High pressure humidification columns: Design equations, algorithm, and computer code
- Pittsburgh Univ., PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
- USDOE Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, PA (United States)
- Burns and Roe Services Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
This report describes the detailed development of a computer model to simulate the humidification of an air stream in contact with a water stream in a countercurrent, packed tower, humidification column. The computer model has been developed as a user model for the Advanced System for Process Engineering (ASPEN) simulator. This was done to utilize the powerful ASPEN flash algorithms as well as to provide ease of use when using ASPEN to model systems containing humidification columns. The model can easily be modified for stand-alone use by incorporating any standard algorithm for performing flash calculations. The model was primarily developed to analyze Humid Air Turbine (HAT) power cycles; however, it can be used for any application that involves a humidifier or saturator. The solution is based on a multiple stage model of a packed column which incorporates mass and energy, balances, mass transfer and heat transfer rate expressions, the Lewis relation and a thermodynamic equilibrium model for the air-water system. The inlet air properties, inlet water properties and a measure of the mass transfer and heat transfer which occur in the column are the only required input parameters to the model. Several example problems are provided to illustrate the algorithm`s ability to generate the temperature of the water, flow rate of the water, temperature of the air, flow rate of the air and humidity of the air as a function of height in the column. The algorithm can be used to model any high-pressure air humidification column operating at pressures up to 50 atm. This discussion includes descriptions of various humidification processes, detailed derivations of the relevant expressions, and methods of incorporating these equations into a computer model for a humidification column.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC), PA (United States); Pittsburgh Univ., PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering; Burns and Roe Services Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 10163070
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/PETC/TR-94-05; ON: DE94014756; NC: NONE
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jul 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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