BUILDING SERVICES-III (ME 760)(BAE IV/II)

Lecture 4
Psychrometric
 Air Psychrometry
Introduction
❑ Psychrometry is a study of properties of moist air and the resultant processed air.
❑ Moist air is a mixture of dry air and a small amount of water:
• Nitrogen (78%),
• Oxygen (21%),
• Argon (0.9%), Clean dry air
• Carbon dioxide (0.03%), and others.
• Moisture
❑ A small amount of water vapor can be responsible for up to 35% of air-conditioning load.
For all practical purposes, the composition of dry air can
be considered as constant.
Constituent Molecular Mole fraction
weight
Oxygen 32.000 0.2095
Nitrogen 28.016 0.7809
Atmospheric air
Argon 39.944 0.0093 [Link]
Carbon dioxide 44.010 0.0003
❑ The molecular weight of dry air is found to be 28.966 and the gas constant R is 287.035 J/kg.K. 2
Common Terms
• Humidity
• Absolute Humidity
• Specific Humidity
• Relative Humidity
• Dry Bulb Temperature
• Wet Bulb Temperature
• Dew Point Temperature
• Enthalpy
Humidity
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• Humidity is the amount of water vapor present in air. Water vapor, the
gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye.
Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be
present.
• The amount of water vapor needed to achieve saturation increases as
the temperature increases. As the temperature of air decreases it will
eventually reach the saturation point without adding or losing water
mass.
• Saturation point is the state of air where it can hold no more moisture
or water vapor in it. The amount of water vapor contained within air
can vary significantly. For example, a parcel of air near saturation may
contain 28 grams of water per cubic meter of air at 30 °C, but only 8
grams of water per cubic meter of air at 8 °C.
Absolute Humidity
• Absolute humidity is the total mass of water vapor present in a given
volume or mass or air.
• Its unit is gm per m3 or gm per kg
Specific Humidity / Humidity Ratio/Moisture
Content

• Specific humidity is the ratio of mass of water vapor to the total mass
of the dry air.
• ie, mass of water vapor present per unit mass of dry air
Relative Humidity
• The relative humidity is used for finding the water vapor content in
the air. The relative humidity is defined as the ratio between the
amount of moisture in the air at a particular temperature to the
maximum moisture air can withstand at the same temperature. The
relative humidity can be 100% during rainy seasons.
Dry Bulb Temperature
• The temperature of the air measured by the ordinary thermometer is
called as the dry bulb temperature of air, commonly referred as DBT. When
ordinary thermometer is exposed to the atmosphere, it indicates the dry
bulb temperature, which is nothing but the atmospheric temperature.
• The Dry Bulb temperature, usually referred to as "air temperature", is the
air property that is most commonly used. When people refer to the
temperature of the air they are normally referring to the dry bulb
temperature.
• The Dry Bulb Temperature refers basically to the ambient air temperature.
It is called "Dry Bulb" because the air temperature is indicated by a
thermometer not affected by the moisture of the air.
Wet Bulb Temperature
• The wet bulb temperature of air is also measured by the ordinary thermometer,
but the only difference is that the bulb of the thermometer is covered by the wet
cloth. Temperature of the ordinary air measured by the thermometer when it is
covered by wet cloth or wick is called as the wet bulb temperature, commonly
referred to as WBT. When the air comes in contact with the wet cloth it absorbs
some moisture and gives up some heat, sue to which the temperature of the air
reduces. This reduced temperature measured by the thermometer is called as
the wet bulb temperature.
• The wet-bulb temperature (WBT) is the temperature read by a thermometer
covered in water-soaked cloth (wet-bulb thermometer) over which air is passed.
At 100% relative humidity, the wet-bulb temperature is equal to the air
temperature (dry-bulb temperature) and it is lower at lower humidity.
• The wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be reached under
current ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only.
Dew Point
• The temperature at which the moisture starts to condense out of air
is called dew point temperature
• Dew Point is also known as saturation temperature.
• The Dew Point is the temperature where water vapor starts to
condense out of the air (the temperature at which air becomes
completely saturated). Above this temperature the moisture stays in
the air.
• If the dew-point temperature is close to the dry air temperature - the
relative humidity is high
• If the dew point is well below the dry air temperature - the relative
humidity is low
• If moisture condenses on a cold bottle taken from the refrigerator the
dew-point temperature of the air is above the temperature in the
refrigerator.
• The Dew Point temperature is always lower than the Dry Bulb
temperature and will be identical with 100% relative humidity (the air
is at the saturation line). As air temperature changes the Dew Point
tends to remain constant unless water is added or removed from the
air.
• The difference between dry bulb and wet bulb temperature is related
to relative humidity
 Air Psychrometry
Properties of Moist Air
❑ Psychrometric Chart are constructed to assist in obtaining values of a property of moist air.

