What is Humidification Process?

The process in which the moisture or water vapor or humidity is added to the air without
changing its dry bulb (DB) temperature is called as humidification process. This process
is represented by a straight vertical line on the psychrometric chart starting from the
initial value of relative humidity, extending upwards and ending at the final value of the
relative humidity. In actual practice the pure humidification process is not possible, since
the humidification is always accompanied by cooling or heating of the air. Humidification
process along with cooling or heating is used in number of air conditioning applications.
Let us see how these processes are obtained and how they are represented on the
psychrometric chart.

This article describes psychrometric processes like humidification, cooling and

Cooling and Humidification Process

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.

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.
During the cooling and humidification process the dry bulb of the air reduces, its wet
bulb and the dew point temperature increases, while its moisture content and thus the
relative humidity also increases. Also, the sensible heat of the air reduces, while the
latent heat of the air increases resulting in the overall increase in the enthalpy of the air.

Cooling and humidification process is represented by an angular line on the

Heating and Humidification Process

In heating and humidification psychrometric process of the air, the dry bulb temperature
as well as the humidity of the air increases. The heating and humidification process is
carried out by passing the air over spray of water, which is maintained at temperature
higher than the dry bulb temperature of air or by mixing air and the steam.

When the ordinary air is passed over the spray of water maintained at temperature
higher than the dry bulb temperature of the air, the moisture particles from the spray
tend to get evaporated and get absorbed in the air due to which the moisture content of
the air increase. At the same time, since the temperature of the moisture is greater than
the dry bulb temperature of the air, there is overall increase in its temperature.

During heating and humidification process the dry bulb, wet bulb, and dew point
temperature of the air increases along with its relative humidity. The heating and
humidification process is represented on the psychrometric chart by an angular line that
starts from the given value of the dry bulb temperature and extends upwards towards
right (see the figure below).

What is Dehumidification?

The process in which the moisture or water vapor or the humidity is removed from the
air keeping its dry bulb (DB) temperature constant is called as the dehumidification
process. This process is represented by a straight vertical line on the psychrometric
chart starting from the initial value of relative humidity, extending downwards and
ending at the final value of the relative humidity. Like the pure humidification process, in
actual practice the pure dehumidification process is not possible, since the
dehumidification is always accompanied by cooling or heating of the air.
Dehumidification process along with cooling or heating is used in number of air
conditioning applications. Let us see how these processes are obtained and how they
are represented on the psychrometric chart.
This article describes psychrometric processes like dehumidification, cooling and
dehumidification, and heating and dehumidification. The article describes how these
processes are achieved and how they are represented on the psychrometric chart.

Cooling and Dehumidification Process

The process in which the air is cooled sensibly and at the same time the moisture is
removed from it is called as cooling and dehumidification process. Cooling and
dehumidification process is obtained when the air at the given dry bulb and dew point
(DP) temperature is cooled below the dew point temperature.

Let us understand the cooling and dehumidification process in more details. When the
air comes in contact with the cooling coil that is maintained at the temperature below its
dew point temperature, its DB temperature starts reducing. The process of cooling
continues and at some point it reaches the value of dew point temperature of the air. At
this point the water vapor within the air starts getting converted into the dew particles
due to which the dew is formed on the surface of the cooling and the moisture content
of the air reduces thereby reducing its humidity level. Thus when the air is cooled below
its dew point temperature, there is cooling as well as dehumidification of air.

The cooling and dehumidification process is most widely used air conditioning
application. It is used in all types of window, split, packaged and central air conditioning
systems for producing the comfort conditions inside the space to be cooled. In the
window and split air conditioners the evaporator coil or cooling coil is maintained at
temperature lower than the dew point temperature of the room air or the atmospheric air
by the cool refrigerant passing through it. When the room air passes over this coil its DB
temperature reduces and at the same time moisture is also removed since the air is
cooled below its DP temperature. The dew formed on the cooling coil is removed out by
small tubing. In the central air conditioning systems the cooling coil is cooled by the
refrigerant or the chilled water. When the room air passes over this coil, it gets cooled
and dehumidified.

In the general the cooling and dehumidification process is obtained by passing the air
over coil through which the cool refrigerant, chilled water or cooled gas is passed.

During the cooling and dehumidification process the dry bulb, wet bulb and the dew
point temperature of air reduces. Similarly, the sensible heat and the latent heat of the
air also reduce leading to overall reduction in the enthalpy of the air. The cooling and
dehumidification process is represented by a straight angular line on the psychrometric
chart. The line starts from the given value of the DB temperature and extends
downwards towards left.
Heating and Dehumidification Process

The process in which the air is heated and at the same time moisture is removed from it
is called as heating and dehumidification process. This process is obtained by passing
the air over certain chemicals like alumina and molecular sieves. These elements have
inherent properties due to which they keep on releasing the heat and also have the
tendency to absorb the moisture. These are called as the hygroscopic chemicals.

In actual practice the hygroscopic elements are enclosed in the large vessel and the
high pressure air is passed inside the vessel through one opening. When the air comes
in contact with the chemicals the moisture from the air is absorbed and since the
chemicals emit heat, the DB temperature of the air increases. The hot and dehumidified
air comes out from the vessel through other opening in the vessel. The inlet and outlet
openings of the vessel are controlled by the valve.

