250 17 Psychrometrics

Step 2
State your assumptions:

l The system operates at steady state.

l The condensed water exits at the exit air temperature.

Step 3
Use the psychrometric chart or the spreadsheet program Moist air properties.xls
to find the humidity, the enthalpy and the humid volume of the air at the inlet as
well as the humidity and the enthalpy of the air at the outlet.

Step 4
Write a mass balance on the moisture:

ma Wi ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Step 5
Calculate ma:

..........................................................................................................................

Step 6
Calculate mw:

..........................................................................................................................

Step 7
Write an enthalpy balance over the cooler:

ma Hi ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Step 8
Substitute values and solve for q:

q ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Exercise 17.6

Air at 20 8C and 60% relative humidity is heated to 90 8C and then enters a

continuous dryer in an adiabatic operation. The air exits at 40 8C. Calculate: a)
the inlet volumetric flow rate of air required to remove 20 kg of water/h from
the product and b) the required energy to heat the air.
Exercises 251

Solution
Step 1
Draw the process diagram:

ma ma
1 2 3
W1 Heater Dryer W3
ma
H1 H2
W1
vH1
H2

Step 2
Find the properties of the air at the inlet using a psychrometric chart or the
spreadsheet program Moist air properties.xls.
Air at 20 8C dry bulb temperature and 60% relative humidity:
Humidity W1 = ....................................................................................
Enthalpy H1 = .....................................................................................
Humid volume vH1 = ...........................................................................
Air at 90 8C dry bulb temperature and humidity W1:
Enthalpy H2 = ..........................................................................
Air at 40 8C dry bulb temperature and enthalpy H2:
Humidity W3 = .........................................................................

Step 3
Write a mass balance on the moisture between points 2 and 3:

ma W3  W1 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Substitute values and calculate ma:

ma :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Use the humid volume to calculate the volumetric flow rate:

..........................................................................................................................

Step 4
Write an enthalpy balance on the air between points 1 and 2 and calculate the
required energy:
..........................................................................................................................