Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science

Department of Chemical Engineering

Course Number CHE 215

Course Title Process Measurements
Instructor Huu Doan
TA Masoume Ehsani

Lab Experiment #6: Humidity

Measurement

Section No. 1
Date Of Experiment Mar 4, 2022
Performed
Due Date Mar 11, 2022

Name Student ID Signature*

Shahana Loganathan 501020861

Lamia Tabassum 501028017

Wardah Saqib 501032590

Introduction:

Humidity is referred to as the moisture present in the air. At different levels of the
atmosphere, humidity can be measured and used to further study the effect temperature has on
different processes. It is expressed in terms of absolute and/or relative humidity. Absolute
humidity represents the amount of water present in a specific amount of air whereas relative
humidity represents the ratio of actual amount of water vapor in the air to the maximum amount
of water vapor that air can contain at the same temperature, if it were saturated. Relative
humidity is defined as the ratio of the actual water vapor pressure (partial pressure) in the air to
the vapor pressure of water in saturated air.
The objective of this lab is to study the relationship between the dry-bulb and wet-bulb
temperature of air with relation to its humidity. The important factors are derived from the
psychrometric chart. Additionally, this experiment determines the energy requirement for
alteration of air humidity and temperature. In the experiment, both dry and wet bulb
psychrometers are used. They are essentially two identical thermometers with one bare and one
moist wick, dipped into a reservoir of water. The dry bulb thermometer provides the user with
the ordinary temperature of air. For the wet bulb thermometer: the water evaporates from the
wick cloth and gradually creates a local saturated air region. Therefore, the temperature is
observed when the thermometer drops until it reaches equilibrium.
The psychrometric chart (Figure 1) is a graphical representation of material and energy
balances in water vapor-air mixtures with the associated parameters.

Figure 1 shows the psychrometric chart in British units.

The following information such as relative humidity curves, humid volume, adiabatic cooling
lines, absolute humidity, the saturated air curve, and the enthalpy of air can be found to help
solve for energy. Both data collected can be used for the analysis of the chart and can help to
understand the relationship between dry bulb temperature and the humidity ratio. It used to
calculate energy required to raise the relative humidity of room air to saturation (100% relative
humidity) at its dry bulb temperature using the following equation:
𝑇(℉) = [𝑇(℃) 𝑥 1. 8 + 32]℉.

Results:

Table 1 shows the relative humidity, absolute humidity, enthalpy of air, and humid volume for
three conditions: room air, air with blower-heater on, and air with blower-heater as well as
humidifier on.
Room Air Air with Blower-Heater Air with Blower-Heater
On and Humidifier On

Dry Bulb 28.5 50.1 53.3

Temperature (℃)

Wet Bulb 21.8 38.1 41.3

Temperature (℃)

Dry Bulb 83.3 122.18 127.94

Temperature (℉)

Wet Bulb 71.24 100.58 106.34

Temperature (℉)

Percent Relative 56 % 48 % 49 %
Humidity (%)

Absolute Humidity 0.0136 0.0384 0.0472

(kg/kg da)

Enthalpy of Air 64.7 150.14 176.38

(kJ/kg da)

Humid Volume 0.8428 0.972 0.995

(m3/kg da)
Discussion:

The humidity measurement experiment successfully met the objectives of studying the
relationships between the wet and dry bulb temperatures, understanding the concept and use of
psychrometric charts for measurement, and determining the energy requirement for alteration of
air humidity and temperature. Using the dry (28.5 ℃) and wet-bulb (21.8 ℃) temperature room
air, data was extrapolated from the humidity chart to obtain the following: 56% percent relative
humidity, 0.0236 kg/kg da absolute humidity, 64.7 kg/kg da enthalpy of air, and 0.8438 m3/kg da
humid volume. Using 50.1 ℃ dry bulb temperature and 38.1 ℃ for wet bulb temperature, the
following data were obtained using the humidity chart for air with blower-heater on: 48%
percent relative humidity, 0.0384 kg/kg da absolute humidity, 150.14 kg/kg da enthalpy of air,
and 0.972 m3/kg da humid volume. The following data was collected using the same humidity
chart for air with blower-heater and humidifier at 53.3 ℃ dry bulb temperature and 41.3 ℃ wet
bulb temperature: 49% percent relative humidity, 0.0472 kg/kg da absolute humidity, 176.38
kg/kg da enthalpy of air, and 0.995 m3/kg da humid volume. By analyzing the data trend, the dry
bulb has a greater magnitude than the wet bulb with temperatures reaching up to ~53 ℃ and ~41
℃ for the wet bulb. The temperature differences and range abide the theoretic laws as the wet
bulb temperatures will have the tendency to cool through evaporation of water in comparison to
that of dry bulb. Temperature of both wet and dry bulbs is higher when the blower-heater and
humidifier are turned on. This is because the moisture in the air traps heat and raises as absolute
humidity increases. Observing the percent relative humidity, a decreasing trend is presented
where the room temperature has the highest relative humidity, followed by the air blower-heater
+ humidifier, then the air with blow-heater. The relative humidity in the closed system is similar
in percentage with the maximum difference as 8%. The relative humidity is the ratio of water
vapor in a volume of air relative to its environmental temperature [3]. Since the system is closed,
the system is expected to have similar relative humidity. Decrease in humidity is due to the
presence of warm, dry air, which evaporates moisture from the closed atmosphere.
The absolute humidity is the amount of moisture in the air [3]. As the experiment
introduces moisture into the closed system, the absolute humidity increases. While observing the
absolute humidity from the data, the absolute humidity is slowly increasing as temperature
increases. The higher the amount of water vapor present, the higher the absolute humidity. This
phenomena is verified through experimental data as moisture is introduced into the system, the
absolute humidity increases, in addition to temperature.
The enthalpy of air is the amount of heat present in the air [2]. As the absolute humidity
increases, the enthalpy increases. As observed in the experiment, heat was introduced in each
segment of the procedure. Evident with temperature incrementation, the enthalpy of air also
increases due to heat of air.
Humid volume is the amount of unit mass air and its associated water vapor in volumetric
relation [4]. Trend in Table 1 represents slight increases of volume as temperature and moisture
content is introduced into the atmosphere. Similar to that of enthalpy, the humid volume
increases with respect to moisture and heat in the air. Air with a blower-heater and humidifier
will have a greater magnitude of humidity in comparison to room air and air with a
blower-heater.
The energy required to raise relative humidity in dry bulb temperature was calculated to
be 1030.169 Btu or 1086.83 kJ. This was calculated by subtracting 2612.215 Btu for
non-saturated air and 3642.3841 Btu for 100% saturated air. The energy required for saturated is
going to be higher than the saturated air due to the moisture in the air. Energy will not be needed
to bring room air to saturation or 100% relative humidity for the wet bulb temperature. This is
because the temperature observed in the wet bulb is lower than that of the dry bulb, which
indicates that temperature is affected due to lower relative humidity.
Overall, this humidity measurement experiment was concluded successfully. Sources of
error include systematic, environmental, and random errors. The temperature in the surrounding
environment will affect the temperature readings for all given systems: room air, air
blower-heater, and air blower-heater + humidifier. Water vapor residue from previous use or
simply due to the open water system in the wet-bulb area may affect the dry-bulb temperature. In
addition, the blower-heater was exposed to the dry bulb before the wet bulb, so a lag in
temperature determination was present. Though experimenters were awaiting for equilibrium in
both wet and dry bulbs, the lag can affect equilibrium timing and introduce slight deviations in
temperate measurements.

