Dehumidification of air by aqueous triethylene glycol solution in a spray tower

A spray tower in the absorber-stripper system has been designed to study the absorption of water vapor from moist air by contact with aqueous solutions that contained from 87.7 to 95.2% triethylene glycol (TEG). The design of a "U-shape" air tunnel with eliminators in the absorber and stripper is to prevent the carryover of the solution and to increase the absorption rate and the regeneration rate. This spray tower was capable of handling air flow rates from 1.94 to 3.77 kg/min and liquid flow rates from 2.17 to 3.31 kg/min. Under the operating conditions of this study, the overall mass transfer coefficients calculated from the experimental data of 95.2% TEG solution varied from 1.78 to 2.95 mol/m(3)s. These corresponded to the heights of a transfer unit of 0.63 to 0.38 m, respectively. The efficiencies of the spray tower typically varied from 64 to 86%.