Source: HVAC Systems Design Handbook

Chapter

20
Engineering Fundamentals: Part 4
Psychrometrics
20.1 Introduction Psychrometrics deals with the thermodynamic properties of moist air, which is the nal heat transfer medium in most air conditioning processes. The use of psychrometric tables and charts allows the designer to make a rational and graphic analysis of the desired air conditioning processes. The general use of psychrometric charts and data began with the publications of Dr. Willis Carrier in the 1920s. In the 1940s, a research project conducted at the University of Pennsylvania by professors Goff and Gratch and sponsored by the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE) resulted in new, more accurate data, which remained denitive until the results of further research were published in the 1980s. This chapter deals with the subject rather briey and simply but in sufcient depth to provide an adequate background for HVAC design. 20.2 Thermodynamic Properties of Moist Air

Moist air is a mixture of atmospheric air and water vapor. Dry air contains no water vapor. Saturated air contains all the water vapor it can hold at a specied temperature and pressure. The properties of moist air can be evaluated by the perfect gas laws with only a small degree of error, which is not signicant in most air conditioning processes. The properties of interest here are the dry-bulb (db), wet-bulb (wb), and dew point temperatures, humidity ratio, degree of saturation, relative humidity (RH), enthalpy, and density.
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20.2.1 Temperatures

The dry-bulb temperature, Tdb, is the temperature of the moist air read on an ordinary thermometer. When not otherwise dened, temperature means the dry-bulb temperature. In this text the Fahrenheit scale is used. The wet-bulb temperature, Twb, is measured by a thermometer on which the bulb is covered with a wetted cloth wick. Air is blown across the wick or the thermometer is moved rapidly through the air (the sling psychrometer), resulting in a cooling effect due to water evaporation. The amount of water evaporated, and therefore the cooling effect, is limited by the presence of the moisture already in the air. The temperature obtained in this way is not the same as the thermodynamic wet-bulb temperature used in calculating psychrometric tables, but the error is small. The difference between the dry- and wet-bulb temperatures is sometimes called the wetbulb depression. The dew point temperature, Td,p , of moist air is dened by cooling the air until it is saturated and moisture begins to condense out of the mixture. For saturated air these three temperatures are equal, as shown by their intersection on the saturation curve of the psychrometric chart.
20.2.2 Humidity Ratio

The humidity ratio, w, is the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the mass of the dry air in a sample of moist air. The specic humidity is the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the total mass of the moist air sample. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, they are not identical.
20.2.3 Degree of Saturation

The degree or percentage of saturation, is the humidity ratio w of a moist air sample divided by the humidity ratio ws of saturated air at the same temperature and pressure: w/ws
20.2.4 Relative Humidity

(20.1)

The relative humidity, , is the ratio of the mole fraction of water vapor, Xw, in a moist air sample to the mole fraction of saturated air, Xws , at the same temperature and pressure. The relative humidity is expressed as a percentage, from 0 percent (dry air) to 100 percent (saturated air). It can also be dened in terms of the partial pressures of the water vapor in the samples: Pw/Pws (20.2) Relative humidity values differ from percentage of humidity except at 0 and 100 percent.

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Engineering Fundamentals: Part 4 Psychrometrics

Engineering Fundamentals: Part 4 20.2.5 Enthalpy

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The enthalpy, h, is the total heat of a sample of material, in BTU per pound, including internal energy. In the ASHRAE tables and charts the value of the enthalpy of dry air is arbitrarily set to 0 at 0F. This is satisfactory in terms of enthalpy differences, but enthalpy ratios may not be used. The enthalpy of a moist air sample is: h Where ha w hg h enthalpy of dry air in sample humidity ratio in sample enthalpy of water vapor in sample (as a gas) total enthalpy of sample (All measurements are at temperature of sample.) ha whg (20.3)

20.2.6 Volume and Density

The volume of a moist air sample is expressed in terms of unit massin this text in cubic feet per pound. The density is the reciprocal of volume in pounds per cubic foot. 20.3 Tables of Properties

The above described properties and others are tabulated in Table 20.1, which is abstracted from an ASHRAE Table. Table 20.1 is calculated for moist air at the standard atmospheric pressure of 14.696 psi (29.921 inches Hg). At any other atmospheric pressure the data will be different because the partial pressure of water vapor is a function of temperature only, independent of pressure (section 20.7). It is possible to calculate new values for a table similar to Table 20.1 at a different atmospheric pressure by starting from the standard values in the table.2 More accurately, new tables should be calculated by using the basic psychrometric equations. 20.4 Psychrometric Charts

The psychrometric chart is a graphical representation of psychrometric properties. It is probably the most essential item in the HVAC designers calculations. There are many charts available from equipment manufacturers and other sources. In this text the ASHRAE chart (Figure 20.1) is used. This chart is for sea level elevation in a dry-bulb temperature range from 32 to 120F. Charts for other temperature ranges and elevations are available (section 20.7).

