Assessment of condensation of water vapor in the mixing chamber by CFD method

Abstract

The analyzed topic belongs to the field of design and operation of HVAC systems, focusing mainly on mixing chambers. The paper deals with problems of condensation and freezing of water vapour on walls of mixing chambers in a special case, when the partial pressure of the final resulting state of the mixture of warm moist air and colder air is located above the saturation limit. Experimental in situ methods and computer computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling method were used for processing. The main contribution of this work is the finding that partial condensation and freezing of water vapour may occur in local parts of the mixing chamber. It causes problems in terms of hygienic safety and service life of these devices. In particular it has been found that condensation and freezing of water vapour may occur even if relative humidity of the resulting mixture is about 70 %.The analyzed topic belongs to the field of design and operation of HVAC systems, focusing mainly on mixing chambers. The paper deals with problems of condensation and freezing of water vapour on walls of mixing chambers in a special case, when the partial pressure of the final resulting state of the mixture of warm moist air and colder air is located above the saturation limit. Experimental in situ methods and computer computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling method were used for processing. The main contribution of this work is the finding that partial condensation and freezing of water vapour may occur in local parts of the mixing chamber. It causes problems in terms of hygienic safety and service life of these devices. In particular it has been found that condensation and freezing of water vapour may occur even if relative humidity of the resulting mixture is about 70 %.