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Humidity control & dehumidification for water treatment plants

The very nature and location of water treatment plants means that ambient humidity levels will typically be high. This together with the fact that temperature may not always be that precisely controlled can lead to condensation, resulting in considerable damage and shorter operational component lifespan. Air with an ambient humidity of 75%RH only needs to cool by about 5°C to reach dew point (the temperature at which liquid condensation forms).

Water temperature inside pipes is often much lower than air dew points, particularly in summer or in heated facilities. This results in condensation forming on the outside of cool pipes, valves and controls in the water treatment plant. This liquid condensation will corrode metal surfaces. On electrical components, such as pumps, motors and switch gear, damage to components and electrical circuits can significantly interfere with the operation of the facility.

Reducing the air humidity in the plant with a commercial dehumidification system lowers the risk of corrosion, as the temperature needed for condensation to form becomes lower as the air becomes drier.

  • Pipes with cold water in will become cold, which in turn chills the air touching the pipe. As the air cools, it's relative humidity increases. If the air's relative humidity reaches 100%, the water can no longer remain in a gasous state and it becomes liquid water, resulting in condensation on the cold surface of the pipe.

  • Depending on the temperature difference between the ambient air and the pipe's surface temperature, it is possible to prevent condensation with insulation. Insulation will prevent the air from touching the cold surface of the pipe. However, it may require 50 to 100mm of insulation to acheive this. Additionally there must be no “cold bridges”, where a thermally conductive material is in contact with both the pipe and the ambient air.

    Reducing the ambient humidity so the dew point or the air is below the temperature of the pipe offers a better solution.

  • The best type of dehumidifier for any specific application will depend on the environment it's being used in and the level of control needed. Very cold or close control drying applications will benefit from using desiccant dehumidifiers. Dehumidification at conditions above 15-20°C and for humidity control of 50%RH and above would largely benefit from condensing dehumidifier technology.

  • To prevent condensation on pipes, the air dew point temperature has to be below the pipe surface temperature to prevent moisture condensing on the cold surface. To calculate what relative humidity the air would need to be for the air dew point temperature not to be reached, you would need to know the surface temperature of the pipe and the ensure that the absolute moisture content in the air surrounding the pipe is less than the surface temperature at 100%RH.

  • It is very dependent on the principle of operation but as a guide a condensing dehumidifier will use approximately 0.4kW/litre of water removed, compared to approximately 1.4kW/litre for a desiccant unit. The higher power consumption of a desiccant is from the regeneration heaters used to remove the water from the desiccant material.

Bunkermuseum Hanstholm

Erik Ansø

Museumsforvalter

“The noise level is now so low that you can talk normally in the ventilation room even though both the ventilation and a dehumidifier are running, which was one of the criteria. You certainly couldn't do that before, and it's worked out well in a concrete bunker.”

Prime Ocean

Jan Bork Nordmann

Produktion

“The dehumidification solution from Condair is one of the best investments we have made down here.

Prime Ocean is one of Europe’s largest importers of fresh cod from FAO27 and also imports large volumes of salmon. Both fresh fish products and high-quality frozen products are produced. The dehumidification solution has helped eliminate condensation problems, the daily downtime of the machines has been virtually eliminated and the maintenance work on both machines and buildings has been significantly minimized.”

Vyra Suites Hotel in Qatar

Kiran Nair

Sales Engineer at Mentor Trading

“The ceiling mounted dehumidifiers are compact in size and were fixed above the pool and spa areas. We were very satisfied with Condair’s service and their prompt response to the project.

The quality of the Condair DP-C dehumidifiers is of a high standard and they were easy to install and simple for the customer to operate. We look forward to a working with the Condair team in the future.”

T Clarke

Doug Lumb

Project Engineer

“The Condair DC 50W dehumidifier was actually chosen by our designers, as it fitted the bill perfectly for the environment. The unit size was based on the quantities of kit hung in the room to dry when the firefighters return to the Centre at the end of their training exercises.

It’s a reliable product and currently operating at the station just as expected, plus installation was really simple and didn’t take long at all, so all very good.

I would definitely specify Condair dehumidifiers for future projects.”

The Savanna

Lisa Gardshol

Founder and CEO

“We have been very happy with the performance of the Condair dehumidifiers JTR installed to comply with our drying approach. It has not only allowed us to increase production efficiency but also produce our award-winning biltong.

We have full control over the entire process and can make decisions based on the data that we recieve. This is something which we couldn’t do as well before.”

John Todd Refrigeration (JTR)

Matt Gough

Refrigeration Engineer

“The rooms need very tight environmental control but the previous strategy introduced outside air to help lower temperatures when needed. JTR redesigned the drying rooms and installed Condair DC-N dehumidifiers.

The dehumidifiers, located in the rooms, both dry and heat the air to the required condition, resulting in a fully sealed area and a consistently controlled drying process.”

Get free expert advice on dehumidification in water treatment plants

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It covers system design, dehumidifier selection & sizing, drying psychrometrics, energy saving and much more.

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