The heating and humidification process is commonly used for reducing the dew point
temperature of air. There are number of automatic valves in the chemical plants that are
operated by the compressed air at high pressure. If the dew point temperature of this air
is high, there are chances of formation of dew inside the valves which can lead to their
corrosion and also faulty their operation. Thus it is very important that the air passing to
such automatic valves have very low dew point temperature. The heating and
dehumidification process by using hygroscopic materials is used often in the air drying
units.

During the heating and dehumidification process dry bulb temperature of the air
increases while its dew point and wet bulb temperature reduces. On the psychrometric
chart, this process is represented by a straight angular line starting from the given DB
temperature conditions and extending downwards towards right to the final DB
temperature conditions.

Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers

The mechanical draft cooling towers are very much similar to that of the natural draft
cooling towers. As the name indicates, air is circulated inside the tower mechanically
instead of natural circulation. Propeller fans or centrifugal fans may be used.

Advantages of mechanical draft cooling towers over natural draft cooling towers:

 For the same capacity used, the mechanical draft cooling towers are much
smaller than the natural draft cooling towers. This is because of the increase in
cooling capacity due to increase in volume of the air being forced out by fan.
 Capacity control is possible in mechanical draft cooling tower. By controlling the
speed of the fan, the volume of air can be controlled, which in turn controls the
capacity.
  The natural draft cooling towers can be located only in open space. As they do
not depend upon the atmospheric air, the mechanical draft cooling towers shall
be located even inside the building.

Disadvantages of using mechanical draft cooling towers:

 More power is required to run the system,

According to the location of the fan, they are further classified as:

1. Forced draft cooling towers, and

Forced Draft Cooling Towers

In this system, fan is located near the bottom and on the side. This fan forces the air
from bottom to top. An eliminator is used to prevent loss of water droplets along with the
forced air.

Induced Draft Cooling Towers

In this system, a centrally located fan at the top, takes suction from the tower and
discharges it to the atmosphere. The only between the induced draft cooling tower and
forced draft cooling tower is that the fan is located at the top in the induced draft cooling
tower.
Counter Flow
Counterflow design allows maximum thermal performance capability per unit of plan area. Minimizes pump head
requirements. Available with your choice of heat exchange media to satisfy just about any water quality. In addition,
fiberglass, concrete or wood structure give you the flexibility to choose the material best for your application. 
Fiberglass Pultrusion Counterflow Cooling Towers
Pultruded structural components used thoughout the tower produce an engineered framework of unsurpassed
quality, reliability and safety. Structural pultrusions approximate the strength of steel in tension and compression.
Fiberglass is impervious to a broad range of corrosive materials—immune to deterioration.
Concrete Counterflow Cooling Towers
Concrete cooling towers are hurricane and typhoon resistant by virtue of mass, and concrete defies the detrimental
effects of heat and ultraviolet light. Concrete is a natural material which is ideally suited for long service life in the
harshest cooling tower environment. And concrete will never degrade the quality of cooling water circulating through
the tower Available in precast concrete for jobs where schedule and economics favor an ‘assembled” product, or
cast-in-place when in situ forming and casting are favored. Cellular or multi-fan configurations available to suit site
requirements.
Wood Counterflow Cooling Towers
All wood is pressure treated after fabircation. All fabricated steel components are hot dip galvanized or stainless
steel. Extensive use of inert plastics for structural and non structural components. Designed for heavy industrial use
with long service life.

What are the advantages of Induced Draft Cooling Towers over Natural Draft
Cooling Towers?

From your query, i am assuming the same for Power Plant Condenser Cooling and also for TG &
Boiler auxiliary cooling.

If you take this case, for both the cases you need huge quantity of water. It will be re-circulating..

Now, coming back to your query. Since the hot water return from the eqpts are at high
temperature, it will be cooled in the tower. In the case of Natural draft, as the name indicates, the
water is cooled by air naturally. For this purpose, to create the reqd. draft, huge, lofty RCC
(Reinforced Cement & Concrete) parabolic structure needs to be constructed. The ht. of the
structure will vary from 40m to 120m and dia will vary from 60m to 100m depending upon the
design, water in circulation, ambient conditions etc. So, this involves huge construction work,
high capital investment and take long time to complete the activity, more resources. However,
when comparing the entire re-circulating system with both ND as well as in ID, the payback
period will be to the tune of 5-6 years.

For IDCT (Induced), the draft is induced by means of a fan placed on top. Hence, the size of the
structure, height wise is less whereas foot print is more but is lesser than ND towers. Here, the
capex or capital investment is much lesser (Almost by 20%) than ND. However, due to the
presence of a fan, there is a recurring running cost. Here the power requirement is higher (By
1%) than ND.

In ND no fans are required (Hence no power).

While selecting the CT, you have to select depending on the reqmt which you are looking for. If
u r willing to shell out cpital investement, you will have no recurring cost in terms of power
consumption.

Similarly, maintenance wise, it is easy to access IDCT since it is not a tall structure. But
maintenance will be more in ID as it has moving/ rotating parts.

Duration of construction is also less for IDCT. Civil works is less.

Hope this is useful

Regards,

R. Veda Siddharth