A novel design of a multistage stepped bubble column humidifier for the humidification of air

The operating parameters for the optimum performance of a novel multistage stepped bubble column humidifier design were experimentally determined. An improved humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination system can be obtained by integrating such a humidifier with a dehumidifier. The relationship between the variation of the pressure drop with varying water column height at different superficial velocities of air was evaluated. A water column height of 1 cm and superficial velocity of air of 25 cm/s provide the best humidifier performance at the lowest pressure drop. The performance of single-stage, two-stage, and three-stage bubble column humidifiers was evaluated in terms of the absolute humidity when the inlet water temperature is varied in the range of 35-75 degrees C. The absolute humidity increases exponentially with increasing inlet water temperature. The percentage increase in the absolute humidity achieved by the two-stage and three-stage bubble column humidifiers are, respectively 7-9% and 18-21% higher than that achieved by the single-stage bubble column humidifier. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.