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TABLE 20.1

Thermodynamic properties of moist air.

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TABLE 20.1

(Continued)

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Figure 20.1

The ASHRAE psychrometric chart. (SOURCE: Copyright 2001, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc. Reprinted by permission.)

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The basic coordinate grid lines of the ASHRAE chart are the enthalpy, which slopes up to the left, and the humidity ratio, which is horizontal. The slope of the enthalpy lines is calculated to provide the best possible intersections of property lines. Dry-bulb lines are uniformly spaced and approximately vertical; the slope of the lines changes across the chart. Wet-bulb lines slope similarly to enthalpy lines, but the slope increases as the temperature increases and no wet-bulb line is parallel to an enthalpy line. This is because of the heat added to the mixture as it changes from dry to saturated air. Spacing between the wet-bulb lines increases with temperature. The enthalpy lines (except every fth line) are shown only at the edges of the chart to avoid confusion. A straightedge is needed to determine the value of enthalpy within the chart. Volume lines are uniformly spaced and parallel. Relative humidity lines are curved, with the 100 percent (saturation) line dening the upper boundary of the chart. These lines are not uniformly spaced. Percentage of saturation lines would be uniformly spaced but are not used in HVAC design. When any two properties of a moist air sample are known, a state point may be plotted on the chart (Figure 20.2). This point identies the values of all the other properties. Usually the most known properties are those most easily measuredi.e., dry- and wet-bulb temperatures, relative humidity, or dew point temperature.

Figure 20.2

A state point on the psychrometric chart.

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20.5

HVAC Processes on the Psychrometric Chart

Any HVAC process may be plotted on the chart if the end state points are known or, sometimes, if only the beginning state point is known.
20.5.1 Mixing of Two Air Streams

A very common HVAC process is the adiabatic mixing of two air streams e.g., return air and outside air or hot and cold streams in a dual-duct or multizone system. The ASHRAE chart is a Mollier-type. On the Mollier chart, a mixing process may be shown as a straight line connecting two initial state points (Figure 20.3, points A and B). The mixture state, point C, will be on the line, so located that it divides the line into two segments with lengths proportional to the two initial air masses. The mixture point will be closer to the initial point with the larger mass. In the gure, if the volume at point A is 7000 CFM, and the volume at point B is 3000 CFM, then line AC will be three units long and line BC will be seven units long. The state point values at point C can be read from the chart. They can also be calculated from the tables, but the graphical solution is much faster unless a high degree of accuracy is required.

Figure 20.3

Mixing of two air streams.

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20.5.2 Sensible Heating and Cooling

The word sensible implies that the heating or cooling takes place at a constant humidity ratio. These processes are shown on horizontal lines constant values of wwith the dry-bulb temperature increasing for heating (line AB in Figure 20.4) and decreasing for cooling (line CD in Figure 20.4). Note that although the humidity ratio remains constant, there is a change in the relative humidity. As the dry-bulb temperature increases, the air will hold more moisture at saturation.
20.5.3 Cooling and Dehumidifying

Most refrigerated cooling processes also include dehumidication (Figure 20.5). The process is shown as a straight line sloping down and to the left from the initial state point. As discussed in section 10.7.2, the real process involves sensible cooling to saturation, then further cooling down the saturation curve to an apparatus dew point (ADP). Some air is bypassed through the cooling coil without being cooled. The nal state is, therefore, a mixture of the initial state and the ADP, usually very close to the ADP.
20.5.4 Adiabatic Saturation

If an air stream is passed through a water spray (Figure 20.6) in such a way that the leaving air is saturated adiabatically, then the process can be

Figure 20.4

Sensible heating and cooling.

