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Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Air conditioning
Comfort

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Introduction
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity

Air Conditioning => process of conditioning air to suit

specific needs e.g. human comfort, process air
Human comfort => influenced by:
Air Temperature

Air Humidity

Air velocity

Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Air consists of dry air and water

vapour mixture => humidity
Air conditioning process controls
temperature, humidity and
velocity of air to specified state

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Introduction
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Atmospheric Air
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Dry air ( N2, O2, CO2 )

Water vapour ( H2O )

Atmospheric air consists of:

Composition of dry air remains relatively constant

Composition of water vapour changes due to:
c Condensation
d Evaporation
Within typical range of air-conditioning applications (-10 to 50
C), dry air and water vapour can be treated as ideal gas
Daltons Law

P = Pa + Pv

Pm = Pi (Tm , Vm )
i =1

Total pressure of
atmospheric air
Adv. Thermo-fluids

Partial pressure
of dry air

Partial pressure
of water vapour

Atmospheric Air
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning

Within -10 to 50 C, specific

heat of dry air constant

Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Within -10 to 50 C:
Specific heat of water vapour constant
Enthalpy of water vapour enthalpy of
saturated vapour at same temperature

hv (T ) = hg (T )
= hg , 0C + C p ,vT
2501.3 + 1.82T
Adv. Thermo-fluids

ha (T ) = C p ,aT
= 1.005T

h a = 1 . 005 T

Air Humidity
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning

Humidity => measure amount of water vapour in air

2 ways to specify humidity:

Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

c Absolute or specific humidity :

Unit: kg H2O/kg dry air

- mass of water vapour present in 1 kg of dry air

- represented by

mv
Pv 0.622 Pv
=
= 0.622
=
ma
Pa
P Pv

d Relative humidity :
- ratio of actual mass of water vapour in air (mv) to maximum
amount of water vapour air can hold at that temperature (mg)
- represented by

=
Adv. Thermo-fluids

mv
P
= v
m g Pg

Unit: %

; Pg = Psat @ T

Air Humidity
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Specific humidity and relative humidity are related:

P
=
(0.622 + ) Pg

; =

0.622Pg
P Pg

Relative humidity:
Has more effect on human comfort level
Relative humidity changes with temperature because amount
of vapour air can hold depends on temperature

Enthalpy of air:
Sum of enthalpies of dry air and water vapour
Expressed per unit mass of dry air
Adv. Thermo-fluids

h = ha + hg

(kJ/kg dry air)

Air Temperatures
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Air temperatures:
Dew-point temperature
Adiabatic saturation temperature

Dew-point temperature: temperature

at which condensation begins when
air is cooled at constant pressure

Tdp = Tsat @ Pv

Dry-bulb temperature
Wet-bulb temperature

Air Temperatures
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Air saturation temperature:

Temperature air attains after flowing over
water in long channel until it is saturated
Used to measure humidity
1 =

C p (T2 T1 ) + 2 h fg 2

where

hg1 h f 2

2 =

0.622 Pg 2
P2 Pg 2

Liquid water

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Air Temperatures
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Dry-bulb temperature: ordinary atmospheric air temperature

Wet-bulb temperature:
* thermometer bulb covered with wet cotton wick
* approximates adiabatic saturation
temperature
* provide more practical way of
measuring air humidity

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Psychrometric chart
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning

Psychrometric chart => chart that present properties of

atmospheric air at specified total atmospheric pressure

Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

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Psychrometric chart
Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

13

Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Comfort of human body mainly depends on:

(dry-bulb) temperature
relative humidity => affect body heat dissipation thru evaporation
air motion => removes warm and moist air
Factor
Temperature
Relative humidity
Air motion

Comfort zone
22 - 27C
40 - 60%
~ 15 m/min

Thermal comfort as defined by

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
And Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Air-conditioning processes:
Cooling

Heating

Humidifying

Dehumidifying

Cooling & Dehumidifying

Heating & humidifying

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity

Air conditioning analysis:

Steady-flow
KE & PE negligible
Utilise mass & energy balance
Heat
Transfer

Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Dry air
Vapour
(Humidity)

Dry air mass :

Water mass :
Energy :
Adv. Thermo-fluids

Conditioning
process

Mass (water)
transfer

Dry air
Vapour
(Humidity)

ma,i = ma,e
mw,i = mw,e => ma,ii = ma,ee
Q W = me he mi hi

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity

Simple heating:
* (dry-bulb) temperature increase
* specific humidity constant
* relative humidity decrease

Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity

Simple cooling:
* specific humidity constant
* relative humidity increase

Dry air
Vapour
(Humidity)

Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Heat
Transfer

* (dry-bulb) temperature decrease

Conditioning
process

Dry air
Vapour
(Humidity)

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Heating with humidifying:

* 1 - 2: Simple heating
* 2 - 3: humidifying
(Adding of moisture)
* Increase in specific humidity

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Cooling with dehumidifying:

* Air need to be cooled to
saturation temperature ( = 100%)
for vapour to condense & able to
be removed
* May need simple heating to
get to required temperature

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Evaporative cooling:
* principle: as water evaporates,
latent heat of vaporisation is
absorbed from water and
surrounding air
* Follow approximately line of
constant wet-bulb temperature
and enthalpy

Twb constant
h
Adv. Thermo-fluids

constant

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adiabatic mixing of airstreams:

* State of air mixture lies on lines
connecting states 1 & 2 on chart
* Ratio of distances 2-3 & 3-1 equals to
ratio of mass flow ma1 and ma2
Mass of dry air :

ma1 + ma2 = ma3

Mass of vapour :

1ma1 + 2 ma2 = 3ma3

Energy :

ma1 h1 + ma2 h2 = mm h3

ma1
ma2
Adv. Thermo-fluids

2 3 h2 h3
=
=
3 1 h3 h1

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Air conditioning processes

Sychrometry &
Air Conditioning
Atmospheric Air
Air Humidity
Air Temperatures
Psychrometric
Chart
Air Conditioning
Processes

Adv. Thermo-fluids

Wet cooling towers:

Natural Draft

Induced Draft