Conditions under which snow will form

[Engineer6512]

I am exhausting 25000 cfm of air at 100% RH, 50C. This is in a northern climate and the outdoor ambient temperature will be in the vicinity of -40C at times during the winter. Do I need to be concerned about snow formation (and hence a potential maintenance nightmare in clearing it)? What about ice buildup on the discharge?

Any recommendations on how to handle this? Will dehumidifying the air prior to discharge help? Or is this just an added unnessesary expense?

Thanks!

 

[GMcD]

How will this air be discharged? vertical stack? horizontal wall louvre?

Your conditions aren't unlike a large boiler flue gas discharge, and on those types of vertical stacks there is usually some type of de-icing ring system around the flue outlet to keep the icicles at bay. Yeah- you'll get a big plume of steam but it will form small discrete suspended ice crystals before they form "snow".

 

[Engineer6512]

Yes it will be a horizontal wall louver.

 

[GMcD]

Horizontal wall louvre: well, make sure you have some kind of heat traced louvre blades to keep them ice and frost-free.

 

[ChrisConley]

Possible to recover any of that heat and humidity? 25,000 cfm at 50C and 100%RH is a pile of energy. Especially when you're making it up with -40C air...