Air Conditioning: References: 1. WWW - Nptel.iitm - Ac.in

Air conditioning
References:
1. www.nptel.iitm.ac.in
Psychrometry
• It is the study of the properties of mixtures of air and water vapour.

• The air to be processed in air conditioning systems is a mixture of dry
air and water vapour.
• While the composition of dry air is constant, the amount of water
vapour present in the air may vary from zero to a maximum depending
upon the temperature and pressure of the mixture (dry air + water
vapour).
• 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.
• 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 vapour, but the
mass of dry air remains constant
Properties of Atmospheric Air
 Dry air is a mechanical mixture of the following gases:
Oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, argon, neon,
krypton, helium, ozone, and xenon.
 Dry air is considered to consist of 21% oxygen and 79%

nitrogen by volume. It consists of 23% oxygen, and 77%
nitrogen by mass.
 Completely dry air does not exist in nature. Water vapour

in varying amount is diffused through it.
 If Pa and Pw are the partial pressures of dry air and water

vapour respectively, then by Dalton's law of partial
pressure
Where P is the atmospheric pressure

Mole – fraction of dry air,
P is considered to be 1 atm
Mole – fraction of water vapour,
 Since is very small, the saturation temperature of water

vapour at is less than the atmospheric temperature .
 So the water vapour in air exists in the superheated state.

P=Pa + Pw Pw << Pa
Adiabatic saturation process: Pw , Tmix
DBT =Tatm
Saturated air
WBT=DPT Unsaturated air
Unsaturated air Const. pressure

cooling
WBT>DPT
condensation
• If the air- water vapour mixture is cooled at constant pressure, the partial pressure
of water vapour in the mixture remains constant till it is equal to the saturation
pressure of water.
• Further cooling result in condensation of water vapour. The temperature at which
the vapour condenses when the air-water vapour mixture is cooled at constant
pressure, is called Dew Point temperature.
For unsaturated air : DPT< WBT< DBT

Relative Humidity (RH)
Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of partial pressure of water

vapour, , in a mixture to the saturation pressure, of pure water at
the temperature of the mixture.
If water is injected into unsaturated air in a container, water will

evaporate, which will increase the moisture content of the air and
will increase.
This will continue till the air becomes saturated at that temperature
and there will be no more evaporation of water.
For saturated air, relative humidity is 100%

Assuming water vapour as an ideal gas,
And V is the volume and T the temperature of air, the subscripts

W and s indicating the unsaturated and saturated states of air respectively.
RH= mass of water vapour in a given volume of air at temperature T / mass of

water vapour when the same volume of air is saturated at temperature T
Specific Humidity or Humidity Ratio
SH is defined as the mass of water vapour per unit mass of dry air in a
mixture of air and water vapour.
If ma = mass of dry air,
mw = mass of water vapour
Also we know that

therefore


Expression for Sp. Humidity in terms of RH
ADIABATIC SATURATION
Specific humidity or the relative humidity of an air – water vapour mixture can
be measured in principle with the help of a device called the adiabatic saturator
The air – water vapour mixture flows steadily into the device. The or of the
incoming mixture has to be determined.
The air – water vapour mixture leaves the adiabatic saturator as saturated mixture. Let
the device be insulated so that there is no energy loss.
Since the unsaturated air – water vapour mixture is sweeping over a layer of
liquid water, some water evaporates.
The energy needed for the evaporation comes from the air mixture.
Hence, the air – water vapour mixture leaves the adiabatic saturator at a
temperature lower than that of the entering air.
As the air leaving the adiabatic saturator is in equilibrium with the liquid
water, the temperature of the liquid water is equal to the temperature of the
saturated air – water vapour mixture.
APPLYING CONSERVATION LAWS
Mass balance for air
Mass balance for water
Dividing the above eqn by

Energy balance
Dividing the above eqn by
Which implies,
Latent
heat
enthalpy of the saturated water vapour at state 1 + enthalpy of negligi
superheat ( Cp (ΔTsup))
ble
enthalpy of the saturated liquid water at temperature or
Therefore, Knowing , Psat

Can be found
Sp. Heat for air
Psychrometer
Psychrometer is an instrument to measure the wet-bulb and dry-bulb

temperature of an air-water vapour mixture.
This instrument uses the principle of adiabatic saturation.
The specific humidity(SH) and relative humidity(RH) of air-water vapour mixture

can be determined with knowledge of dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures.
The dry-bulb temperature is the temperature of the incoming mixture.
The wet-bulb temperature is the temperature of the saturated air-water vapour

mixture. For air-water vapour mixtures, the wet- bulb temperature is found to be
approximately equal to the adiabatic Saturation temperature (AST).
If and are known , & can be found out
The enthalpy of air-water vapour mixture is expressed as
Energy balance implies,
Which Implies
therefore
is the conserved property in an adiabatic saturation process.
If is small is constant and we get
Since is conserved
PSYCHROMETRIC CHART Human body comfort
Conditions:
Adiabatic saturation lines DBT =22 deg C

RH = 60%
22 deg C
Air conditioning processes
1. Dehumidification and cooling
Sensible cooling
Sensible heating
Dehumidification of air-water vapour mixture can be achieved by cooling the

mixture below its dew point temperature (path i-A-B) allowing some water to
condense, and then heating the mixture (path B-f) to the desired temperature.
Elements of dehumidification and cooling A/C plant
Case 1: cooling through a heat exchanger
Case 2: cooling by direct spraying

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Air conditioning

• It is the study of the properties of mixtures of air and water vapour.

 Dry air is considered to consist of 21% oxygen and 79%

 Completely dry air does not exist in nature. Water vapour

 If Pa and Pw are the partial pressures of dry air and water

Where P is the atmospheric pressure

Mole – fraction of water vapour,

 Since is very small, the saturation temperature of water

 So the water vapour in air exists in the superheated state.

Adiabatic saturation process: Pw , Tmix

Unsaturated air Const. pressure

For unsaturated air : DPT< WBT< DBT

Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of partial pressure of water

If water is injected into unsaturated air in a container, water will

For saturated air, relative humidity is 100%

And V is the volume and T the temperature of air, the subscripts

RH= mass of water vapour in a given volume of air at temperature T / mass of

If ma = mass of dry air,

mw = mass of water vapour

Also we know that

Where P is the atmospheric pressure

Mass balance for air

Mass balance for water

Dividing the above eqn by

Dividing the above eqn by

Therefore, Knowing , Psat

Psychrometer is an instrument to measure the wet-bulb and dry-bulb

This instrument uses the principle of adiabatic saturation.

The specific humidity(SH) and relative humidity(RH) of air-water vapour mixture

The dry-bulb temperature is the temperature of the incoming mixture.

The wet-bulb temperature is the temperature of the saturated air-water vapour

Energy balance implies,

is the conserved property in an adiabatic saturation process.

If is small is constant and we get

Adiabatic saturation lines DBT =22 deg C

Dehumidification of air-water vapour mixture can be achieved by cooling the

Case 1: cooling through a heat exchanger

Case 2: cooling by direct spraying

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