Chapter 3

Psychrometrics
See pages 21-65 of your textbook.

Introduction
Psychrometircs is the branch of thermodynamics
studying the properties of moist air.
Consider a sample volume of moist air consisting
of dry air( Oxygen+Nitrogen) and water vapor:
Temperature T
Barometric Pressure ( )

=mass of dry air

=mass of water vapor

Total mass, m= +

Volume V

Daltons Law
For a mixture of perfect gases the mixture pressure
is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the
constituents:
For the case of humid air:
(eq. 1)
=
+
where using the equation of state of ideal gas
we have:
(eq. 2)

(eqs. 3)
V= and V=

Definitions
Humidity ratio W= is the ratio of the mass of
the water vapor to the mass of dry air in the
mixture:

Using eqs 2, we obtain (see class-notes):

Relative Humidity : the ratio of the mass of

water vapor in a given moist air to the mass of
vapor in the saturated state.

where is the saturation pressure of steam at

temperature T of the moist air (see class-notes
for derivation)

The enthalpy i of a mixture of perfect gases is

equal to the sum of the enthaplies of each
components,
kJ/kg of dry air (Btu/lbm of dry air)
+

Assuming that the dry gas enthaply is proportional to

its heat capacity, the enthalpy of vaporization of steam
is almost constant and the superheated steam can be
considered as an ideal gas we can write:
t+W(1061.2+ t)
=0.24

Btu/lbm-F,

=0.444

Btu/lbm of dry air

Btu/lbm-F

Dry and Wet Bulb Temperatures

Wet-bulb temperature is measured using a thermometer
that has its bulb wrapped in clothcalled a sockthat is
kept wet with distilled water via wicking action. Such an
instrument is called a wet-bulb thermometer. A widely
used device for measuring wet and dry bulb temperature
is a sling psychrometer, which consists of a pair of
mercury bulb thermometers, one with a wet "sock" to
measure the wet-bulb temperature and the other with
the bulb exposed and dry for the dry-bulb temperature.
The thermometers are attached to a swivelling handle
which allows them to be whirled around so that water
evaporates from the sock and cools the wet bulb until it
reaches thermal equilibrium.

Dry Bulb Temperature - Tdb

The Dry Bulb temperature, usually referred to as air
temperature, is the air property that is most common used.
When people refer to the temperature of the air, they are
normally referring to its dry bulb temperature.
The Dry Bulb Temperature refers basically to the ambient
air temperature. It is called "Dry Bulb" because the air
temperature is indicated by a thermometer not affected by
the moisture of the air.
Dry-bulb temperature - Tdb, can be measured using a normal
thermometer freely exposed to the air but shielded from
radiation and moisture.

Wet Bulb Temperature - Twb

The Wet Bulb temperature is the adiabatic saturation temperature.
Wet Bulb temperature can be measured by using a thermometer with the
bulb wrapped in wet muslin. The adiabatic evaporation of water from the
thermometer bulb and the cooling effect is indicated by a "wet bulb
temperature" lower than the "dry bulb temperature" in the air.

Dew Point Temperature - Tdp

The Dew Point is the temperature at which water vapor
starts to condense out of the air (the temperature at
which air becomes completely saturated). Above this
temperature the moisture stays in the air.
if the dew-point temperature is close to the dry air
temperature - the relative humidity is high
if the dew point is well below the dry air temperature the relative humidity is low
If moisture condenses on a cold bottle taken from the
refrigerator the dew-point temperature of the air is above
the temperature in the refrigerator.

Psychrometric Chart