First experimental results on humidification of pressurized air in evaporative power cycles

摘要

Humidification of compressed air before combustion is a key operation in evaporative power cycles. However, little work has been done to study this operation at high pressures and temperatures. A tube humidifier pilot plant was designed and constructed to fill this void. Experiments at different pressures and flow conditions have been carried out. The results show that the theoretical design methodology developed parallel with the experiments can be considered reliable. The tube dimensions and design gave satisfactory efficiencies regarding the flue gas cooling and the humidification of compressed air. Furthermore the results show a new behavior of the working line, which may have an impact on designing such equipment. This paper mainly describes the pilot humidifier facility and its components and the first results obtained.