AIRCONDITIONING and Ventilation

System
Dew point
• This is defined as the temperature of saturated air which has
the same vapor pressure as the moist air under
consideration. It is not possible to express this definition in
the form of a simple equation by means of the ideal gas
laws. This is evident is more convenient to refer to tabulated
values when saturated vapor pressure is required. However,
provided such tables are available, we can determine the
dew point of air at a given psychrometric state and
barometric pressure.
• Calculate the dew point of moist air at a dry-bulb
temperature of 20 C and a moisture content of 0.00734 kg
per kg dry air at a barometric pressure of 95 kPa.
• If you live in a humid area, you are probably used to waking up most
summer mornings and finding the grass wet. You know it did not rain
the night before. So what happened? Well, the excess moisture in the
air simply condensed on the cool surfaces, forming what we call dew.
In summer, a considerable amount of water vaporizes during the day.
As the temperature falls during the night, so does the “moisture
capacity” of air, which is the maximum amount of moisture air can
hold. (What happens to the relative humidity during this process?)
After a while, the moisture capacity of air equals its moisture content.
At this point, air is saturated, and its relative humidity is 100 percent.
Any further drop in temperature results in the condensation of some
of the moisture, and this is the beginning of dew formation.
The dew-point temperature Tdp is defined as the temperature at
which condensation begins when the air is cooled at constant pressure.
In other words, Tdp is the saturation temperature of water
corresponding to the vapor pressure:
• Fogging of the Windows in a House In cold weather,
condensation frequently occurs on the inner surfaces of the
windows due to the lower air temperatures near the window
surface. Consider a house, shown in Fig. 14–10, that contains
air at 208C and 75 percent relative humidity. At what window
temperature will the moisture in the air start condensing on the
inner surfaces of the windows?
Enthalpy in practice
• h = hf + whg
• The value of temperature chosen for the zero of enthalpy is
0 for both dry air and liquid water. The relationship between
the enthalpy of dry air and its temperature is not quite linear
and values taken from NBS Circular 564 (1955), for the
standard atmospheric pressure of 101.325 kPa and suitably
modified for the chosen zero, form the basis of the CIBSE
tables of the properties of humid air. An approximate
equation for the enthalpy of dry air over the range 0 to 60 C
is, however hf = 1.007t - 0.026
• hg = 2501 + 1.84t
• h = (1.007t - 0.026) + w(2501 + 1.84t)
ADIABATIC SATURATION AND
WET-BULB TEMPERATURES
• Relative humidity and specific humidity are frequently used in
engineering and atmospheric sciences, and it is desirable to
relate them to easily measurable quantities such as
temperature and pressure. One way of determining the relative
humidity is to determine the dew-point temperature of air, as
discussed in the last section. Knowing the dew-point
temperature, we can determine the vapor pressure Pv and
thus the relative humidity. This approach is simple, but not
quite practical.
Wet-bulb temperature
• The wet-bulb temperature is a value indicated on an ordinary
thermometer, the bulb of which has been wrapped round
with a wick, moistened in water. The initial temperature of
the water used to wet the wick is of comparatively minor
significance, but the cleanliness of the wick and the radiant
heat exchange with surrounding surfaces are both important
factors that influence the temperature indicated by a wet-
bulb thermometer. On the other hand, the temperature of
adiabatic saturation is that obtained purely from an equation
representing an adiabatic heat exchange. It is somewhat
unfortunate, in air and water-vapor mixtures, that the two are
almost numerically identical at normal temperatures and
pressures, which is not so in mixtures of other gases and
vapors.
A more practical approach is to use a thermometer
whose bulb is covered with a cotton wick saturated
with water and to blow air over the wick, as shown
in Fig. The temperature measured in this manner is
called the wet-bulb temperature Twb, and it is
commonly used in air-conditioning applications.
The basic principle involved is similar to that in
adiabatic saturation. When unsaturated air passes
over the wet wick, some of the water in the wick
evaporates. As a result, the temperature of the
water drops, creating a temperature difference
(which is the driving force for heat transfer)
between the air and the water. After a while, the
heat loss from the water by evaporation equals the
heat gain from the air, and the water temperature
stabilizes. The thermometer reading at this point is
the wet-bulb temperature.
• Another way of determining the
absolute or relative humidity is
related to an adiabatic saturation
process, shown schematically and
on a T-s diagram in Fig. 14–11. The
system consists of a long insulated
channel that contains a pool of
water. A steady stream of
unsaturated air that has a specific
humidity of v1 (unknown) and a
temperature of T1 is passed through
this channel. As the air flows over
the water, some water evaporates
and mixes with the airstream. The
moisture content of air increases
during this process, and its
temperature decreases, since part
of the latent heat of vaporization of
the water that evaporates comes
from the air. If the channel is long
enough, the airstream exits as
saturated air (RH=100 percent) at
temperature T2, which is called the
adiabatic saturation temperature.
• The adiabatic saturation process discussed
above provides a means of determining the
absolute or relative humidity of air, but it requires
a long channel or a spray mechanism to achieve
saturation conditions at the exit.