FABE 5820: Environmental Controls and

Air Quality

LECTURE 2:

PROPERTIES OF AIR
&
PSYCHROMETRICS
By Lingying Zhao and Ann D. Christy

1
 TOPICS OF THE DAY
 Properties of air (ASHRAE 2017 ch. 1)
 Moist air: air - water vapor mixture
 Properties of moist air (ASHRAE 2017
Table 2, p. 1.2-1.6)
 Properties of water at saturation
(ASHRAE 2017 Table 3, p. 1.7-1.11)
 Perfect Gas Law and Dalton’s Law
 Psychrometric chart (ASHRAE 2017
Figure 1, p. 1.15)

2
DRY AND CLEAN AIR
 Dry air:
o No water vapor
o All contaminants removed from
atmospheric air
 Moisture content will vary but dry air
remains constant
 Dry air is, literally, the common
denominator in psychrometric
analyses (denote by subscript: da)

3
MOIST AIR
 Dry air (78% N2, 21% O2, other gases)
 Air naturally contains water vapor (H2O)

Water
Vapor

Dry Air

4
HOW MUCH WATER VAPOR CAN ONE POUND
(1 LB.) OF DRY AIR HOLD?
Mass of water vapor (lbs)

Temperature, oF
 At 50oF, 1lb. of air can hold 0.0077 lbs of water
 At 80oF, 1lb. of air can hold 0.0223 lbs of water

5
SEVEN PROPERTIES OF MOIST AIR
 Dry bulb temperature, t (F) (alt: tdb)
 Wet bulb temperature, twb (F)
 Dew point temperature, td (F) (alt: tdp)

 Humidity ratio, W (lb water / lbdry air) or (lbw / lbda)

 Relative Humidity, RH or  (%)

 Specific Volume, v (ft3/lb da)

 Enthalpy, h (Btu/lb da)

(ASHRAE 2017 p. 1.19)

6
IP VERSUS SI UNITS

Local standard of professional practice (varies with

geographic location)
 USA: Inch-Pound (your ASHRAE Fundamentals
handbook is printed in I-P, but the CD has both I-P
and SI)
 Elsewhere: SI

Scientific research and publications: SI

7
DRY BULB TEMPERATURE

The temperature recorded by a traditional

thermometer.

8
WET BULB TEMPERATURE

Temperature recorded by a
thermometer which has a
wet wick over the bulb
(“Sling psychrometer”)

Evaporation creates a cooling

effect as moisture evaporates
and extracts energy from
surrounding air

9
DEW POINT TEMPERATURE
(AKA SATURATION TEMPERATURE)

If air is cooled at constant pressure and

constant humidity ratio (i.e., no water added
or removed), it will begin to condense at the
dew point temperature (also known as
Saturation Temperature)

(For properties of saturated water, see

ASHRAE 2017 Table 3, p. 1.7-1.11)

10
 HUMIDITY RATIO

W, The ratio of mass of water vapor to the

mass of dry air
W = Mw / Mda (lb water/ lb dry air)

or

W = 0.62198 Pw/Pda
• Pw: Water vapor pressure
• Pda: Dry air pressure

(For humidity ratios of moist air at saturation, see

ASHRAE 2017 Table 2, p. 1.2-1.6)

11
 RELATIVE HUMIDITY
The amount of water in the air compared
to what could be in the air if it were
saturated (measured by pressure or mole fraction).
The common unit is %.
 = RH = Pw/Pws
• Pw : Water vapor pressure

• Pws : Saturation water vapor pressure;

• NOTE: Pws is a function of absolute temperature, where

T(°R) = T(oF) + 459.67

(For saturation water vapor pressures, see ASHRAE 2017

Table 3, p. 1.7-1.11)

12
PRACTICE WITH ASHRAE TABLES

1. At 40oF , find the maximum humidity ratio for moist air at

standard atmospheric pressure (lb water/ lb dry air)
2. At 72oF , find the maximum humidity ratio for moist air at
standard atmospheric pressure (lb water/ lb dry air)
3. What is the water vapor pressure (psi absolute) when moist
air is at saturation (RH=100%) at 60oF?
4. What is the relative humidity (%) of moist air at 60oF with
a water vapor pressure of 0.1026 psi?

(ASHRAE 2017, chap 1, Tables 2 and 3)

13
SPECIFIC VOLUME
 The volume of space occupied by one
pound of dry air at a given
temperature
 The common IP unit is ft3/lb dry air
 Specific volume is the reciprocal of density

14
 ENTHALPY
Total amount of heat in the moist air includes:
• Heat to raise air to the given temperature, and
• Heat required to vaporize any water in the air

Enthalpy (referenced to 0oF):

h = ha + hw
= 0.240t + W(1061 + 0.444t) Btu/lb dry air
Where t = temperature (F)
W = humidity ratio (lbs water/lbs da)

15
(ASHRAE 2017, p. 1.13, eqn. 30)
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TD AND TWB
• Dew-point temperature: td
• Wet-bulb temperature: twb

Cooling process Adiabatic evaporative process

Water Water
Vapor Vapor

Dry Air Dry Air

Heat loss Adding water

When condenses, you get td When saturates, you get twb

16
TOOLS: TABLES AND EQUATIONS
(ASHRAE 2017 Fundamentals)
 Tables 2 and 3 (page 1.2-1.11) list all
thermodynamic properties of air and water,
respectively
Page 1.12-14-A list of equations to calculate any
other properties based on two known
properties:
1. t and twb

