DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc.

in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121

UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

BASICS OF PSYCHROMETRICS

8/31/2014 Copyright 2014 © Chandana Dalugoda. 1

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

SKELETON PSYCHROMETRIC CHART

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121

Psychrometric Definitions
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

1. Dry-bulb Temperature – Temperature as registered

by an ordinary thermometer
2. Wet-bulb Temperature – Temperature as registered
by a thermometer with the
bulb covered by a wetted
wick and exposed to
moving air
3. Dew point Temperature – Temperature at which
condensation of moisture
begins when the air is
cooled

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

4. Relative Humidity – Ratio of actual water vapour

pressure of air to the saturated
water vapour pressure of air at the
same temperature
5. Specific Humidity - Weight of water vapour in grams
(Moisture Content) or Kg per Kg
of dry air
6. Enthalpy - Quantity of heat in the air above
an arbitrary datum, in KJ/Kg. of
dry air.
(the datum for dry air is 0oC and
moisture content, water at 0oC)
7. Barometric Pressure- the force per unit area exerted
by the weight of a column of air
above a specific location in Pa.
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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Sensible Heat Factor - Ratio of Sensible Heat to

Total Heat

Alignment Circle - Located at 24oC DB and

50% RH used with sensible
heat factor to plot
various air
conditioning processes.

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Useful conversion factors

Enthalpy Btu / lb of dry air x 2.33 gives

KJ / Kg of dry air

Mass 1 lb = 7000 grains = 0.454 Kg

Flow rate Cubic feet / min x 0.472 gives l / sec

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

History- Psychrometric Pioneers

• Observation & Philosophical Period
– Aanaximenes of Miletus, (6th Centery B.C.) Greek Philosopher in 570
B.C. to Gaius, Plinus Secundus, (23-79 A.D.)– Roman Naturalist.
• The Experimental Science Period
– Alberti, Leone Battista (1414-1472) Italian Philosopher to Bockmann,
Carl Wilhelm, Jr (1773-1821), German.
• The Beginning of Unifying Theory Regarding The Behavior of Air
And Water Vapour
– Dalton, John (1766-1844), English Scientist to Swann, W. F. G.,
English Scientist
• Transition From Empirical To Rational Period
– Carrier, Willis H. (1876-1950) to Keenan Joseph H. and Keyes,
Fred G. (1936), professors of MIT, USA.
• The Mature Science Period
– Goodman, William (1903-1993) Consulting engineer Chicago, Illinois
to Nelson, H.F. and Sauer, H. J. (2001), USA
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Skeleton Psychrometric Chart

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Skeleton Psychrometric Chart

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Psychrometric Properties
of Air
• Dry-bulb temperature
• Wet-bulb temperature
• Dew-point temperature
• Relative humidity
• Humidity ratio

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Dry-Bulb Temperature

Dry-bulb temperatures are read from an

ordinary thermometer that has a dry bulb.

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Wet-Bulb Temperature

Wet-bulb temperatures are read from a thermometer

whose bulb is covered by a wet wick. The difference
between the wet-bulb temperature and the dry-bulb
temperature is caused by the cooling effect produced by
the evaporation of moisture from the wick.
This evaporation effect reduces the temperature of the
bulb and, therefore, the thermometer reading.
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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121

Dew-point
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Condensation Occurs at Dew Point

The third property, dew-point

temperature, is the
temperature at which moisture
leaves the air and condenses
8/31/2014
on objects, just as dew forms on
Copyright 2014 © Chandana Dalugoda. 13
grass and plant leaves.

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Relative Humidity

50% 100%
(saturated)
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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Relative Humidity
Amount of moisture that a
given amount of air is holding
Relative
Humidity = Amount of moisture that a given
amount of air can hold
The fourth property, relative humidity, is a comparison of
the amount of moisture that a given amount of air is
holding, to the amount of moisture that the same amount
of air can hold, at the same dry-bulb temperature.

Definition
The ratio of the actual water vapour pressure to the
saturated water vapour pressure at the same dry bulb
temperature
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Relative Humidity
Ø = Ps / Pss x 100

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Humidity Ratio
Finally, humidity ratio
describes the actual weight of
water in an air – water vapor
mixture.

Humidity ratio can be

expressed as Kg of moisture
per Kg of dry air, or as grams
of moisture per Kg of dry air.

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Barometric Pressure
The force per unit area exerted by the weight of a
column of air above a specific location in Pa.

