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If the temperature on a cooling surface - tC - is above or equal to the dew point temperature - tDP - of the
surrounding air, the air will be cooled without any change in specific humidity. It is the Sensible Heat - the
"temperature heat" - in the air that is removed.
The air cools along a constant specific humidity - x - line as expressed in the Mollier diagram below:
The process is very similar (opposite direction) to the sensible heating process and the heating formulas
can be adapted for calculating changes in enthalpy and temperature.
Note! The specific humidity is constant but the relative humidity will increase.
With a cold surface of unlimited size and a very small amount of air, it would be possible to reach point C.
In the real world a limited surface is never 100% effective and the final state of the cooled and
dehumidified air will be somewhere on the straight line between point A and C - point B.
The amount of condensated vapor will be the difference xA - xB.
Note! This process will decreases the specific humidity and increase the relative humidity.
Contact Factor -
The efficiency of a cooling coil is commonly expressed with the Contact Factor - - and can be
expressed as
= (xA - xB) / (xA - xC)
= (hA - hB) / (hA - hC)
(tA - tB) / (tA - tC)
(1)
where
= Contact Factor
x = specific humidity (kg/kg)
h = enthalpy (kJ/kg)
t = temperature (oC)
(2)
where
BPF = Bypass Factor (BF)
The relationship between the Contact Factor and the Bypass Factor can be expressed as:
BPF = 1 -
(3)
(4)
where
q = heat flow rate (kJ/s, kW)
m = mass flow rate of air (kg/s)
The total heat flow can also be expressed as:
qs = v (hA - hB)
(4a)
where
v = volume flow (m3/s)
= density of air (kg/m3)
Note! The density of air varies with temperature. At 0oC the density is 1.293 kg/m3. At 80oC the density is
1.0 kg/m3.
The total heat flow rate can be split into sensible and latent heat. The sensible heat flow rate can be
expressed as:
qs = m cp (tA - tB)
(4b)
where
cp = 1.01 - specific heat capacity of air (kJ/kg.oC)
The latent heat can be expressed as:
qs = m hwe (xA - xB)
(4c)
where
hwe = 2502 (kJ/kg)
this condensate is clearly evident by the water flowing out of the drain pans of many
installations.
Methods to design and select heating coils are based on an overall heat transfer coefficient
multiplied by the appropriate temperature difference. In cooling coils where there is
condensation, the temperature difference is not the correct driving force since the latent
heat of condensation is not accounted for.
There have been different ways of dealing with this shortfall. These include the introduction
of a sensible heat factor to modify the outside film coefficient, use of a log mean enthalpy
difference and the effectiveness method based on a saturation specific heat. In this paper,
we develop the equations and by simulation, illustrate the validity of the effectiveness
method for solving wet surface cooling coils.
e-Ntu method
The e-Ntu method is based on the concept of an efficiency rating and is defined by the
following equation.
Q = e Qmax
The maximum duty can be easily determined when you realize that the fluid with the lowest
capacity rate Cmin will have the largest temperature difference. In an ideal heat exchanger,
that is one with an efficiency of 100%, the fluid with the lowest capacity rate will experience
the maximum possible temperature difference or the inlet temperature difference (ITD).
ITD = thi tci
For a counter-flow configuration, the effectiveness can be calculated from the following
equation,
e = (1 e
Ntu (1-Cr)
) / (1 Cr e
Ntu (1-Cr)
where the number of transfer units Ntu = Uo Ao/Cmin and the capacity ratio Cr = Cmin/Cmax
Step-by-step simulation
In developing theories, we often make assumptions to simplify the result so it would be
instructive to be able to make a practical comparison.
If we break the heat exchanger into a number of small pieces, it would be possible to
calculate the heat flow at each step without making any assumptions.
Figure 2. Thermal model of dry cooling
At each step, from tai to tao in the thermal model shown in Figure 2, the outside and inside
heat transfer relationships need to be reconciled
dq = ho dAo (ta ts)
dq = Ui dAi (ts tw)
This allows the determination of the surface temperature, ts and consequently the
differential heat flow dq that is summed to get the total heat flow.
Looking at each fluid in turn, it is also possible to calculate the next temperature from
dq = Ca dta and dq = Cw dtw
In a counter flow arrangement, this is an iterative process since in the direction of the
airflow we would have to start with a guess of the leaving water temperature. At the end of
the cycle, the water inlet temperature must be compared with the known inlet water
temperature and the initial guess revised until a solution has been found.
In addition to the heat transfer, we can calculate the condensate flow from dm = hd dAo (Wa
Ws) and consequently the absolute humidity at the next step as the simulation proceeds.
