UNIT 4- Part-A
Humidification & Saturation
In a gas mixture each component exerts a different pressure, depending on the mole fraction
of that component. This pressure exerted by each component is called partial pressure or pure
component pressure. It is defines as,
pi=P.yi
Where pi is the partial pressure of the i th component, P is the total pressure and yi is the mole
fraction of i th component in the gas mixture.
The vapour pressure of a liquid is defined as the absolute pressure at which the liquid and its
vapour are in equilibrium at a given temperature.
Saturated gas: If an insoluble dry gas B is brought into contact with sufficient liquid A, the
liquid will evaporate into the gas until ultimately, at equilibrium, the partial pressure of A in the
vapour-gas mixture reaches its saturation value, the vapour pressure p’ A at the prevailing
temperature. Then the gas mixture is said to be a saturated vapour-gas mixture.
Partial Saturation: If the partial pressure of the vapour in a vapour-gas mixture is less than
the equilibrium vapour pressure of the liquid at the same temperature, the mixture is unsaturated
vapour-gas mixture (Partial Saturation)
Dew point: This is the temperature at which a vapor-gas mixture becomes saturated when
cooled at constant total pressure out of contact with a liquid.
Humidity (Absolutely humidity, Grosvenor humidity), H: The ratio of mass of vapor/mass
of vapor free gas is the absolute humidity. Under conditions where the ideal-gas law applies,
PA M A mass A
H ,
Pt PA M B mass B
where M A , M B are molecular weight of vapor and vapor free gas respectively.
Molal humidity (Molal absolute humidity), Hm: The ratio of moles of vapor/moles of vapor
free gas is the model humidity. Under conditions where the ideal-gas law applies,
y A PA PA moles A
Hm ,
y B PB Pt PA moles B
where y A , y B are moles of vapor and vapor free gas respectively
PA,PB are partial pressure of vapor and vapor free gas respectively
p t is the total pressure of the vapor-gas mixture.
Saturated humidity, HS can be defined by the following equation,
P ' M mass A
H s A ' A ,
Pt PA M B mass B
Saturated molal humidity, Hms can be defined by the following equation
PA' moles A
H ms '
,
Pt PA moles A
where p A ' is vapor pressure of liquid at the gas temperature,
M A , M B are molecular weight of vapor and vapor free gas respectively.
Percentage humidity (Percentage saturation), HA is defined as the ratio of the actual
humidity H to the saturation humidity HS at the gas temperature. It is usually expressed on a
percentage basis,
H PA pt PA'
H p 100 100
pt PA PA
'
Hs
Relative humidity (%Relative saturation, % Relative humidity): HR is defined as the ratio
of the partial pressure of the vapor to the vapor pressure of the liquid at the gas temperature. It is
usually expressed on a percentage basis,
P
H R A' 100
PA
Hints
Humidity = absolute humidity
Molal humidity= absolute molal humidity
Percentage humidity= percentage saturation
Relative humidity= Relative saturation = % Relative humidity = % Relative saturation
At dew point temperature vapour pressure (P’A) =partial pressure (PA)
