DEWLINATION

ELSEVIER Desalination 1.58(2003) 3 13-3 19

www.elsevier.com/locate/desal

Air humidification for seawater desalination

S. Yanniotis”, K. Xerodemas
Agriculttrral University of Athens, Dept. of Food Science and Technology, Iera Odos 75, Athens 118 5.5, Greece
Tel. -30 (2/O) 529 4703; Fax + 30 (210) 529 4703; email: yannioti@aua.gr

Received 10 February 2003; accepted 14 February 2003

Abstract

This paper presents the study of two types of air humidifiers, namely a tubular spray humidifier and a pad
humidifier. These two humidifiers were studied as a part for a multiple stage solar desalination process. Comparative
experimental results for the evaporation capacity of both humidifiers are presented for different operating conditions
of air and seawater flow rate, air and seawater temperature and dimensions of equipment. Some results of a CFD
simulation of the pad humidifier are also presented.

Keywords: Humidification; Humidifier; Desalination

1. Introduction Different gas-liquid contact equipment could be

used in such a system to humidify the air.
In the new multiple stage solar desalination
Spray towers and spray chambers are equip-
process [I], air is heated in each stage by solar energy
ments that are usually being used in humidifying
and then is humidified by coming in contact with
operations because they have a relatively low cost
seawater. Drinking water is produced at the end
and high effkiency. In these equipments the liquid
of the process, when the loaded with water vapor
is sprayed into the gas stream usually by means
air is dehumidified in a condenser.
of a nozzle, which disperses the liquid into a fine
The humidifiers are an important part of the
spray of drops. The flow may be counter-current
process since, together with the solar collectors;
or co-current. Spray chambers have low gas
they are the main items that determine the
pressure drop, but high liquid pressure drop in
efficiency and the cost of the whole system.
the spray nozzles if a pressure nozzle is used. They

*Corresponding author.
Presented at the European Conference on Desalination and the Environment: Fresh Water for All, Malta, 4-8 May 2003.
Ellr-opearl Desalination Society; international Water Association.

OOl l-9164/03/$- See front matter 0 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
PILSOOll-9164(03)00469-7
314 S. lhnniotis. K. .X'erodemas Desalination 158 (20031 313.-319

require high-pressure air if a two-fluid nozzle is (Pt 100) temperature sensors previously calibrated
used. They have high efficiency if more than one to 0. I “C accuracy. The flow rate of air is calculated
bank of sprays is used in series. by measuring the mean air velocity with a turbine
Pad humidifiers make up the wetted surface anemometer. The flow rate of the feed seawater
in evaporative coolers, which are used for comfort to the humidifier and the flow rate of the cooling
air conditioning in buildings, greenhouses, poultry water to the condenser are measured with rota-
and livestock houses, painting rooms etc. The pad meters.
in evaporative coolers is made of sheets of rigid, The experimental unit was operated either with
corrugated material, which is saturated with water the pad humidifier attached (Fig. 1) or with the
supplied by a pump. Materials in the construction spray humidifier attached (Fig. 2).
ofthe pad include cellulose, fiberglass and coated
non-ferrous metals that have been treated with
antirot, rigid@ing resins and other chemicals to
give high absorbency. It forms a self-supporting
structure. The medium is cross-corrugated to
maximize mixing of air and water. Because the
water circulation rate and its head are low, pum-
ping power is low when compared to spray chambers
with equivalent evaporative effectiveness.
The objective of this work was to study the _/
possibility of using the spray humidifier and the 6

pad humidifier for air humidification in seawater

desalination plants. Fig. 1. Diagram of the experimental set-up with the pad
humidifier. 1, condenser; 2, fan motor; 3, centrifugal fan;
4, air heating element; 5, pad humidifier; 6, air recirculation
2. Experimental work duct.

