Refrigeration And Air Conditioning

PART II
CHAPTER 1
Fundamental Properties Of Moist Air
AMBO UNIVERSITY
Department of Mechanical Engineering

By:- Abubeker N.
 INTRODUCTION
 Air Conditioning refers to the treatment of air so as to simultaneously control its:-
Temperature,
Moisture content,
Cleanliness,
Odor and circulation.
as required by occupants, a process, or products in the space.
 Atmospheric air makes up the environment in almost every type of air conditioning
system.
 Hence a through understanding of the properties of atmospheric air and the ability to
analyze various processes involving air is fundamental to air conditioning design.

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 Cont…
Air-conditioning is a process that simultaneously conditions air; distributes it combined

with the outdoor air to the conditioned space; and at the same time controls and maintains
the required space’s temperature, humidity, air movement, air cleanliness, sound level, and
pressure differential within predetermined limits for the health and comfort of the
occupants, for product processing, or both.
The acronym HVAC&R stands for heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and refrigerating.

The combination of these processes is equivalent to the functions performed by air-

conditioning.
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 Air-conditioning System
An air-conditioning or HVAC&R system consists of components and equipment

arranged in sequential order to heat or cool, humidify or dehumidify, clean and

purify, attenuate objectionable equipment noise, transport the conditioned
outdoor air and recirculation air to the conditioned space, and control and
maintain an indoor or enclosed environment at optimum energy use.

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 Cont…
The types of buildings which the air-conditioning system serves can be classified

as:

• Institutional buildings, such as hospitals and nursing homes

• Commercial buildings, such as offices, stores, and shopping centers

• Residential buildings, including single-family and multifamily low-rise buildings

of three or fewer stories above grade

• Manufacturing buildings, which manufacture and store products

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 Cont…
Most air conditioning systems perform the following functions:

1. Provide the cooling and heating energy required

2. Condition the supply air, that is, heat or cool, humidify or dehumidify, clean and
purify, and attenuate any objectionable noise produced by the HVAC&R
equipment
3. Distribute the conditioned air, containing sufficient outdoor air, to the conditioned
space
4. Control and maintain the indoor environmental parameters–such as temperature,
humidity, cleanliness, air movement, sound level, and pressure differential between
the conditioned space and surroundings—within predetermined limits.
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 Fundamental property of moist air
 The surface of the earth is surrounded by a layer of air called the atmosphere, or atmospheric

air.
 From the point of view of psychrometrics, the lower atmosphere, or homosphere, is a mixture

of dry air (including various contaminants) and water vapor, often known as moist air.
 A property is any attribute or characteristic of matter that can be observed or evaluated

quantitatively.
 Thermodynamic properties, i.e., those concerned with energy and its transformation, of

primary interest to HVAC.

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 Thermodynamic properties of moist air
Temperature t:- of a substance indicates its thermal state and its ability to exchange energy with
a substance in contact with it.
Reference points are the freezing point of water (0°C in the Celsius scale and 32°F in the
Fahrenheit scale) and the boiling point of water (100°C in the Celsius scale and 212°F in the
Fahrenheit scale).
Pressure p:- is the normal or perpendicular force exerted by a fluid per unit area against which
the force is exerted.
 Absolute pressure is the measure of pressure above zero; gauge pressure is measured above
existing atmospheric pressure.
The unit of pressure is pound per square inch (psi) or Pascal (Pa). Standard atmospheric pressure
is 101.325 kPa or 14.696 psi.
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 Cont…
Density ρ:- of a fluid is its mass per unit volume. It is more common to use its reciprocal, the
specific volume v, the volume occupied per unit mass.
The density of air at standard atmospheric pressure and 77°F (25°C) is approximately 0.075
lbm/ft3 (1.2 kg/m3).
Density and specific volume of a vapor or gas are affected by both pressure and temperature.
Internal energy u:- refers to the energy possessed by a substance due to the motion and/or
position of the molecules.
This form of energy consists of two parts: the internal kinetic energy due to the velocity of the
molecules, and the internal potential energy due to the attractive forces between molecules.
Changes in the average velocity of molecules are indicated by temperature changes of a
substance.