P Barr = 101.325 (1-2.25577 x 10-5 x Z) 5.256

Where
P Barr = Yearly mean local barometric
pressure at location with units of KPa
Z = altitude (elevation) in m

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Fog Occurs When Air is Saturated

When the dry-bulb, wet-bulb, and dew-point temperatures
are the same, the air is saturated. It can hold no more
moisture. When air is at a saturated condition, moisture
Fog area of the
entering the air displaces moisture within the air. The Psychrometric
chart
displaced moisture leaves the air in the form of fine
droplets. When this condition occurs in nature, it is called
fog

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Sling Psychrometer

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Sling Psychrometer

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Summer Design Conditions

• 38.5°C DB (dry bulb)
• 28.3°C WB (wet bulb)

For example, let's assume that the summer design

conditions are 38.5°C dry bulb and 28.3°C wet bulb.
What is the relative humidity, humidity ratio, and dew
Copyright 2014 © Chandana Dalugoda.
8/31/2014 point? 22

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Temperature & RH
» Comparison of outdoor conditions of
deferent locations
˃ Figure below shows London outdoor conditions are closer to
standard indoor conditions in summer cooling.

Unit Colombo Chennai Delhi London

dry bulb °C 33 38.5 43.8 28.3

wet bulb °C 28 28.3 29.6 19.8

RH % 68 46 36 52

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Psychrometric
Chart

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Psychrometric Chart

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Given 32oC DB and 27oC WB
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA
Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121

What is the dew-point temperature RH%

27°C WB

25.3°C DP

32°C DB

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121

Given 30oC db and 40% RH

UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

What is the wet bulb temperature

20.4°C WB

30°C DB

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations
Given 15oC db and 12oC wb, what is the
Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

moisture content and enthalpy

34 KJ/Kg 27°C WB
0.0208 Kg/Kg

32°C DB

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Basic Psychrometric Processes

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Psychrometric Processes

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Psychrometric Processes

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
Sensible
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA
Sensible Cooling cooling
tDB2 > tDB1
tWB2 > twb1
RH2 < RH1
w2 = w1
h2 > h1
Vs2 > VsB1
h2

No change
in moisture
h1 content

1 Sensible Cooling Ø2
2
w1=w2
Ø1

t1 t2
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
Sensible
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA
Sensible Heating Heating
tDB1 < tDB2
tWB1 < Twb2
RH1 > RH2
w1 = w2
h1 < h2
Vs1 < VsB2
h2

No change
in moisture
h1 content

1 Sensible Heating Ø2
2
w1=w2
Ø1

t1 t2
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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
C & DH
Humidification / De-humidification
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

tDB1 > tDB2

tWB1 > twb2
RH1 < RH2
w1 = w2
h1 > h2
Vs1 > VsB2
1 w1
Ø1
Humidification

0 w0
Ø0
De-humidification

2 w2
Ø2
t1= t2
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
C & DH
Cooling & de-humidification
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

tDB1 > tDB2

tWB1 > twb2
RH1 < RH2
w1 > w2
h1 > h2
Actual cooling & de- Vs1 > VsB2
humidification
process
h1

Ø1
1
w1
h2
2
w2
Ø2

t2 t1
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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
H&H
Heating & Humidification
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

tDB1 < tDB2

tWB1 < twb2
RH1 >
RH2
w1 < w2
Space conditioning h1 < h2
Psychrometric
process
Vs1 <
h2 VsB2
Ø2
2
w2
h1
1
w1
Ø1

t1 t2
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
C&H
Cooling & Humidification
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

tDB1 > tDB2

tWB1 > twb2
RH1 < RH2
w1 = w2
Psychrometric
process for Desert
Coolers Evaporative
tw & h constant
cooling
2a tWB1 = twb2
h1 = h2
2b
2c
1

t1
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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
C&H
Heating & de-humidification
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

tDB1 < tDB2

tWB1 < twb2
RH1 > RH2
w1 > w2
h1 > h2
Vs1 < VsB2

Ø1

1
w1
1

Ø2
Chemical de- 2 w2
humidification
Desiccant drying

t1 t2
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA
Air Mixing
Sensible
cooling
tDB1 < tDB2
tWB1 < Twb2
RH1 > RH2 1
w2
w1 = w2 Mixing
condition
h1 < h2 h2
Vs1 < VsB2

h1 3 w3

w1
2
t3 = (t1x m 1) + (t2 x m 2)
(m 1 + m 2)

t2 t3 t1
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING M.Sc. in Electrical Installations Air conditioning & Ventilation EE 5121
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

The End

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