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1 Dry bulb temperature line
2 Specific humidity line
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3 Dew point temperature line
3 2 4 Relative humidity

5 Enthalpy
5
6 Wet bulb temperature line

6 1 7 Specific Volume line

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Psychrometric Chart Description
• Vertical Lines are Dry Bulb Temperature
• Horizontal Lines are humidity ratio (right axis) or dew point
temperature (left axis)
• Slanted lines are wet bulb temperature and enthalpy
• Specific volume are the other slanted line which are not wbt and
enthalpy
i
Psychrometric Processes
• Sensible Heating
• Sensible Cooling
• Dehumidification
• Humidifying
• Cooling and Dehumidification
• Heating and Dehumidification
• Cooling and Humidification
• Heating and Humidification
Air Psychrometry
Important psychrometric processes

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• Sensible Heat: It the heat supplied or removed without the change in
phase/state of the substance
• Latent Heat: It is the heat supplied or removed which results in the
change of phase/state of the substance
• Sensible Heat: It the heat supplied or removed without the change in
phase/state of the substance
• Latent Heat: It is the heat supplied or removed which results in the
change of phase/state of the substance
• During any Psychrometric process
• What happens to DBT, WBT, Absolute Humidity, RH, DPT, Enthalpy of air ?
• How is the process achieved?
• How is the process represented in psychrometric chart?
Sensible Cooling
• The sensible cooling of air is the process in which only the sensible
heat of the air is removed so as to reduce its temperature, and there
is no change in the moisture content (kg/kg of dry air) of the air.
• What happens to DBT, WBT, Absolute Humidity, RH, DPT, Enthalpy of
air ?
• How is sensible cooling achieved?
• How is sensible cooling represented in psychrometric chart?
• What happens to DBT, WBT, Absolute Humidity, RH, DPT??????
• During sensible cooling process the dry bulb (DB) temperature and wet bulb (WB)
temperature of the air reduces, while the latent heat of the air, and the dew point (DP)
temperature of the air remains constant. There is overall reduction in the enthalpy of
the air. Relative Humidity increases.
• How is sensible cooling done?
• In the ordinary window or the split air conditioner the cooling of air is carried out by
passing it over the evaporator coil, also called as the cooling coil. The room air or the
atmospheric air passes over this coil carrying the refrigerant at extremely low
temperatures and gets cooled and passes to the space which is to be maintained at the
comfort conditions.
• How is sensible cooling represented on psychrometric chart??
• The sensible cooling process is represented by a straight horizontal line on the
psychrometric chart. The line starts from the initial DB temperature of the air and ends
at the final DB temperature of the air extending towards the left side from high
temperature to the low temperature. The sensible cooling line is also the constant DP
temperature line since the moisture content of the air remains constant.
Sensible Cooling
Sensible Heating
• In sensible heating process the temperature of air is increased
without changing its moisture content.
• What happens to DBT, WBT, Absolute Humidity, RH, DPT??????
• How is sensible heating achieved?
• How is sensible heating represented in psychrometric chart??
• What happens to DBT, WBT, Absolute Humidity, RH, DPT??????
• During this process the sensible heat, DB and WB temperature of the air
increases while latent of air, and the DP point temperature of the air remains
constant.
• How is sensible heating achieved?
• Sensible heating process is carried out by passing the air over the heating coil.
This coil may be heated by passing the refrigerant, the hot water, the steam or
by electric resistance heating coil.
• An Example of Sensible Heating??
• Heating a room in a winter with electric heater
• How is sensible heating represented in psychrometric chart??
• Like the sensible cooling, the sensible heating process is also represented by a
straight horizontal line on the psychrometric chart. The line starts from the
initial DB temperature of air and ends at the final temperature extending
towards the right
Sensible Heating
Humidification
• The process in which the moisture or water vapor or humidity is
added to the air without changing its dry bulb (DB) temperature is
called as humidification process.
• This process is represented by a straight vertical line on the
psychrometric chart starting from the initial value of relative humidity,
extending upwards and ending at the final value of the relative
humidity.
• In actual practice the pure humidification process is not possible,
since the humidification is always accompanied by cooling or heating
of the air. Humidification process along with cooling or heating is used
in number of air conditioning applications.
Cooling and Humidification