The psychrometric chart in figure 4 shows the actual simulated process and the by-pass
model based on the Ntu method.
Figure 4. Psychrometric chart showing simulation and Ntu model
Notice that I have chosen a water supply temperature that would ensure a fully wet coil. In
practice, it is possible that the inlet coil surface temperature could be above the air dew
point and the coil would start out dry. As the air moves through the coil, it would be
exposed to a lower temperature and condensation would start somewhere in the coil. This
complicates the Ntu process since the coil should really be split into a dry and wet portion.
The results of a wet coil model are however close enough not to warrant this precaution. In
the case of a partially wet coil, Braun et al have suggested using the average between the
wet and dry duties.
Validity of e-Ntu
If the LMTD method doesnt work for a wet coil, why then should the e-Ntu method be any
different? The reason that it does work is that the maximum duty is based on the correct
driving force.
In a wet coil, the maximum duty is
Qmax = ma (hai hswi)
And the duty can be calculated directly from Q = e Qmax
For a wet coil, we now need to find a way to calculate the effectiveness.
If we equate the air and water-side duties
ma (hai - hao) = mw Cpw (twi - two)
and define a saturation specific heat as
Cs = (hswi - hswo) /(twi - two),
we can replace the water temperature difference and re-arrange the energy balance
equation into a form that looks similar to the dry case.
ma Cs (hai - hao) = mw Cpw (hswi - hswo)
By similarity, we can define the air capacity rate as Ca = ma Cs and adopt the effectiveness
method in the same way that we did with a dry process. The definition of the saturation
specific heat has given us this advantage.
So, if for example you change the flow rate of the air, the relative positions of the fluids
need to be revised.
A possibility is to define a reference fluid and use this instead of the minimum capacity rate
fluid. If we select air to be the reference fluid, the duty can be calculated from the following.
Q = e Qair
Qdry = ma Cpa (tai - twi)
Qwet = ma (hai - hswi)
e = (1 e
Ntu (1-Cr)
) / (1 Cr e
Ntu (1-Cr)
Ntuo
Where from the definition of the bypass factor, the leaving air state can be determined.
b = (hao hadp) / (hai hadp) = (Wao Wadp) / (Wai Wadp)
Comparison of Results
The calculated performance of a particular chilled water coil can now be compared with the
above methods. There are too many variables to give an exhaustive list so I have selected
a coil size and reference condition. Each test is based on the variation of a single parameter
Reference condition
Simulation
Wet e-Ntu
Dry LMTD
18.433 / 14.486
18.369 / 14.402
15.697 / 13.214
24.469 / 17.980
18.029 / 14.299
22.541 / 19.221
(0.34% error)
(15.8% error)
24.433 / 17.887
19.851 / 15.955
(0.15% error)
(18.8% error)
17.923 / 14.200
15.564 / 13.156
(0.59% error)
(13.7% error)
22.450 / 19.129
20.109 / 18.130
(0.40% error)
(10.7% error)
The results shown are a small set of the range of conditions that were tested. In all cases,
the total duty calculated by the e-Ntu method has proved to be within 0.6% of the
simulated results.
Notice that the standard LMTD method is generally not suitable for calculating the duty of a
wet coil. As the airflow is increased, the coil surface temperature increases and results in
less condensate. As this happens, the errors associated with the LMTD method are reduced.
Conclusion
We have developed the equations of the wet effectiveness method and have shown by
simulation that the results conform to the results of a step-by-step calculation.
By applying the log mean temperature method to the simulated results, it is clear that this
method cannot be applied directly to a coil where condensation takes place.
For computer solution of cooling coils, the e-Ntu method offers a significant advantage over
the LMTD method. This is mainly due to the effectiveness being bounded in the range 0 to
1.
By adopting a reference fluid, it is possible to replace the conventional effectiveness
method. Although not material to the result, it does simplify the computer code since it
removes the need to determine the minimum and maximum capacity rate fluid.
Nomenclature
A
adp
Area, m2
Apparatus dew point, C
C
Capacity rate, kW/K (= m Cp )
Cpm Mean heat capacity of moist air at constant pressure, kJ/kgK
Cpw Heat Capacity of water, kJ/kgK
Cs Saturation specific heat, kJ/kgK
h Moist air enthalpy, kJ/kg
ho Air side film coefficient, W/mK
hd Mass transfer coefficient, kg/ms
hfg Latent heat of evaporation, kJ/kg
m Mass flow, kg/s
Ntu Number of transfer units
Q Overall heat transfer rate, kW
t Temperature, C
U Heat transfer coefficient, W/mK
W Humidity, kg/kg
b Bypass factor
e Effectiveness
d Differential