

| Subject: | Re: Humid Air - Some Comments |
| From: | Frank Grunthaner |
| Date: | Fri, 28 Jun 2002 17:45:46 EDT |
What a great day for culture on the list! Avogadro's number and Vanagon in the same dissertation! There is hope for our society yet. Even the mere mention of the mole was gave a tingle in the cranium surprisingly similar to an ounce of Cointreau on ice. Nonetheless, Stan, Ed and Arlan are all quite correct ... humid air is less dense than dry. Also, the extraction or heat transfer ability of the flowing gas is related primarily to temperature and secondarily to velocity , then to turbulence and finally to macroscopic porosity or surface area per unit areal dimension. However, this is not the case when the water has not been fully atomized. Small water droplets (can range from nanoclusters to sub-mm aerosols) offer the ability to volatilize (get to use the heat of vaporization). This can significantly enhance net thermal transport and reduce chamber detonation. Taken to the extreme, a thin layer of water (2 to 4 monolayers) on the radiator surface at the turbulent air boundary will give superb heat transfer . Of course, one needs to keep the water film thickness below the level where the bulk thermal conductivity of the water would dominate. Such thickness control is generally beyond the ability of most practitioners of the automotive arts! BTW a thin film of Cointreau would work wonderfully as well; what a fine aroma, but what a waste. Have a chemically interesting day! Frank Grunthaner
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