Water Vapour

Reviewed 12th July 2019

 Water Vapour
• Humidity: Qty. of water vapour in atmosphere.

• Absolute Humidity: Mass of Water Vapour contained in

a sample of air.

• Rel. Humidity: Percentage ratio of Actual water vapour

contained in a given sample of air, to the max. qty. of
water vapour that the sample can hold.
• R.H% = Present qty. of Water Vapour X 100
Max. Possible at that Temp.
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• If temp. of sample of air is raised, its capacity
to hold W.V. increases and assuming that no
W.V. is allowed to come in or go out of the
sample of air, relative humidity decreases –
the air becomes relatively drier. The opposite
happens if the sample of air is cooled – its Rel.
humidity increases
• RH ἁ / t
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• Saturation & Dew Point:
If a sample of air was progressively cooled, its R.H.
would steadily increase i.e., the air would become
relatively more moist. At some temp. the air
would become wet i.e., its R.H. would become
100%. The air is then said to be saturated & the
temp. at which this occurs is called the Dew point
temp. of that sample of air. Dew Pt. of a sample of
air would depend on its temp. & Rel. Humidity.
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• Both Rel. Humidity & Dew Pt. are found by
using Hygrometer or a psychrometer &
reading on one axis & diff. between wet & dry
readings on the other axis. The pt. of
intersection gives the Rel. Humidity & dew pt.
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• Sweat in a Cargo Hold: Sweat is the name given to condensation
which occurs in a ship’s cargo spaces. There are 3 types of sweat:
• ship’s sweat
• cargo sweat.
• Atmospheric Sweat
For sweat to occur there must be moisture in the hold atmosphere
and a difference of temperature between the air in the hold and
the cargo or the ship’s steelwork.
• The temperature difference usually occurs as the ship moves from
one climatic region to another or from a cold to a warm current
or vice versa, and the larger the change in temperature the more
likely is the formation of sweat.
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• Atmospheric Sweat: A hold contains very large volume of
air. Any Air brought in by ventilators at any instant is very
small compared to the volume of the hold. If the temp. of
air in the hold is low, the incoming air will be cooled
below its Dew pt., it will give off moisture. This would
condense as sweat on cargo & in the steel parts of the
hold & is liable to cause damage to the cargo. It is
therefore essential to compare the temp. of air in the
hold with dew pt. of outside air.
• If hold temp. < dew pt. of outside air, restrict ventilation.
• If hold temp. > dew pt. of outside air, ventilate freely.
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• Example: When ship is coming to India from Europe, in
winters. The ship, cargo & air in the hold are initially very
cold. Within a few days of the ship’s departure from
Europe, the vessel enters warmer regions. Though the
temp. of air outside is then much higher than before, the
cargo in the hold takes a week to increase its temp. by even
a couple of deg. Cel. Hence the temp. of the air in the hold
is very low due to its contact with the cold cargo & will
most probably be well below the dew pt. of the outside air.
If ventilation was allowed, the air entering the hold will give
off its moisture which will condense as sweat on all cold
surfaces in the hold & is liable to damage the cargo.
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• Under these circumstances, hold ventilation has
to be restricted nearly throughout t he passage
until the temp. of the air in the hold is above the
dew pt. of the outside air.
• On sophisticated ships carrying highly perishable
cargoes, where ventilation has to be done even
under the circumstances mentioned earlier, de-
humidifying units are fitted whereby the air
entering the hld is dried before hand so that sweat
does not form.
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• Cargo Sweat: Some cargoes such as hides, skins, ores
etc.., exude (give off) large quantities of W.V. making
rel. humidity of air inside the hold very high. The
slightest cooling would cause sweat to form on the
steel parts of the hold. This would drip on other
cargoes in the hold, possibly causing damage to them.
This can only be prevented by use of large capacity
exhaust fans (fitted on most cargo ships), using
dunnage to keep the cargo off the steel and covering
the top of the cargo in the hold with bamboo mats or
cardboard sheets.
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• Ship sweat: When the temperature of the sea is
much lower than that of the air above it, the under
water parts of the hold would be cooled by contact
with the sea. Hence sweat would form on the steel
parts of the hold below the waterline. This
normally would flow into the bilges. The use of
dunnage to keep the cargo off the steel parts of the
hold & also to keep it a few cms. Above the bottom
of the hold would suffice. Ventilation would also
help, in reducing the rel. humidity in the hold.
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• Fohn Wind Effect: It is the phenomenon
whereby the leeward side of a mountain range
is drier & warmer than the windward side.
This would be more pronounced if the wind
was blowing from the sea towards a coastal
mountain range, as the air would then be
moist. Fohn wind effect is the direct result of
the difference between the DALR & SALR of air
as illustrated below:
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• Imagine an onshore breeze, of 25 C temp. & 15 C dew pt.,
blowing against a mountain range 3Km. High.
• This onshore breeze begins to ascend & its temp. drops by 10
C. per Km. height (DALR). On reaching a height of 1 Km., the
temp. of air has fallen to 15 C., which is also its dew pt. The air
is then saturated. On ascending further the temp. drops by
abt. 5C / Km. height (SALR). The excess moisture in the air is
given off as orographic clouds & then heavy rain falls on the
windward side. On reaching the top, the air will still be
saturated & its temp. would be abt. 5 C. While descending on
the leeward side, the temp. of air would rise at 10 C/Km.
(DALR). This is because, once the temp. of the air
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Begins to rise even by a small amount, the air is not saturated
any more. On reaching sea level on the leeward side, the
temp. of air would have increased by 35 C. Since the same
air was saturated at 5 Cel. & no more W.V. has been let in
or taken out, the dew pt. of the descending air would be 5
C. Comparing the temp. & dew Pt. on the windward side
(temp. 25 C, dew pt. 5C.), it is clear that the leeward side is
warmer & drier than the windward side. It is also clear that
heavy precipitation occurs on the windward side and no
rain falls on the leeward side, which is hence referred to as
the ‘rain shadow area’ of the mountain range.