The Dew Point

A related property is the dew point. This is the point at which condensation occurs on cooling. When products are cooled the temperature must not fall to the dew point or condensation will occur. If condensation occurs on the product then product spoilage is likely. 

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ERF error flag, integer variable normally zero ERF= 1 indicates parameters are not available for one or more binary pairs in the mixture ERF = 2 indicates no solution was obtained ERF = 3 or 4 indicates the specified flash temperature is less than the bubble-point temperature or greater than the dew-point temperature respectively ERF = 5 indicates bad input arguments. 

BUDEP calculates the bubble-point pressure or the dew-point pressure for a mixture of N components (N j< 20) at specified temperature and liquid or vapor composition. The subroutine also furnishes the composition of the incipient vapor or liquid and the vaporization equilibrium ratios. 

Both the reboiling and condensing processes normally take place over a range of temperature. Practical considerations, however, usually dictate that the heat to the reboiler must be supplied at a temperature above the dew point of the vapor leaving the reboiler and that the heat removed in the condenser must be removed at a temperature lower than the bubble point of the liquid. Hence, in preliminary design at least, both reboiling and condensing can be assumed to take place at constant temperatures. ... 

Once the bubble point is reached (at point B), the first bubble of ethane vapour is released. From point B to C liquid and gas co-exist in the cell, and the pressure is maintained constant as more of the liquid changes to the gaseous state. The system exhibits infinite compressibility until the last drop of liquid is left In the cell (point C), which is the dew point. Below the dew point pressure only gas remains in the cell, and as pressure is reduced below the dew point, the volume increase is determined by the compressibility of the gas. The gas compressibility is much greater than the liquid compressibility, and hence the change of volume for a given reduction in pressure (the... 

If the experiment was now reversed, starling from A and increasing the pressure, the first drop of ethane liquid would appear at point C, the dew point of the gas. Remember that throughoufthis process, isothermal conditions are maintained. 

The experiment could be repeated at a number of different temperatures and initial pressures to determine the shape of the two-phase envelope defined by the bubble point line and the dew point line. These two lines meet at the critical point, where it is no longer possible to distinguish between a compressed gas and a liquid. 

It is important to remember the significance of the bubble point line, the dew point line, and the two phase region, within which gas and liquid exist in equilibrium. 

When the two components are mixed together (say in a mixture of 10% ethane, 90% n-heptane) the bubble point curve and the dew point curve no longer coincide, and a two-phase envelope appears. Within this two-phase region, a mixture of liquid and gas exist, with both components being present in each phase in proportions dictated by the exact temperature and pressure, i.e. the composition of the liquid and gas phases within the two-phase envelope are not constant. The mixture has its own critical point C g. 

Using this mixture as an example, consider starting at pressure A and isothermally reducing the pressure to point D on the diagram. At point A the mixture exists entirely in the liquid phase. When the pressure drops to point B, the first bubble of gas is evolved, and this will be a bubble of the lighter component, ethane. As the pressure continues to drop, the gas phase will acquire more of the heavier component and hence the liquid volume decreases. At point C, the last drop of liquid remaining will be composed of the heavier component, which itself will vaporise as the dew point is crossed, so that below... 

The initial temperature of a gas condensate lies between the critical temperature and the cricondotherm. The fluid therefore exists at initial conditions in the reservoir as a gas, but on pressure depletion the dew point line is reached, at which point liquids condense in the reservoir. As can be seen from Figure 5.22, the volume percentage of liquids is low, typically insufficient for the saturation of the liquid in the pore space to reach the critical saturation beyond which the liquid phase becomes mobile. These... 

Gas is produced to surface separators which are used to extract the heavier ends of the mixture (typically the components). The dry gas is then compressed and reinjected into the reservoir to maintain the pressure above the dew point. As the recycling progresses the reservoir composition becomes leaner (less heavy components), until eventually it is not economic to separate and compress the dry gas, at which point the reservoir pressure is blown down as for a wet gas reservoir. The sales profile for a recycling scheme consists of early sales of condensate liquids and delayed sale of gas. An alternative method of keeping the reservoir above the dew point but avoiding the deferred gas sales is by water injection. 

The diagram (Fig. 5.21) shows that as the pressure is reduced below the dew point, the volume of liquid in the two phase mixture initially increases. This contradicts the common observation of the fraction of liquids in a volatile mixture reducing as the pressure is dropped (vaporisation), and explains why the fluids are sometimes referred to as retrograde gas condensates. 

Black oils are a common category of reservoir fluids, and are similar to volatile oils in behaviour, except that they contain a lower fraction of volatile components and therefore require a much larger pressure drop below the bubble point before significant volumes of gas are released from solution. This is reflected by the position of the iso-vol lines in the phase diagram, where the lines of low liquid percentage are grouped around the dew point line. 

With a further increase in the temperature the gas composition moves to the right until it reaches v = 1/2 at the phase boundary, at which point all the liquid is gone. (This is called the dew point because, when the gas is cooled, this is the first point at which drops of liquid appear.) An unportant feature of this behaviour is that the transition from liquid to gas occurs gradually over a nonzero range of temperature, unlike the situation shown for a one-component system in figure A2.5.1. Thus the two-phase region is bounded by a dew-point curve and a bubble-point curve. 

