Performance of a misted-air condenser: qualitative analysis
Misting applied to refrigeration systems

Fogging ensures that the air is saturated with humidity, or even supersaturated (presence of water droplets at the exchanger inlet). When the air is misted, an exchange takes place between the dispersed phase (water), which evaporates, and the air, which transfers its heat. This is known as an isenthalpic or adiabatic transformation (cooling). The result is a drop in air temperature from dry to humid. The difference between these two temperatures is one of the main levers of the expected energy gain. Governed by the properties of moist air, the minimum amount of water required to achieve a maximum temperature difference (A to B or A′ to B′) can be identified on a moist air diagram (figure 2). The minimum water mass flow rate (index w for water) (in kg_water· s^–1) is :