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CHAPTER 41
1960 Guide
Fig. 4 .... Approximate Well Water Temperatures at Depths of 30 to 60 Ft1
and water is required, multi-stage washers are used. These
washers are equivalent to a number of washers in series, and
the water has to be pumped from one stage to the other in a
direction counter to the air flow.
The most common air washer arrangement for cooling and
dehumidifying air has two spray
and is eight to
feet long. If the air washer has ability to cool and dehumidify
the entering air to a wet-bulb temperature equal to the leav-
;g water temperature, it is convenient to assign to such a
(rasher a performance factor of ID. The actual performance
factor of any washer is the actual enthalpy change divided
by the enthalpy change in a washer of 1.0 performance fac
tor.
Calculation of the required performance factor, FP, for
any washer application involving cooling and Hphmrnreifying
can be made from Equation 2:
FP = (A. - A0/(Ai - A,)
(2)
where
hi = Enthalpy at entering air wet-bulb temperature, Btu per pound.
hi = Enthalpy at leaving air wet-bulb temperature at actual condition, Btu per pound.
hi = Enthalpy at wet-bulb temperature leaving a washer with Ff - i.o, Btu per pound.
Knowing the performance factor of a particular air washer, the actual conditions of operation can be graphically de termined as shown in Fig. 5. Points 1 and 2 are plotted on the saturation curve representing total heat at the entering
and leaving air wet-bulb temperatures, U and U. Point 5 represents the condition at which leaving air wet-bulb and leaving water temperatures would be the same. This point is determined by solving Equation 2 for the unknown quantity, K.
A diagonal line is drawn through Point 5 with a negative
Evaporative Air Cooling and Humidification
slope equal to the water-to-air weight ratio. Points 3 and 4, at which this diagonal line intersects horizontal lines through points 1 and 2, show the required entering and leaving water temperatures twl and tv3 . A check of the solution can be made from the fundamental heat balance equation,
Heat absorbed by the water -- heat removed from the air.
The graphical method as described can be used to arrive quickly at solutions of air-washer cooling and dehumidifying problems where there are a number of unknown factors, in cluding quantity of water to be used and the entering and leaving water temperatures. It can be adapted to problems of heating and humidifying as well as to water cooling (indoor washer-cooling tower) and multi-stage applications.
The actual performance factor of a particular washer must, however, be obtained from the manufacturer's data and de pends on the many factors listed previously.
Control of Air Washers
Chapter 43 discusses methods of controlling air washers to meet system or space requirements.
EVAPORATIVE AIR COOLING
Evaporative air cooling is undoubtedly the oldest method
used in man's attempt to produce comfort in hot climates.
In pre-biblical times,*1 * * wetted grass mate and porous jars
utilized the evaporative process to cool air or water. The
early settlers of Southwestern United States found the In
dians mpng these same devices. In the 1930's a rush of in
ventions appeared which mechanized evaporative cooling and
various devices were developed and manufactured to utilize
evaporation directly in the air stream or indirectly to cool
the air in a heat exchange process..
Evaporative air cooling equipment may be placed in two-
general
direct and indirect. The first of these uses pri-
mary wet surfaces which evaporate water directly into the
fresh air supplied to the space being cooled. This may be done
with a series of sprays as in an air washer or by use of an
extended wetted surface material such as aspen wood excel
sior, glass fibers, metal wire, or expanded paper. As these de
vices are relatively simple and economical, they represent
the vast majority of equipment in use today.
The second
of evaporative air cooling is termed in
direct. The indirect cooler uses the evaporative principle to
cool air or water in a device similar to a cooling tower. The
resultant cool air or water is then used by means of a second
ary heat exchanger to cool the air in the occupied space. The
simplest form of this consists of a cooling tower, a circulating
pump, and a chilled water coil. The pump circulates the
chilled water from the cooling tower sump through the blast
coil in the building ventilating system. More complex ar
rangements of this principle have been used. By applying
recirculating, regenerating principles, temperatures below the
initial wet-bulb may be produced.**' The complexity and cost
of these devices has made them relatively obsolete with the
advent of economical refrigeration equipment.
Types of Primary Wet-Surface Evaporative Cool ing Equipment
Currently, the drip or desert-type coolers (see Fig. 6) con stitute the largest percentage of evaporative coolers. These devices use evaporative pads, usually made of aspen wood fibers, and a water circulating pump to lift the sump water
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