Air Conditioning System Design lecture No.

(1)

Psychrometric
Psychrometrics can be simply explained and is solidly based on:
(1) The ideal gas equation,
(2) Dalton’s model of partial pressures,
(3) Conservation of energy, and
(4) Conservation of mass.
major features of the psychrometric chart:
(1) The saturation line: this is the line of 100% relative humidity, and
represents the locus of thermodynamic states that can hold the maximum
amount of water in purely vapor form.
(2) The enthalpy: as commonly used, but with units of Joules per kilogram
of the dry air in the mixture.
(3) The humidity ratio (w): the mass of water vapor in the mixture per unit
mass of dry air, i.e.
𝑚𝑤
𝑤=
𝑚𝑎
(4) The wet bulb temperature (Tw) (or the ‘saturation temperature’): is the
temperature at which water evaporating into moist air at a given dry-bulb
temperature and humidity ratio can bring air to saturation adiabatically at the
same pressure p.
(5) The relative humidity (∅): is the ratio of the mole fraction of water
vapor in a given sample of moist air to the mole fraction of water vapor in air
saturated at the same temperature and pressure. It is also the ratio of the partial
pressure of water vapor to the partial pressure of water vapor in air saturated
at the same temperature and pressure. The relative humidity is the colloquial
way of expressing moisture content.

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Air Conditioning System Design lecture No.(1)

𝑥𝑤 𝑝𝑤
∅= =
𝑥𝑤𝑥 𝑝𝑤𝑥
(6) The specific volume (v): as commonly used, but with units of mixture
volume per kilogram of the dry air.
(7) The dew point temperature (D.P): is the temperature of moist air
saturated at the same pressure and humidity ratio as a given specimen of
humid air. If we cool it further, water will start condensing and separates out
as fog/dew, hence the name.
(8) The saturation humidity ratio: is the humidity ratio of moist air that is
saturated with water vapor at the same temperature and pressure.
(9) Wet bulb depression: it is the difference between dry blub temperature
and wet bulb temperature at any point. The wet bulb depression indicates
relative humidity of the air.

Psychrometric processes
Sensible Heating or cooling
The addition or removal of heat, without any change in the moisture
content (i.e. the humidity ratio w), must result in a change of the dry bulb
temperature (DBT). The state will move horizontally left (cooling) or right
(heating):

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Air Conditioning System Design lecture No.(1)

The amount of heat transferred to/from the mixture is of course governed by:
𝑞ℎ = 𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝐵 − ℎ𝑜 ) = 𝑚𝑎 𝑐𝑝𝑚 ( 𝑇𝐵 − 𝑇𝑜 )
𝑞𝑐 = 𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑎 ) = 𝑚𝑎 𝑐𝑝𝑚 ( 𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑎 )
where 𝑐𝑝𝑚 is the humid specific heat (≈1.0216 kJ/kg dry air)

Cooling and dehumidification (Process O-C):

When moist air is cooled below its dew-point by bringing it in contact with a
cold surface, some of the water vapor in the air condenses and leaves the air
stream as liquid, as a result both the temperature and humidity ratio of air
decreases as shown. This is the process air undergoes in a typical air
conditioning system. Although the actual process path will vary depending
upon the type of cold surface, the surface temperature, and flow conditions,
for simplicity the process line is assumed to be a straight line. The heat and
mass transfer rates can be expressed in terms of the initial and final conditions
by applying the conservation of mass and conservation of energy equations as
given below:
By applying mass balance for the water:
𝑚𝑎 𝑤𝑜 = 𝑚𝑎 𝑤𝑐 + 𝑚𝑤

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Air Conditioning System Design lecture No.(1)

By applying energy balance:

𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑜 = 𝑄𝑡 + 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤 + 𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑐
𝑄𝑡 is given by:
𝑄𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑐 ) − 𝑚𝑎 ( 𝑚𝑜 − 𝑚𝑐 )ℎ𝑤
𝑄𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎 [(ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑐 ) − ( 𝑚𝑜 − 𝑚𝑐 )ℎ𝑤 ]
Term (( 𝑚𝑜 − 𝑚𝑐 )ℎ𝑤 ) is normally small compared to the other terms, so
it can be neglected. Hence,
𝑄𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑐 )
The temperature Ts is the effective surface temperature of the cooling
coil, and is known as apparatus dew-point (ADP) temperature. In an ideal
situation, when all the air comes in perfect contact with the cooling coil
surface, then the exit temperature of air will be same as ADP of the coil.
However, in actual case the exit temperature of air will always be greater than
the apparatus dew-point temperature due to boundary layer development as
air flows over the cooling coil surface and also due to temperature variation
along the fins etc. (Some of the air flowing through the coil impinges on the
water tubes or the fins and is cooled to the ADP. Other air passes through
unchanged. The percentage of air that passes through the coil unchanged
is called the bypass factor).we can define a by-pass factor (BF) as:
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Air Conditioning System Design lecture No.(1)

𝑇𝑐 − 𝑇𝑠 𝑤𝑐 − 𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑐 − ℎ𝑠
𝐵𝐹 = = =
𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑠 𝑤𝑜 − 𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑠

It can be easily seen that, higher the by-pass factor larger will be the
difference between air outlet temperature and the cooling coil temperature.
When BF is 1.0, all the air by-passes the coil and there will not be any cooling
or de-humidification. In practice, the by-pass factor can be increased by
increasing the number of rows in a cooling coil or by decreasing the air
velocity or by reducing the fin pitch.
Alternatively, a contact factor (CF) can be defined which is given by:
𝐶𝐹 = 1 − 𝐵𝐹
𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑐 𝑤𝑜 − 𝑤𝑐 ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑐
𝐶𝐹 = = =
𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑠 𝑤𝑜 − 𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑠
Sensible heat ratio (SHR)
The ratio of the sensible heat to total heat is known Sensible heat ratio Sensible
heat factor.
𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑆𝐻 ℎ𝑤 −ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑤 −ℎ𝑐
𝑆𝐻𝑅 = = = (ℎ𝑤 −ℎ𝑐 )+(ℎ𝑜 −ℎ𝑤 )
=
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑆𝐻+𝐿𝐻 ℎ𝑜 − ℎ𝑐

Ex.(1): In a cooling application, moist air enters a refrigeration coil at the rate
of 100 kg of dry air per minute at 35°C and 50% RH. The apparatus dew point
of coil is 5°C and by-pass factor is 0.15. Determine the outlet state of moist
air and cooling capacity of coil in TR.

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Air Conditioning System Design lecture No.(1)

Ex.(2): The atmospheric air at 30°C dry bulb temperature and 75% relative
humidity enters a cooling coil at the rate of 200 m3/min. The coil dew point
temperature is 14°C and the by-pass factor of the coil is 0.1. Determine: 1.The
temperature of air leaving the cooling coil; 2.The capacity of the cooling coil
in tones of refrigeration and in kilowatt; 3. The amount of water vapor
removed per minute; and 4. The sensible heat factor for the process.