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 Cont…
Enthalpy h:- is another important property defined as (u+pv) where u is the internal energy
(itself a property) and (pv) is the flow work, i.e., the work done on the fluid to force it into a
control volume.
Enthalpy values are based on a specified datum temperature value.
Specific heat c:- of a substance is the quantity of energy required to raise the temperature of
a unit mass by 1°R or 1 K.
Phase is a quantity of matter homogeneous throughout in chemical composition and physical
structure.
A pure substance is one that is uniform and invariable in chemical composition. Thus, a pure
substance may exist in more than one phase, such as a mixture of liquid water and water
vapor (steam).
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 Cont…
On the other hand, a mixture of gases (such as air) is not a pure substance.
However, if no change of phase is involved (as in most HVAC processes), air can be assumed to be a
pure substance.
Ideal gas law:- The ideal gas law is a relationship between the pressure, specific volume, and
absolute temperature of the substance:
 pv = RT
where p = absolute pressure, lbf/ft3 (Pa)
v = specific volume, ft3/lbm (m3/kg)
T = absolute temperature, °R (K), and
R = gas constant = 53.352 ft lbf/lbm °R (287 J/kg K) for air and 85.78 ft lbf/lbm °R (462 J/kg K)
for water vapor.
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 Cont..
A thermodynamic process:- is one where the state of a system under study undergoes a
change.
A process is described in part by the series of states passed through by the system.
Equilibrium:- is a condition of balance maintained by an equality of opposing forces.
There are different types of equilibrium: thermal, mechanical, chemical.
Energy is the capacity for producing an effect. It can be stored within the system as
potential energy, kinetic energy, internal energy, etc.
It can also be transferred to or from the system by work or heat transfer.
Conservation of mass:- simply states that mass of a substance can be neither created
nor destroyed in the processes analyzed.

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 Psychrometric properties of moist air:
Psychrometry :- is the study of the properties of mixtures of air and water vapor.
Atmospheric air is a mixture of many gases plus water vapor and a number of
pollutants
The amount of water vapor and pollutants vary from place to place.
The concentration of water vapor 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
vapor. This mixture is known as moist air.

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 Cont…

Based on the above composition the molecular weight of dry air is found to be 28.966 and the
gas constant R is 287.035 J/kg.K.
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).
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 Cont…
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,

which is established by a neutral equilibrium between the moist air and the liquid
or solid phases of water.
For calculation purposes, the molecular weight of water vapor is taken as

18.015 and its gas constant is 461.52 J/kg. K.

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 Cont…

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 Basic gas laws for moist air:
 According to the Gibbs-Dalton law for a mixture of perfect gases, the total pressure exerted
by the mixture is equal to the sum of partial pressures of the constituent gases.
 According to this law, for a homogeneous perfect gas mixture occupying a volume V and at
temperature T, each constituent gas behaves as though the other gases are not present (i.e.,
there is no interaction between the gases).
 Each gas obeys perfect gas equation. Hence, the partial pressures exerted by each gas, p 1, p2,
p3 … and the total pressure pt are given by:

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 Cont…
 where n1,n2,n3,… are the number of moles of gases 1,2,3,…
 Applying this equation to moist air.

where
p = pt = total barometric pressure
pa = partial pressure of dry air
pv = partial pressure of water vapor

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 Most psychrometric properties of moist air:
Dry bulb temperature (DBT) is the temperature of the moist air as measured by a
standard thermometer or other temperature measuring instruments.
Wet-bulb temperature (WBT). It is the temperature registered by a thermometer when
the bulb is covered by a wetted wick and is exposed to a current of rapidly moving air.