Conclusion:

The humidity measurement experiment was successful in obtaining the relative humidity,
absolute humidity, enthalpy, and humid volume for each condition. The energy required to raise
the relative humidity for the dry bulb temperature was calculated to be 1086.8 kJ. Additionally,
Table 1 shows that the dry bulb temperature for each condition is higher in magnitude than wet
bulb temperature. This indicates that there would not be a need for additional energy to bring the
system to saturation for the wet bulb temperature. A lower wet bulb temperature compared to its
dry bulb temperature indicates lower relative humidity due to the high amount of heat taken
away from evaporating water. Furthermore, there are some deviations which can be due to water
still present in the system when measuring the temperature values for room air, the fluctuations
of room air temperature, and the hair dryer is not a controlled heating system which means that
the dry bulb gets heated first before the wet bulb. These errors take the system longer to reach
equilibrium and create deviations for the temperature values.
References:

[1] Vedantu, “Introduction to Relation Between Temperature and Humidity”. Updated 2022.

[Online]. Available:

https://www.vedantu.com/geography/relation-between-temperature-and-humidity

[2] Engineering ToolBox, “Moist Air - Enthalpy”. 2004. [Online]. Available:

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/enthalpy-moist-air-d_683.html#:~:text=Specific%0

enthalp

y%20%2D%20h%20%2D%20(J,%2C%20lb)%20of%20dry%20air.

[3] National Weather Service. “Discussion on Humidity”. Updated 2021. [Online]. Available:

https://www.weather.gov/lmk/humidity

[4] Richardson, J.F., “Humidity”. Thermopedia. Updated 2022. [Online]. Available:

https://thermopedia.com/content/854/#:~:text=Humid%20volume%2C%20which%20is%

20the,air%20when%20saturated%20with%20water.
Appendix:

The following is the calculation for converting temperature from degree Celsius to degree
Fahrenheit:
9
𝑇 (℉) = 5
(28. 5℃) + 32. 2 = 83. 3 ℉

The following is the calculation for enthalpy of air from Btu/ lb of dry air to kJ/kg of dry air:
𝐵𝑡𝑢 𝐵𝑡𝑢 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔
𝐻 = (35. 5 𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎
− 7. 686 𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎
) × 2. 326 𝐵𝑡𝑢 = 64. 6954 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔 ≈ 64. 7 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔
𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎

The following is the calculation for humid volume from ft3/lb da to m3/kg:
3
3 𝑚 3
𝑓𝑡 1 𝑘𝑔 𝑚
ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 13. 5 𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎
× 𝑓𝑡
3 = 0. 8428 𝑘𝑔
16.018 𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎

The following is the calculation for the energy required to raise the relative humidity of room air
to saturation:
Non-saturated air:
𝐵𝑡𝑢 1 𝑙𝑏 3
35. 5 𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎
× 3 × 1000 𝑓𝑡 = 2612. 215 𝐵𝑡𝑢
13.59 𝑓𝑡
100 % Saturated air:
𝐵𝑡𝑢 1 𝑙𝑏 3
49. 5 𝑙𝑏 𝑑𝑎
× 3 × 1000 𝑓𝑡 = 3642. 3841 𝐵𝑡𝑢
13.59 𝑓𝑡
𝑄 = 𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑖𝑟 − 𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 3642. 3841 𝐵𝑡𝑢 −
2612. 215 𝐵𝑡𝑢 = 1030. 169 𝐵𝑡𝑢
1.055 𝑘𝐽
𝑄 = 1030. 169 𝐵𝑡𝑢 × 1 𝐵𝑡𝑢
= 1086. 83 𝑘𝐽