ASSIGNMENT

Subject SHMT

Submitted to Umair Furqan

Submitted by 2016-CH-418
 Humidifcation:
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.

Basic Terms in Humidification:

Dry Bulb Temperature - Temperature of air at unsaturated condition
Wet bulb Temperature - Temperature of air at saturated condition

Explanation:
Cooling and humidification process is one of the most commonly used air
conditioning application for the cooling purposes. In this process the moisture is
added to the air by passing it over the stream or spray of water which is at
temperature lower than the dry bulb temperature of the air. When the ordinary air
passes over the stream of water, the particles of water present within the stream
tend to get evaporated by giving up the heat to the stream. The evaporated water
is absorbed by the air so its moisture content, thus the humidity increases. At the
same time, since the temperature of the absorbed moisture is less than the DB bulb
temperature of the air, there is reduction in the overall temperature of the air.
Since the heat is released in the stream or spray of water, its temperature
increases.

Example:
One of the most popular applications of cooling and humidification is the
evaporative cooler, also called as the desert cooler. The evaporative cooler is the
sort of big box inside which is a small water tank, small water pump and the fan.
The water from the tank is circulated by the pump and is also sprayed inside the
box. The fan blows strong currents of air over the water sprays, thus cooling the air
and humidifying it simultaneously. The evaporative cooler is highly effective cooling
devise having very low initial and running cost compared to the unitary air
conditioners. For cooling purposes, the cooling and humidification process can be
used only in dry and hot climates like desert areas, countries like India, China, Africa
etc. This cooling process cannot be used in hot and high humidity climates.

The cooling and humidification process is also used in various industries like textile,
where certain level of temperature and moisture content has to be maintained. In
such cases large quantity of water is sprayed, and large blowers are used to blow
the air over the spray of water.

Drying:

Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or

another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is
often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be
considered "dried", the final product must be solid, in the form of a continuous
sheet (e.g., paper), long pieces (e.g., wood), particles (e.g., cereal grains or corn
flakes) or powder (e.g., sand, salt, washing powder, milk powder). A source
of heat and an agent to remove the vapor produced by the process are often
involved. In bioproducts like food, grains, and pharmaceuticals like vaccines, the
solvent to be removed is almost invariably water. Desiccation may
be synonymous with drying or considered an extreme form of drying.

Mechanism:

In some products having a relatively high initial moisture content, an initial linear
reduction of the average product moisture content as a function of time may be
observed for a limited time, often known as a "constant drying rate period".
Usually, in this period, it is surface moisture outside individual particles that is being
removed. The drying rate during this period is mostly dependent on the rate of heat
transfer to the material being dried. Therefore, the maximum achievable drying
rate is considered to be heat-transfer limited. If drying is continued, the slope of
the curve, the drying rate, becomes less steep (falling rate period) and eventually
tends to become nearly horizontal at very long times. The product moisture
content is then constant at the "equilibrium moisture content", where it is, in
practice, in equilibrium with the dehydrating medium. In the falling-rate period,
water migration from the product interior to the surface is mostly by molecular
diffusion, i,e. the water flux is proportional to the moisture content gradient. This
means that water moves from zones with higher moisture content to zones with
lower values, a phenomenon explained by the second law of thermodynamics. If
water removal is considerable, the products usually undergo shrinkage and
deformation, except in a well-designed freeze-drying process. The drying rate in
the falling-rate period is controlled by the rate of removal of moisture or solvent
from the interior of the solid being dried and is referred to as being "mass-transfer
limited".
Types of Cooling Tower

1. Mechanical draft cooling tower

2. Atmospheric cooling tower
3. Hybrid draft cooling tower
4. Air flow-characterised cooling tower
5. Construction-characterised cooling tower
6. Shape characterized cooling tower
7. Cooling tower based on method of heat transfer

How it works: