Quote: (Originally Posted by
jradomski)
How fast is really a function of scrubber dimensions.. If they are sufficient and mosture is available the scrubber should be able to cope pretty rapidly.. The golem scrubber has about 25% more sorb (theorfor contact surface area) than a scrubber the size of the standard prism, and therofoe has the potential to startup even faster.. dimensions are more important that direction.. poor dimensions and the direction doesnt matter.. Look at the difference between the original prism scrubber and the released one, just a small difference in sorb made a BIG difference because the dimensions changed..
Hot gas VS cokd gas towards the sensors doesnt really matter.. what matters is WHERE there is a cooler surface if the gas is still hot, it will contain the same amount of moisture, you wount get condensation until there is a temperature drop.. on the HH the cell faces are VERY close to the exited gas (and a small volume as well) so its unlikely alot of moisture will build on the cell faces.. They are also pointing down (when vertical) so even moisture does end up on the cell it would move off the face in the prone position.. The cooling will be further up the head and then it would run down the tube away from the sensors.. Also remember this since the outlet side of the loop is hotter than the inlet side its capable of holding more moisture..
OK Joe, your point about the differences in duration btw the 5.5 and 6lb Prism scrubber are well taken and maybe you're right about the larger proportions/reaction front of the Golem radial making up for the initial inlet temp being lower than an in-out flow. But I could also imagine that a large volume of scrubber material might take longer to reach an optimal temp for the reaction to function efficiently, no matter where the heat comes from. After all, it does take more energy to heat 1 cubic yard of sand to 100F than 1 cubic foot, right?
And if flood tolerance is the big concern in the HH design why not also have a drain in the bottom of the scrubber bucket?
As for the condensation issue, I can't imagine that having a bunch of condensate forming on surface of the inner tube of an out-in flow scrubber is very good for WOB as it would likely cause the sorb to swell and increase gas flow resistance. Where does the extra moisture go, to the bottom of the scrubber? This could create a similar effect to a flood of an in-out radial, not to mention causing a decrease in the performance of the sorb as the reaction front reaches moisture saturated sorb at the end of the scrubber duration. I'm aware that radial breakthrough is supposed to be more sudden than a simple tube tube axial but, I would guess that the 2 flow directions are not equal in their breakthrough speed. My guess is that an in-out radial has slower breakthrough than out-in due to the increasing size of the reaction front and less clumping due to the condensate clinging to the scrubber bucket wall.
I'm happy to chaulk it all up to pros/cons, but I would like to know more about the choices made in the HH design...