Evaporative Control Systems

Thanks to the combination of applying modern sciences to centuries old knowledget and basic principles, our municipalities and industries now have the greatest capability of harnessing natural processes in an effort to achieve more efficient and cost effective means of production and service. One such area that involves this combined practice is with evaporative control systems.

While many of us will most likely automatically consider water when we hear the word evaporation, evaporation actually refers to the process wherein any liquid experiences a phase change due to significant levels of heat energy transfers and corresponding molecule collisions that are caused by that transfer.

So, having cleared up the fact that the process of evaporation does not only refer to water evaporation, we see the immediate connection to our automobile industry. That is because this industry is forced to deal with the immense responsibility of making sure that auto related emissions stay well under control. For example, the hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen that occur because of the combustion process are submitted to the general atmosphere through the muffler or the auto’s tail pipe. In addition, hydrocarbons are emitted when the vaporization of gasoline occurs.

Thanks to elements such as the Clean Air Act of 1977, auto manufacturers and industrialists have taken to developing more accurate evaporation control systems for gasoline to help significantly reduce the harmful emissions that can potentially enter the atmosphere. Although it’s obviously more viscous than water, gasoline still actually evaporates rather easily. These evaporative emissions were previously allowed to vent directly into the atmosphere. Thankfully legislation that preceded the Clean Air Act paved the way by prohibiting this direct venting into the atmosphere.

And yes, industries are using water evaporation control systems as well to achieve better manufacturing processes. One of the most common areas where we see this evaporation control being applied is through water cooling towers. It various industrial processes, it’s natural to use water as a form of energy such as hydro power or to use it as a coolant rather than other alternative power sources such as solar panels.

Regardless of which application it is specifically being applied to, the water used naturally absorbs heat energy produced by the process it is involved with. These water cooling towers are then used to cool these heated water, remove contaminants for clean working systems and then return that "filtered" water back to the main system.

Understanding these evaporation control systems has also helped municipalities in especially arid climates in curbing the disastrous effects that excessive evaporation can have on human water supplies.