of
6×105 kg/h. Air is admitted at a rate of 5×105 kg dry air/h with a humidity of 0.01 kg/kg dry
air. Assume that the air leaving the tower is saturated with the water vapour. It is desired that
the circulating water should contain hardness not more than 2000 ppm dissolved solids. The
make-up water contains small amount 500 ppm hardness. The windage losses in the tower is
estimated to be 0.2% of the circulation rate. A small amount of water is deliberately
discarded (blow down) to keep the hardness at the tolerance limit. Determine the make-up
water equipment.

Q3. Water is to be cooled in a small packed column from 323 K to 295 K by means of air
flowing counter currently. The rate of flow of liquid is 1.5 kg/m2s and the flow rate of air is
5.4 kg/m2s. The air enters at a temperature of 295K with humidity 60%. The resistance to
transfer is confined to the gas side. Determine the condition of the air leaving at the top of the
column.

The saturation enthalpy of air versus temperature data are as follows:

Temperature, K 283 288 293 298 303 308 313 318 323
Enthalpy, kJ/kg 29.1 41.8 57.2 76.0 99.4 128.7 165.7 212.8 273.6

Q4. Air, 80% saturated with water vapours enters a dehumidifier at 322 K and leaves at a
wet-bulb temperature of 300 K. Water enters the column at 294 K. The air flow rate is 720
m3/m2h measured at standard conditons. The water rate is 1.5 times the minimum rate. The
hl a
ratio of heat transfer coefficient to mass transfer coefficient has found to be 50
ky a Mb
kJ/kgK. The mass transfer coefficient kyaMB = 1260 kg/m3 h. Determine: (Done in class
room)
 (a) Water flow rate
(b) Exit temperature of water
(c) Height of tower

The saturation enthalpy of air versus temperature data are as follows:

Temperature, K 283 288 293 298 303 308 313 318 323
Enthalpy, kJ/kg 29.1 41.8 57.2 76.0 99.4 128.7 165.7 212.8 273.6