Dehumidification. Dehumidification may be accompHshed in several ways (see Drying). Moderate changes in humidity can be made by exposing the air stream to a surface whose temperature is below the dew point of the air. The air is cooled and releases a portion of its moisture. Closed cycle air conditioning systems normally effect dehumidification also. The cooled air may require reheating to attain the desired dry-bulb temperature if there is insufficient sensible load in the space. 

Some industrial processes produce predorninately latent air conditioning loads. Others dictate very low humidities and when the dew point falls below 0°C, free2ing becomes a major concern. Dehydration equipment, using soHd sorbents such as siUca gel and activated alurnina, or Hquid sorbents such as lithium chloride brine and triethylene glycol, may be used. The process is exothermic and may require cooling the exiting air stream to meet space requirements. Heat is also required for reactivation of the sorbent material. 

Other methods suggested for H2 purification include adsorption and desorption on active carbon and fractional crystalliza tion (qv) of impurities fromhquid hydrogen. Centrifuging at 1—5.1 MPa (10—50 atm) and 64—110 K while keeping the temperature below the dew point of impurities that collect as a hquid film in the centrifuge has also been suggested. Purities over 99% can be obtained by this method (192). 

When moisture films are formed, water vapor can accelerate the corrosion rate. Hence, it is necessary to maintain the temperature above the dew point of the gas mixture by at least 20°C, to prevent the formation of moisture films. A temperature of 130°C or above, at atmospheric pressure, can be used for all mixtures of HCl gas and water vapor because the a2eotropic boiling point is 108.6°C. The boiling point of a2eotropic mixtures can be used as a guide at other pressures (see Table 6). 

Because of the wide variation in composition and properties of brown coal (see Table 3), efficient combustion of these fuels caimot be accomphshed by a single system. The moisture content limits combustion efficiency because some chemical energy is required to convert Hquid water to steam in the flue gases. The steam then increases the dew point of the gases, requiring higher temperatures to avoid condensation in the stack. For fuels up to 25% moisture content, 80% efficiency can be achieved. As the moisture content increases to 60%, the efficiency decreases to 70% and efficiency continues to decline about another 1% for each additional 1% moisture to 70%. 

Small amounts of sulfuric acid mist or aerosol are always formed in sulfuric acid plants whenever gas streams are cooled, or SO and H2O react, below the sulfuric acid dew point. The dew point varies with gas composition and pressure but typically is 80—170°C. Higher and lower dew point temperatures are possible depending on the SO concentration and moisture content of the gas. Such mists are objectionable because of both corrosion in the process and stack emissions. 

Because the system likely is nonisothermal, the analysis of a closed-desiccant system requites knowledge of the temperature of the desiccant as well as the dew point (ice point) or water concentration (partial pressure) specification. Indeed, the whole system may undergo periodic temperature transients that may compHcate the analysis. Eor example, in dual-pane windows the desiccant temperature is approximately the average of the indoor and outdoor temperatures after a night of cooling. However, after a day in the sun, the desiccant temperature becomes much warmer than the outdoor temperature. When the sun sets, the outdoor pane cools quickly while the desiccant is still quite warm. The appropriate desiccant for such an appHcation must have sufficient water capacity and produce satisfactory dew points at the highest temperatures experienced by the desiccant. 

It has good capacity and drying capabiHty as illustrated by the vapor pressure curves in Figure 5. At 25°C, the dew point attainable in gases dried with 95% sulfuric acid is less than —75°C. 

Adsorption Plots. Isotherm plots are the most common method of presenting adsorption data. An isotherm is a curve of constant temperature the adsorbed water content of the adsorbent is plotted against the water partial pressure in equiHbrium with the adsorbent. An isostere plot shows curves of constant adsorbed water content the vapor pressure in equiHbrium with the adsorbent is plotted against temperature. Figure 13 shows isosteres for the three primary adsorbents described previously. In this case, the dew points for the three adsorbents are plotted at 0.5, 5, and 10 kg... 

H2O/100 kg of adsorbent. At equilibrium and at a given adsorbed water content, the dew point that can be obtained in the treated fluid is a function only of the adsorbent temperature. The slopes of the isosteres indicate that the capacity of molecular sieves is less temperature sensitive than that of siUca gel or activated alumina. In another type of isostere plot, the natural logarithm of the vapor pressure of water in equiUbrium with the desiccant is plotted against the reciprocal of absolute temperature. The slopes of these isosteres are proportional to the isosteric heats of adsorption of water on the desiccant (see... 

Dew-Point Method For many applications, the dew point is the desired moisture measurement. VHien concentration is desired, the relation between water content and dew point is well-known and available. The dew-point method requires an inert surface whose temperature can be adjusted and measured, a sample gas stream flowing past the surface, a manipulated variable for adjusting the surface temperature to the dew point, and a means of detecting the onset of con-densation. 

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