2. t and td
3. t and RH

17
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF DRY AIR &
THE PERFECT GAS LAW
Pda V = nda R T

 Partial pressure of water vapor, Pw (psia)

 Volume, V (ft3)
 Number of moles of water vapor, nw
 Universal gas constant, 1545.32 ft-lbf/lb mol.R
 Absolute temperature, T (R= F+459.67)

18
 WATER VAPOR, ALSO A PERFECT GAS

Pw V=nw R T

 Partial pressure of water vapor, Pw (psia)

 Volume, V (ft3)
 Number of moles of water vapor, nw
 Universal gas constant, 1545.32 ft-lbf/lb mol.R
 Absolute temperature, T (R= F+459.67)

19
AIR (MOIST AIR), A MIXTURE OF PERFECT GASES

(Pda+Pw)V=(nda+nw)RT
PV=nRT
Where:
• P = total pressure of the mixture (psia)
• V= volume (ft3)
• n = total number of moles in the mixture
• R = Universal gas constant
• T = absolute temperature of the mixture R

Dalton’s law: P = Pda+Pw

20
 WHAT IS PSYCHROMETRICS?

 “Psychro-” = Greek for “cold”

 Psychrometrics is a term used to

describe the relationship of the seven
properties of moist air and how these
properties change as the heat and
moisture content of the air changes.

21
 WHY STUDY PSYCHROMETRICS?
 The principles of heating and cooling are
based on psychrometrics
 Psychrometrics can be used to predict
changes in the environment when the
amount of heat and/or water in the air
changes
 Psychrometrics can be used to calculate
heating, cooling and ventilation
requirements

22
AIR HANDLING SYSTEMS: DELIVER DIFFERENT
PSYCHROMETRIC PROCESSES

(ASHRAE 2008, ch. 4, fig. 1)

23
 PSYCHROMETRIC CHARTS
 A psychrometric chart graphically represents
the thermodynamic properties of the moist air.
 There are 5 standard charts:
Dry-bulb
Altitude
temperature
Chart 1 Sea level 32 to 120 F
Chart 2 Sea level Low temperature
Chart 3 Sea level High temperature
Chart 4 5000 ft (Denver, CO) 32 to 120 F
Chart 5 7500 ft 32 to 120 F

The ASHRAE-style psych chart was first developed by Willis Carrier in 1904

24
 PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
(ASHRAE 2017 Fundamentals Handbook, p.1.15)

25
26
PSYCHROMETRIC CHART #1
 Humidity ratio lines: horizontal
 Enthalpy lines: diagonal, precisely parallel to each other
 Dry-bulb temperature lines: straight, not precisely parallel to
each other, and inclined slightly from the vertical position.
 Wet-bulb temperature lines: diagonal and straight, but not
 precisely parallel to each other, and differ slightly from
enthalpy lines.
 Relative humidity lines: curved, in intervals of 10%.
100%RH = saturation curve; 0%RH = dry air (W=0).
 Specific volume lines: angled and straight, not precisely parallel to
each other.

27
PHYSICAL MEANING OF PSYCHROMETRIC
PROPERTIES (I-P)
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 1:
Class room air: t = 73 F, RH = 20%, P =29.92 in Hg

Water For 1 lb dry air:

Vapor
twb = ? td = ?

Dry Air dry air = ? = ?

h= ? W= ?

28
29
PHYSICAL MEANING OF PSYCHROMETRIC
PROPERTIES
EXAMPLE SOLUTION 1:
Class room air: 73 F, 20% RH, 101 Kpa

ANSWERS for 1 lb dry air:

twb =52 F td = 30 F
Water
Vapor dry air =13.5 ft3/lb da
 = 1/13.5=0.74 lbs da/ft3
Dry Air
h = 21.3 BTU / lb da
W = 0.0035 lbs water/lbs da

30
PHYSICAL MEANING OF PSYCHROMETRIC
PROPERTIES (SI)
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2:
Class room air: t = 20 C, RH = 50%, sea level elevation

For 1 kg dry air:

twb = ? td = ?
dry air = ? = ?
h= ? W= ?

NOTE: Use SI-unit psych chart; don’t calculate

unit conversions if you can avoid it!

31
PHYSICAL MEANING OF PSYCHROMETRIC
PROPERTIES (SI)
EXAMPLE PROBLEM:
Class room air: t = 20 C, RH = 50%, sea level elevation

For 1 kg dry air:

twb = 13.7 C td = 9.0 C
dry air = 0.84 m3/kg  = 1.2 kg/ m3
h = 39.5 kJ/kg W = 9.7 g/kg

32
 PSYCHROMETRICS SOFTWARE
 http://www.sugartech.co.za/psychro/

 http://www.linric.com/studentpsycalc.htm

Several different PDF versions of the

Psychrometric chart (having different units,
temperature ranges, and depictions of the
sensible heat ratio) are posted on the course’s
CARMEN site – Please use the one that suits
you, and the problem, best!

33
THINGS YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO

 Be able to locate a state point on a

psych chart when values for any two
properties are known
 Be able to determine values for the
other properties of air once a state
point is located
 Be able to calculate values for the
other properties (e.g., W, h) of air
once a state is known

34