2. I. Experimental set-up
The main parts of the experimental unit are
the air heating element (a tinned-tube heat exchanger
with hot water at temperatures of 90-100°C as
heating medium), the humidifier and the con-
denser (a finned-tube heat exchanger). A centri-
fugal fan with variable rotational speed is used to
circulate the air through the system.
The condensate produced in the condenser is
collected at the bottom of the heat exchanger in a
liquid collector where it flows out and continuous-
ly weighed in a balance. Cold tap water is used as
the cooling medium in the heat exchanger. The
flow rate of the cooling water is adjusted so that
the dew-point temperature of the air at the exit of Fig. 2. Diagram of the experimental set-up with the tubular
the condenser is constant at 40°C. spray humidifier. I, condenser; 2, fan motor; 3, centrifugal
The temperature of water and air is measured fan; 4, air heating element; 5, spray humidifier; 6, air
at various points in the system with resistance recirculation duct.
 S. Yanniotis, K. Xerodemas
2.2. The pad humidiJier unit
The pad humidifier unit contains three cassettes
in series (Fig. 3), made of corrugated cellulosic
material, which forms the wetted surface. The
cross-sectional area of the pad is 0.45 mx0.55 m,
while the thickness of each pad is 0.10 m. At the
top, there is a liquid distributor, which can feed
each cassette independently with seawater, while
at the bottom there is a liquid collector, where
the seawater is collected as it drains down the
cassette. Thus, the seawater flows downward,
while the air passes in a cross-flow direction through
the openings ofthe cassette. The air is humidified
as it comes in contact with the wetted surface of
the pad.
2.3. The spray humidiJier unit
The spray humidifier consists of a tube 0.30 m
in diameter and 4 m in length made of polypropy-
lene. The tube has a U shape. On the outside, the
humidifier is insulated with a layer of glasswool
covered with a polypropylene sheet. Four nozzles
Fig. 3. Cross-section of the pad humidifier.
I’ Desalination 1.58 (2003) 313-319 315
made of polypropylene are placed in one leg of
the U tube with rated flow rate of 1.5 l/min/nozzle
at 3 bar water pressure.
The variables that were tested with the system
operating at steady state were: air flow rate; feed
seawater flow rate (in the humidifier); feed sea-
water temperature at the inlet of the humidifier;
air temperature at the inlet of the humidifier; and
dew-point temperature of the air at the outlet of
the condenser. In some experiments, the feed
water to the humidifier was seawater, while in
others, was tap water.
Since the system was operated as a closed loop
at steady state, the evaporation rate in the
humidifier was equal to the amount of water that
was condensed in the condenser. As a result the
evaporation rate in the humidifier was determined
by the amount of water that was collected in the
condenser.
3. Experimental results and discussion
The effect of the feed water temperature and
the air inlet temperature in the spray humidifier
on the evaporation rate is shown in Fig. 4 for con-
stant water flow rate, air flow rate and air humidity
at the inlet of the humidifier. The results in Fig. 4
were obtained with tap water being sprayed in
the spray humidifier. When sea water instead of
tap water was sprayed in the humidifier, the
evaporation rate was slightly lower (Fig. 5). This
is due to the lower water vapor pressure of the
seawater, which results in lower mass transfer
driving force for water evaporation.
The spray humidifier was also operated in
counter-current mode to test if there was any
improvement in the efficiency. In this case, the
first nozzle was spraying in the co-current mode,
since it was near the inlet of the tube, while the
next three nozzles were reversed in order to spray
the water counter-current to the airflow. As shown
in Fig. 6, there was a small increase in the
evaporation rate in the case of the counter-current
flow as compared to the co-current flow. This
316 S. Yanniotis, K. Xerodemas ,’Desalination 158 (2003) 313-319

Inlet air temperature

t 80°C t 70°C - 50°C
300
I, 28 I

40 45 50 55 60 0
Inlet water temperature (“C) 0 500 1000 1500

Air flow rate, kg/h

Fig. 4. Evaporation rate in the spray humidifier vs. inlet
water temperature to the humidifier for three differentvalues Fig. 6. Evaporation rate in the spray humidifier with co-
of air temperature at the inlet of the humidifier. Inlet water current and counter-current flow of air and spray (air inlet
flow rate 360 kg/h; inlet air flow rate 1100 kg/h; inlet air temperature 8O”C, inlet seawater temperatures 6O’C).
dew-point temperature 40°C.
liquid flow rate ratios, while the opposite was
500 I )
observed at the higher end of the range. When
Sea wafer -=-Tap wafer
-
the pad thickness increased to 300 mm, the
evaporation rate in the pad humidifier was about
the same as in the spray humidifier at an air to
liquid flow rate ratio around 1. At higher air to
liquid flow rate ratios, the evaporation rate in the
pad humidifier was substantially higher than in
the spray humidifier (Fig. 7).
0

200 400 600 x00 1000 1200 1400 1600 IX00

Air flow rate (kg/h)

Fig. 5. Evaporation rate in the spray humidifier vs. airflow

rate when the humidifier was fed with seawater and with
tap water. Total water flow rate 360kgih; inlet air
temperature SO’C; inlet air dew-point temperature 40°C;
inlet water temperature 6O’C.

increase is due to the higher initial relative velo-

city between the water droplet and the air, which
will result in higher heat and mass transfer coefi-
cients.
The evaporation rate in the spray humidifier Air flow rate (kg/h)
was approximately the same as in the pad
Fig. 7. Evaporation rate in the pad humidifier and the spray
humidifier with the 100 mm pad thickness for air humidifier vs. airflow rate for the same water and air inlet
to liquid flow rate ratios from 0.8 up to about 5.6, conditions. Pad humidifier thickness 300 mm; total seawater
with the spray humidifier giving slightly higher flow rate 360 kg/h; inlet air temperature SOOC;inlet air dew-
evaporation rates at the lower end of the air to point temperature 40°C; inlet seawater temperature 60°C.
 S. Yanniotis, K. Xerodemas / Desalination 158 (2003) 313-319 317

