ME-3521

MECHANICALEQUIPMENT

Md. Osman Ali

PSYCROMETRY
Lecturer
Dept. of ME
DUET, Gazipur
 PSYCROMETRY
 Atmospheric air makes up the environment in
almost every type of air conditioning system. Hence a
thorough understanding of the properties of atmospheric
air and the ability to analyze various processes involving
air is fundamental to air conditioning design.
 Psychrometry is the study of the properties of
mixtures of air and water vapor.
 Often a wet-bulb thermometer is mounted
together with a dry-bulb thermometer to form an
instrument called a psychrometer.
 Psychrometers can be of two types. (a) Sling
psychrometer. (b) Aspirating psychrometer.

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 PSYCROMETER

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR
 Atmospheric air is a mixture of many gases plus water vapour and a number
of pollutants (Fig.). The amount of water vapour and pollutants vary from place
to place. The concentration of water vapour and pollutants decrease with altitude,
and above an altitude of about 10 km, atmospheric air consists of only dry air. The
pollutants have to be filtered out before processing the air. Hence, what we process
is essentially a mixture of various gases that constitute air and water vapour. This
mixture is known as moist air.
 The moist air can be thought of as a mixture of dry air and moisture. For all practical
purposes, the composition of dry air can be considered as constant.


ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR
 As mentioned before the air to be processed in air conditioning systems is
a mixture of dry air and water vapor. While the composition of dry air is
constant, the amount of water vapor present in the air may vary
from zero to a maximum depending upon the temperature and
pressure of the mixture (dry air + water vapor).
 Absolutely dry air does not exist in the free atmosphere – it always
contains a certain amount of water vapor. Moist air is thus a mixture
of dry air and water vapor.
 At a given temperature and pressure the dry air can only hold a certain
maximum amount of moisture. When the moisture content is
maximum, then the air is known as saturated air.
 In order to perform air conditioning calculations, it is essential first to
estimate various properties of air.
ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 BASIC GAS LAWS FOR MOIST AIR

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 IMPORTANT PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES
 Though there are many psychrometric terms, yet the following are important
from the subject point of view.
 Dry air: The pure dry air is a mixture of number of gases such as nitrogen,
oxygen, carbon-dioxide, hydrogen, argon etc. But the nitrogen and oxygen have
the major portion of the combination.
 Moist air: It is a mixture of dry air and water vapor. The amount of water
vapor present in the air depends upon the absolute pressure and temperature of
the mixture.
 Dry bulb temperature (DBT): DBT is the
temperature of the moist air as measured by a
standard thermometer.
 Wet bulb temperature (WBT): It is the
temperature of air recorded by a thermometer,
when its bulb is surrounded by a wet cloth.
 Wet bulb depression: It is the difference
between DBT and WBT.

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Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 IMPORTANT PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 IMPORTANT PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES
 Humidity/Humidity ratio/Specific humidity: The humidity ratio ω of an air–water
vapor mixture is defined as the ratio of the mass of water vapor (mv) to the mass of dry air
(ma). The term dry air is used to emphasize that this refers only to air and not to the water
vapor. The terms specific humidity or absolute humidity are used synonymously with
humidity ratio.
 It is the mass of water vapor present in 1kg of dry air. It is generally expressed in terms
gm/kg of dry air.
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟
So humidity, ω=
𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 (𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝑔)

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 IMPORTANT PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES
 Saturated air: At a given temperature and pressure the dry air can only hold a
certain maximum amount of moisture. When the moisture content is maximum, then
the air is known as saturated air. For example, at atmospheric pressure (101.325 KPa)
and 20C temperature the air can hold only 14.6 gm of water vapor. This is the
saturated condition for 20C and 101.325 KPa pressure.
 Relative humidity: It is the ratio of actual mass/amount of water vapor in a given
volume of air to the mass/amount of water vapor in the same volume of saturated air
at the same temperature and pressure.
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟
=
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 IMPORTANT PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES
 Dew point temperature (DPT): It is the temperature of air recorded by a thermometer,
when the moisture (water vapor) begins to condense. Very clearly it is the temperature of air
when the relative humidity is 100%.

 Dew point depression: It is the difference between DBT and DPT.

 Absolute humidity: It is the mass of water vapour present in 1

m^3 of dry air, and is generally expressed in terms of g/m^3 of dry
air. It is also expressed in terms of grains per cubic meter of dry air.

 Enthalpy (Total Heat) of moist air: Enthalpy of moist air indicates the total amount of
heat (energy) available within the moist air at a particular temperature and humidity.
 Change of enthalpy is the amount of heat (energy) required to change the temperature
and humidity of air.
 Degree of saturation: The degree of saturation is the ratio of the humidity ratio W to
the humidity ratio of a saturated mixture Ws at the same temperature and pressure

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Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 ENTHALPY (TOTAL HEAT)
Atmospheric air is a mixture of dry air and water vapor, and thus the enthalpy of air is
expressed in terms of the enthalpies of the dry air and the water vapor. In most practical
applications, the amount of dry air in the air– water vapor mixture remains constant,
but the amount of water vapor changes. Therefore, the enthalpy of atmospheric air is
expressed per unit mass of dry air instead of per unit mass of the air–water vapor
mixture. The total enthalpy (an extensive property) of atmospheric air is the sum of the
enthalpies of dry air and the water vapor:

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Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 IMPORTANT PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
 An air temperature of 20 °C and an air pressure of 101.325 KPa, the
saturation point is reached when the water content is 14.6 g/kg air. If
this kilogram of air, however, now only holds 7.3 gm of water vapor.
Find out the relative humidity.

Solution:
Relative humidity (r.h.)

7.3 𝑔/𝐾𝑔
= = 50 %.
14.6 𝑔/𝐾𝑔

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
Consider 100 m3 of an air–water vapor mixture at 0.1 MPa, 35◦C, and 70% relative humidity. Calculate
the humidity ratio, dew point, mass of air, and mass of vapor. Assume Pg = 5.628 kpa
Solution:

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Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM

Solution:

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Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
A 5-m × 5-m × 3-m room shown in Fig. contains air at 25°C and 100 kPa at a
relative humidity of 75 percent. Determine (a) the partial pressure of dry air, (b)
the specific humidity, (c) the enthalpy per unit mass of the dry air, and (d) the
masses of the dry air and water vapor in the room.

SOLUTION

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
A tank contains 15 kg of dry air and 0.17 kg of water vapor at 30°C and 100 kPa total
pressure. Determine (a) the specific humidity, (b) the relative humidity, and (c) the
volume of the tank. The saturation pressure of water at 30°C, Pg = Psat = = 4 2469 kPa
SOLUTION

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
An 8-m3 tank contains saturated air at 30°C, 105 kPa. Determine (a) the mass of dry
air, (b) the specific humidity, and (c) the enthalpy of the air per unit mass of the dry
air.
SOLUTION

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
Determine the masses of dry air and the water vapor contained in a 90-m3 room at 93 kPa, 26°C,
and 50 percent relative humidity
SOLUTION

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
 MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM
Determine the masses of dry air and the water vapor contained in a 90-m3 room at
93 kPa, 15°C, and 50 percent relative humidity. Answers: 100 kg, 0.578 kg

ME-3501
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur-1707 MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT