Mixing

When air at one condition is mixed with air at another condition, the condition of the final mixture can be
shown on the psychrometric chart by a point on a line joining the points indicating the original condition. The
exact location of the final point will depend upon the masses of the original air quantities.

One common application of mixing is air mixing of the outdoor air (OA) and recirculated/returned air
(RA) from conditioned space as shown in Fig. 40.

Figure 40 Mixing of outside air and return air.

The following equations apply to the mixture of two quantities of air. Subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the two
streams of air and subscript 3 refers to the mixture.

 mass balance (dry air):

m3 = m1 + m2

 mass balance (water vapor):

m3W3 = m1W1 + m2W2

W3 = m1W1 + m2W2
m3 Figure 41 Adiabatic mixing of air of air streams.

 Energy balance (moist air):

m3h3 = m1h1 + m2h2

h3 = m1h1 + m2h2
m3

 Approximate formula:

m3td3 = m1td1 + m2td2 m3tdp3 = m1tdp1 + m2tdp2

td3 = m1td1 + m2td2 tdp3 = m1tdp1 + m2tdp2

m3 m3
Mixing Sample Problems

1.) One half cubic meter per second of air at 15oC DB and 13oC WB are mixed with 0.20 m3/sec of air at 25oC
DB and 18oC WB temperatures. Determine (a) the dry bulb, wet bulb, and dew point temperatures of the
mixture, and (b) the enthalpy of the mixture.

Solution: From the psychrometric chart:

For the first stream: At td1 = 15oC and tw1 = 13oC

W1 = 0.0085 kg/kg d..a. v1 = 0.825 m3/kg.da.

For the second stream: At td2 = 25oC and tw1 = 18oC

W2 = 0.011 kg/kg d..a. v2 = 0.858 m3/kg d.a.

m1 = V1 = 0.50 m3/sec = 0.606 kg/sec

v1 0.825 m3/sec

m2 = V2 = 0.20 m3/sec = 0.233 kg/sec

v2 0.858 m3/sec

m3 = m1 + m2 = 0.606 + 0.233 = 0.839 kg/sec

td3 = m1td1 + m2td2 = 0.606 (15) + 0.233 (25) = 17.8oC

m3 0.839

W3 = m1W1 + m2W2 = 0.606 (0.0085) + 0.233 (0.011) = 0.0092 kg/kg

m3 0.839 kg/kg.d.a.

Alternative Solution:

From the psychrometric chart at td3 = 17.8oC and W3 = 0.0092

tw3 = 14.5oC; tdp3 = 12.5oC; h3 = 41 kJ/kg

2.) Outdoor air at 35oC DB and 24oC WB temperatures is to be mixed with room air at 26oC DB and 50% RH.
The final mixture is to consist of one-third outdoor air and two-thirds return air from room. Find the
resulting dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures. Ans: td3 = 29oC; tw3 = 20.7oC

Solution:

Outdoor air (1): td1 = 35oC tw1 = 24oC

Room air (2): td2 = 26oC Ø2 = 50%

Mixture (3)

m1 = 1/3 m3

m2 = 2/3 m3

td3 = m1td1 + m2td2 = (1/3) (m3) (35) + (2/3) (m3) (26) = 29oC
m3 m3

Using Psychrometric chart tw3 = 20.7oC

Alternate solution: By Graphical Method

Divide line 1-2 into three equal parts. Point 3 is one is one-third of the line from point 2. Then read td3
and tw3.

3.) A stream of outdoor air is mixed with stream of return air in air conditioning system that operates at
101.325 kPa pressure. The flow rate of outdoor air is 2 kg/sec, and its condition is 35 oC DB and 25oC WB
temperature. The low rate of return air is 3 kg/sec, and its condition is 24oC DB and 50% RH. Determine
(a) enthalpy of the mixture, (b) the humidity ratio of the mixture, and (c) the dry bulb temperature of the
mixture. Ans: (a) 59 kJ/kg, (b) 0.012 kg/kgd.d.a. (c) 28.5oC