The conductivity of the condensate was very
low in the case of the pad humidifier (around 1S-
20 pS/cm). When seawater was used in the pad,
the conductivity of the condensate was approxi-
mately the same as in the case where tap water
instead of seawater was used in the pad (Fig. 8).
Obviously, in this case seawater droplets were not
carried over from the humidifier to the condenser
for all air speeds used (up to 2 m/s in the pad).
With the spray humidifier however the conduc-
tivity of the condensate was much higher (200-
500 pS/cm). This means that the air carries some
seawater droplets from the spray humidifier to
the condenser. The counter-current flow of air and
seawater or the use of two baffles in the tube did
not essentially reduce the condensate conductivity.
When however a dry piece of pad with 100 mm
thickness was inserted near the outlet of the tube,
it separated the droplets from the air stream and
the condensate had essentially the same conductivity
as in the case of the pad humidifier.
The value of the conductivity of the condensate
is not in fact very high, since tap water has usually
around 300-600 pS/cm, but it shows that some
seawater droplets are carried over to the condenser.
If this happens in a solar desalination plant, the
seawater droplets will reach the solar collectors
and the other parts of the plant and may cause
corrosion. Therefore, if a spray humidifier has to
be used, it should be combined with a demister. A
demister however will give an additional pressure
drop in the air stream as shown in Fig. 9, where
the air pressure drop across the humidifier is
plotted vs. air flow rate for the different arrange-
ments used. The co-current spray humidifier and
the humidifier with the 300 mm pad thickness
gives approximately the same air pressure drop.
The pressure drop is higher in the counter current
spray humidifier, while the spray humidifier with
a pad as demister has the highest pressure drop
(the air speed in the demister in this case was up
to 7 m/s).

600

* tapwaterlpad
‘g-
iz . . *_ - seawater/pad
z 400
.s?
.;
i! A seawater/co-curent spray
-5 a
, with pad demister
5 0
8 -0 seawater/co-curent spray
: 200
%
E _ _ ? _? _ seawater/counter-curent
c, 1
:
spray
: I
0
0 500 1000 I500 2000

Air flow rate (kg/h)

Fig. 8. Electrical conductivity of condensate for different configurations and operating conditions for the pad and the spray
humidifier.
318 S. Xmniotis, K. Xerodemas / Desalination I58 (2003) 313-319

-- o_ -
pad
+m co-curent spray

--) - counter-curent spray

pm+-- co-curent spray with

pad demister

Fig. 9. Air pressure drop across the

0 500 1000 1500 2000
humidifier for the different humidifier
Air flow rate (kg/h) configurations.

4. CFD simulation 1.Zle-0’

1 07*4
The operation of the pad humidifier was simu- *.243-0:
/-
7.eoe0:
lated with FLUENT 6 CFD software. As the 6 37e-a:
4.93+0:
geometry of the pad is not arbitrary but repeating, 3.ws-0: j
./
,/’
,‘
’
‘

*.oGv-oi ,”
the flow inside a “unit cell”, the repeating geometric 6.30~0: /’
“i.
structure, was solved for a wide range of air -804e4 ~

velocity magnitudes and for all three directions,

so that a library of the hydrodynamic losses was
established (Fig. IO). After the porous medium -9414-t
-,.@a&,
hydrodynamic (pressure loss) coefficients have
been estimated, the governing equations of the
momentum, heat and mass exchange between the
two phases, main phase and secondary phase, for
the whole pad humidifier were solved in FLUENT Fig. 10. Contours of static pressure.
6 with the Dispersed Phase Model (DPM). Since
the humidification process is actually a multiphase the experimental results in the pad humidifier with
flow, with phase change and simultaneous mass the DPM. In Fig. 11, a sample simulation is pre-
and heat transfer between the phases, DPM offers sented which shows that the evaporation intensity
a robust, practical and efficient way to model the is high at the top of the pad and decreases at the
process. In the present work, the secondary phase bottom, obviously due to the cooling of water.
is the liquid water that flows under the action of
gravity through the pad, while the main phase is
5. Conclusions
the gas mixture of dry air and water vapor. The
droplet diameter ofthe DPM was used as the basic The evaporation rate of the spray humidifier
calibration parameter in the process of approaching was approximately the same as that of the 100 mm
 S. Yanniotis, K. Xerodemas / Desalination 158 (2003) 313-319 319

Water droplets were carried to the condenser with

the spray humidifier, while there was no such a
problem with the pad humidifier. The air pressure
drop of the pad humidifier was comparable to that
of the co-current spray humidifier without any
demister.

Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Commission
of EU (INCO Project IC18-CT98-0265). The CFD
simulation runs were executed by SimTec.

thickness pad humidifier. However the pad humi-

difier with the 300 mm pad thickness, gave sub- Reference
stantially higher evaporation rates than the spray [I] E. Chafik, New type of seawater desalination plants
humidifier at high air to water flow rate ratios. using solar energy. Desalination, 156 (2003) 333-348.