• Cooling and humidification process is one of the most commonly

used air conditioning application for the cooling purposes. In this
process the moisture is added to the air by passing it over the stream
or spray of water which is at temperature lower than the dry bulb
temperature of the air.
• When the ordinary air passes over the stream of water, the particles
of water present within the stream tend to get evaporated. The
evaporated water is absorbed by the air so its moisture content, thus
the humidity increases. At the same time, since the temperature of
the absorbed moisture is less than the DB bulb temperature of the air,
there is reduction in the overall temperature of the air.
Evaporative Cooling
• One of the most popular applications of cooling and humidification is
the evaporative cooler, also called as the desert cooler.
• The evaporative cooler is the sort of big box inside which is a small
water tank, small water pump and the fan. The water from the tank is
circulated by the pump and is also sprayed inside the box.
• The fan blows strong currents of air over the water sprays, thus
cooling the air and humidifying it simultaneously.
• The evaporative cooler is highly effective cooling devise having very
low initial and running cost compared to the unitary air conditioners.
For cooling purposes, the cooling and humidification process can be
used only in dry and hot climates like desert areas
Heating and Humidification
• In heating and humidification psychrometric process of the air, the
dry bulb temperature as well as the humidity of the air increases. The
heating and humidification process is carried out by passing the air
over spray of water, which is maintained at temperature higher than
the dry bulb temperature of air or by mixing air and the steam.
• When the ordinary air is passed over the spray of water maintained at
temperature higher than the dry bulb temperature of the air, the
moisture particles from the spray tend to get evaporated and get
absorbed in the air due to which the moisture content of the air
increase. At the same time, since the temperature of the moisture is
greater than the dry bulb temperature of the air, there is overall
increase in its temperature.
• During heating and humidification process the dry bulb, wet bulb, and
dew point temperature of the air increases along with its relative
humidity. The heating and humidification process is represented on
the psychrometric chart by an angular line that starts from the given
value of the dry bulb temperature and extends upwards towards right
Dehumidification
• The process in which the moisture or water vapor or the humidity is
removed from the air keeping its dry bulb (DB) temperature constant is
called as the dehumidification process.
• This process is represented by a straight vertical line on the psychrometric
chart starting from the initial value of relative humidity, extending
downwards and ending at the final value of the relative humidity.
• Like the pure humidification process, in actual practice the pure
dehumidification process is not possible, since the dehumidification is
always accompanied by cooling or heating of the air.
• Dehumidification process along with cooling or heating is used in number
of air conditioning applications.
 Cooling and Dehumidification

• The process in which the air is cooled sensibly and at the same time the
moisture is removed from it is called as cooling and dehumidification
process. Cooling and dehumidification process is obtained when the air at
the given dry bulb and dew point (DP) temperature is cooled below the
dew point temperature.
• When the air meets the cooling coil that is maintained at the temperature
below its dew point temperature, its DB temperature starts reducing. The
process of cooling continues and at some point, it reaches the value of dew
point temperature of the air. At this point, the water vapor within the air
starts getting converted into the dew particles due to which the dew is
formed on the surface of the cooling coil and the moisture content of the
air reduces thereby reducing its humidity level. Thus, when the air is cooled
below its dew point temperature, there is cooling as well as
dehumidification of air.
.
• In general, the cooling and dehumidification process is obtained by
passing the air over coil through which the cool refrigerant, chilled water
or cooled gas is passed.
• During the cooling and dehumidification process the dry bulb, wet bulb
and the dew point temperature of air reduces. Similarly, the sensible heat
and the latent heat of the air also reduce leading to overall reduction in
the enthalpy of the air. The cooling and dehumidification process is
represented by a straight angular line on the psychrometric chart. The line
starts from the given value of the DB temperature and extends
downwards towards left.
Heating and Dehumidification
• The process in which the air is heated and at the same time moisture is
removed from it is called as heating and dehumidification process.
• This process is obtained by passing the air over certain chemicals like
alumina and molecular sieves. These elements have inherent properties
due to which they keep on releasing the heat and have the tendency to
absorb the moisture. These are called as the hygroscopic chemicals.
• In actual practice the hygroscopic elements are enclosed in the large vessel
and the high-pressure air is passed inside the vessel through one opening.
When the air meets the chemicals the moisture from the air is absorbed
and since the chemicals emit heat, the DB temperature of the air increases.
The hot and dehumidified air comes out from the vessel through other
opening in the vessel. The inlet and outlet openings of the vessel are
controlled by the valve.
• During the heating and dehumidification process dry bulb
temperature of the air increases while its dew point and wet bulb
temperature reduces. On the psychrometric chart, this process is
represented by a straight angular line starting from the given DB
temperature conditions and extending downwards towards right to
the final DB temperature conditions.
o A molecular Sieve where

large molecule of vapor couldn’t

escape
Thank You

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