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 Cont…

Wet - and Dry Bulb Psychrometer

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 Cont…
Saturated vapor pressure (psat) is the saturated partial pressure of

water vapor at the dry bulb temperature. This is readily available in

thermodynamic tables and charts.
ASHRAE suggests the following regression equation for saturated

vapor pressure of water, which is valid for 0 to 100oC.

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 Cont…
where psat = saturated vapor pressure of water in kilo Pascal

T = temperature in K
 The regression coefficients c1 to c6 are given by:

c1 = -5.80022006E+03, c2 = -5.516256E+00,

c3 = -4.8640239E-02, c4 = 4.1764768E-05,

c5 = -1.4452093E-08, c6 = 6.5459673E+00

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 Cont…
Relative humidity (RH) or (Φ) is defined as the ratio of the mole fraction of
water vapor in moist air to mole fraction of water vapor in saturated air at the
same temperature. Using perfect gas equation we can show that:

Relative humidity is normally expressed as a percentage. When Φ is 100

percent, the air is saturated.
Humidity ratio (W): The humidity ratio (or specific humidity) W is the mass
of water associated with each kilogram of dry air.
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 Cont…
Assuming both water vapor and dry air to be perfect gases, the humidity ratio is given by:

Substituting the values of gas constants of water vapor and air R v and Ra in the above
equation; the humidity ratio is given by:

For a given barometric pressure pt and DBT, we can find the saturated vapor pressure psat
from the thermodynamic property tables on steam.

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 Cont…
 Then using the above equation, we can find the humidity ratio at saturated conditions,
Wsat.
 It is to be noted that, W is a function of both total barometric pressure and vapor pressure
of water.
 Dew-point temperature: If unsaturated moist air is cooled at constant pressure, then the
temperature at which the moisture in the air begins to condense is known as dew-point
temperature (DPT) of air.
 An approximate equation for dew-point temperature is given by:

 where Φ is the relative humidity (in fraction). DBT & DPT are in oC.

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 Cont…
Of course, since from its definition, the dew point temperature is the
saturation temperature corresponding to the vapor pressure of water vapor, it
can be obtained from steam tables or using Eqn. above.
Properties such as humidity ratio, enthalpy and specific volume are based on
1 kg of dry air.
This is useful as the total mass of moist air in a process varies by the
addition/removal of water vapor, but the mass of dry air remains constant.
Dry air is assumed to be a perfect gas as its temperature is high relative to its
saturation temperature, and water vapor is assumed to be a perfect gas
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because its pressure is low relative to its saturation pressure.
Abubeker
 Cont…
Degree of saturation μ: 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 , i.e.,

Enthalpy: The enthalpy of moist air is the sum of the enthalpy of the dry air and
the enthalpy of the water vapor.
Enthalpy values are always based on some reference value.
For moist air, the enthalpy of dry air is given a zero value at 0oC, and for water
vapor the enthalpy of saturated water is taken as zero at 0oC.
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 Cont…
 The enthalpy of moist air is given by:

 where
cp = specific heat of dry air at constant pressure, kJ/kg. K
cpw = specific heat of water vapor, kJ/kg. K
t = Dry-bulb temperature of air-vapor mixture, o C
W = Humidity ratio, kg of water vapor/kg of dry air
ha = enthalpy of dry air at temperature t, kJ/kg
hg = enthalpy of water vapor at temperature t, kJ/kg
hfg = latent heat of vaporization at 0oC, kJ/kg
 The unit of h is kJ/kg of dry air. Substituting the approximate values of c p and hg, we
obtain:
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 Cont…
 Humid specific heat: From the equation for enthalpy of moist air, the humid specific heat
of moist air can be written as:

 where
cpm = humid specific heat, kJ/kg.K
cp = specific heat of dry air, kJ/kg.K
cpw = specific heat of water vapor, kJ/kg
W = humidity ratio, kg of water vapor/kg of dry air
 Since the second term in the above equation (w.cpw) is very small compared to the first
term, for all practical purposes, the humid specific heat of moist air, c pm can be taken as
1.0216 kJ/kg dry air.K