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Figure 20.5

Cooling and dehumidifying.

shown on the chart as a constant-wet-bulb process (Figure 20.7), and the nal wet- and dry-bulb temperatures are equal. In practice this process is called evaporative cooling, and saturation is not achieved (Figure 20.8). The efciency of an air washer or evaporative cooler is the ratio of the dry-bulb temperature difference from point one to point two to the initial difference between the dry- and wet-bulb temperatures: Eff = tdb tdb
1 1 2

tdb twb

(20.4)

Figure 20.6

Adiabatic saturation process.

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Figure 20.7

Adiabatic saturation.

Figure 20.8

Evaporative cooling.

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The evaporative cooling or air washer process creates a sensible cooling effect by lowering the dry-bulb temperature but increasing the relative humidity in so doing.
20.5.5 Humidication

As noted above, moisture may be added and humidity increased by the evaporative cooling process. This usually requires reheat or mixing for accurate temperature control. The more common humidication process involves the use of steam or sometimes a heated evaporator pan (section 11.19). On the psychrometric chart humidication by means of a steam humidier is shown in Figure 20.9 as a straight line sloping upward (increasing humidity) and to the right (heat added by steam). The slope of the line can be calculated from the masses of the air stream and the added water vapor, together with their heat contents, as shown in the examples in sections 11.19.2 and 11.19.3 20.6 The Protractor on the ASHRAE Psychrometric Chart

Figure 20.1 includes a protractor above and to the left of the main chart. One of the most important uses of the protractor is in determining the slope of the condition line for the air being supplied to a space to offset sensible and latent cooling loads. First, the sensible heat/total heat ratio,

Figure 20.9

Steam or heated pan humidier.

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S/I, is calculated based on the design load calculations. For example, if the total cooling load is 125,000 BTUH, and the sensible load is 100,000 BTUH, the ratio is 0.80. Next, a line is plotted on the protractor from the origin to the value of the ratio, as shown in Figure 20.10. The state point corresponding to the design room condition of, say, 76F db and 50 percent relative humidity (RH) is located on the chart. A line is drawn from this state point toward the saturation curve, parallel to the line on the protractor. The point of intersection of this line with the saturation curve is the apparatus dew point (ADP). The state point of the air being supplied to the room must be somewhere on this line on the chart. In this example there is an apparatus dew point (ADP) of about 52F, so the process can be accomplished without reheat. If the sensible/total heat ratio was 0.60, as shown by the dashed line on the protractor, the process on the chart, also shown dashed, would have no ADP and would be impossible to accomplish directly. An arbitrary ADP would be established and reheat would be added, as shown. The other scale on the protractor, based on the enthalpy divided by the humidity ratio, can be used to determine the slope of a humidication process.

Figure 20.10

Using the protractor.

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20.7

Effects of Altitude

The tables and the chart of Figure 20.1 are based on a standard atmospheric pressure of 29.92 inches Hg. The partial pressure of water vapor is a function of temperature only, while the total atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. The rule of thumb is that the standard chart and tables are sufciently accurate up to 2000 or even 3000 feet above sea level. At higher elevations new tables and charts are needed.2 High-altitude charts are available from several sources. ASHRAE publishes charts for 5000 and 7000 feet. The U.S. Bureau of Mines publishes a composite chart for various elevations below sea level down to 10,000 feet. The general effect of increasing altitude is to expand the chart (Figure 20.11). For a uniform grid of enthalpy and humidity ratios, as the altitude increases and atmospheric pressures decreases, the lines dening the other properties change: Dry-bulb temperature lines are unchanged. Wet-bulb temperature lines expand up and to the right. Relative humidity lines, including saturation, expand up and to the left. Volume lines expand up and to the right.

Figure 20.11

Effects of altitude.

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For a given combination of dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures, the change in relative humidity is very small and, for most air conditioning processes, can be ignored. 20.8 Summary

This discussion of psychrometrics has been brief. The subject is very important to the HVAC designer, and further study is recommended. Every set of HVAC design calculations should include one or more psychrometric charts, reecting the anticipated performance of the system being designed. References
1. ASHRAE Handbook, 2005 Fundamentals, Chapter 6, Psychrometrics. 2. R.W. Haines, How to Construct High-Altitude Psychrometric Charts, Heating, Piping, and Air Conditioning , October 1961, p. 144.

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