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 Cont…
Specific volume: The specific volume is defined as the number of cubic
meters of moist air per kilogram of dry air.
From perfect gas equation since the volumes occupied by the individual
substances are the same, the specific volume is also equal to the number of
cubic meters of dry air per kilogram of dry air, i.e.,

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 Examples
1. On a particular day the weather forecast states that the dry bulb temperature is
37oC, while the relative humidity is 50% and the barometric pressure is 101.325
kPa. Find the humidity ratio, dew point temperature and enthalpy of moist air on
this day.
2. The atmospheric conditions are ; 20°C and specific humidity of 0.0095 kg/kg
of dry air. Calculate the following:
(i) Partial pressure of vapour
(ii) Relative humidity
(iii) Dew point temperature.
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 Cont…
3. The air supplied to a room of a building in winter is to be at 17°C and
have a relative humidity of 60%. If the barometric pressure is 1.01325
bar, find :

(i) The specific humidity ;

(ii) The dew point under these conditions.

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 Cont…
4. The sling psychrometer in a laboratory test recorded the following readings:
Dry bulb temperature = 35°C
Wet bulb temperature = 25°C. Calculate the following :
(i) Specific humidity
(ii) Relative humidity
(iii) Vapour density in air
(iv) Dew point temperature
(v) Enthalpy of mixture per kg of dry air
Take atmospheric pressure = 1.0132 bar.

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 Psychrometric chart
A Psychrometric chart graphically represents the thermodynamic properties of
moist air.
Standard psychrometric charts are bounded by the dry-bulb temperature line
(abscissa) and the vapor pressure or humidity ratio (ordinate).
The Left Hand Side of the psychrometric chart is bounded by the saturation line.
Psychrometric charts are readily available for standard barometric pressure of
101.325 kPa at sea level and for normal temperatures (0-50 oC).
ASHRAE has also developed psychrometric charts for other temperatures and
barometric pressures (for low temperatures: -40 to 10 oC, high temperatures 10 to
120oC and very high temperatures 100 to 120oC)
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 Cont…

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 Examples
1.The following data pertain to an air-conditioning system :
Unconditioned space DBT = 30ºC
Unconditioned space WBT = 22ºC
Cold air duct supply surface temperature = 14ºC. Determine :
(i) Dew point temperature.
(ii) Whether or not condensation will form on the duct.
2. 200 m3 of air per minute at 15ºC DBT and 75% R.H. is heated until its
temperature is 25ºC. Find :
(iii) R.H. of heated air.
(iv) Wet bulb temperature of heated air.
(v) Heat added to air per minute.
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 Cont…
3. It is required to design an air-conditioning plant for a small office room for
following winter conditions :
o Outdoor conditions 12ºC DBT and 10ºC WBT
o Required conditions 20ºC DBT and 60% R.H.
o Amount of air circulation 0.30 m 3/min./person.
o Seating capacity of office 60.

The required condition is achieved first by heating and then by adiabatic humidifying.
Determine the following :
(i) Heating capacity of the coil in kW and the surface temperature required if the by
pass factor of coil is 0.4.
(ii) The capacity of the humidifier. Solve the problem by using psychrometric chart.
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 Cont…
4. It is required to design an air-conditioning system for an industrial process for the following
hot and wet summer conditions :
Outdoor conditions ...... 32ºC DBT and 65% R.H.
Required air inlet conditions ...... 25ºC DBT and 60% R.H.
Amount of free air circulated ...... 250 m3/min.
Coil dew temperature ...... 13ºC.
The required condition is achieved by first cooling and dehumidifying and then by heating.
Calculate the following :
(i) The cooling capacity of the cooling coil and its by-pass factor.
(ii) Heating capacity of the heating coil in kW and surface temperature of the heating coil if the
by-pass factor is 0.3.
(iii) The mass of water vapour removed per hour. Solve this problem with the use of
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psychrometric
Abubeker chart.
 Thanks !!!

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