Air Conditioning System

Dr. Ayad Younis

PhD Thermal Power Engineering
 Properties of Moist Air
Properties of Moist Air (working substance in air conditioning)
• Atmospheric air: The atmospheric air contains many gaseous components as well
as water vapor and miscellaneous contaminants (e.g. smoke& pollen).

• Dry air: The pure dry air is a mixture

of a number of gases such as nitrogen,
oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen,
argon, neon, helium etc. But the
nitrogen and oxygen have the major
portion of the combination.
• Moist air: It is a mixture of dry air and water vapour. The amount of water
vapour, present in the air, depends upon the absolute pressure and temperature of
the mixture.

• Note: The amount of water

vapor in moist air varies from
zero (dry air) to a maximum
value (saturation).
Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures
Consider a homogeneous mixture of ideal gases 1, 2, etc., at temperature T, pressure
p and occupying volume V as shown in Fig. (1.a). Let the number of moles of
individual gases be n1, n2 , … etc., and their respective masses be m1, m2, …etc.
Then we have for total number of moles n and total mass m.

where (i) is the number of each gas. In the Dalton’s model, each gas is conceived
of as existing separately at the temperature T and total volume V of the mixture as
shown in Fig. (1.b).
If one were to measure the pressures exerted by individual gases, they would be
found to be p1, p2 ,... etc., viz., less than the total pressure p of the mixture. These
are referred to as partial pressures. Considering mixture and each component gas
existing separately at T and V, we have for a binary gas mixture:
Thus, for a mixture of ideal gases, the total pressure p is equal to the sum of
the partial pressures. This is known as the Dalton’s law of partial pressures.
Molecular Masses and Gas Constants for Dry Air and Water Vapour

Subscript a denotes dry air. Knowing that the value of the universal gas constant is
8.3143 kJ/kg mole K, the gas constants for the two parts of moist air are as follows:
Molecular Masses and Gas Constants for Dry Air and Water Vapour
The psychometry is that branch of engineering science, which deals with
the study of moist air i.e. dry air mixed with water vapour or humidity.
Important psychrometric properties:
1. Dry bulb temperature: It is the temperature of air recorded by a thermometer,
when it is not affected by the moisture present in the air. The dry bulb temperature
is generally denoted by td or tdb or Td or TDB.
2. Wet bulb temperature: It is the temperature of air recorded by a thermometer,
when its bulb is surrounded by a wet cloth exposed to the air. Such a thermometer
is called wet bulb thermometer. The wet bulb temperature is generally denoted by
tw or twb Tw or TWB.
3. Wet bulb depression: It is the difference between dry bulb temperature and wet
bulb temperature at any point. The wet bulb depression indicates relative humidity
of the air.
4. Specific humidity, humidity ratio or moisture content (W): It is the mass of
water vapour present in 1 kg of dry air in the air-vapour mixture and is
generally expressed in g/kg of dry air. It may also be defined as the ratio of mass
of water vapour to the mass of dry air in a given volume of the air-vapour
mixture. Let pa, Va, Ta, ma and Ra= Pressure, volume, absolute temperature, mass
and gas constant respectively for dry air, and pv, Vv, Tv, mv and Rv corresponding
values for the water vapour.
Assuming that the dry air and water vapour behave as perfect gases, we have for
dry air:
Note:
Consider unsaturated air containing
superheated vapour at dry bulb temperature
td and partial pressure pv as shown by point
A on the T-s diagram in Fig. (3). If water is
added into this unsaturated air, the water
will evaporate which will increase the
moisture content (specific humidity) of the
air and the partial pressure pv increases.

This will continue until the water vapour becomes saturated at that temperature, as
shown by point C in Fig. (3) and there will be more evaporation of water. The
partial pressure pv increases to the saturation pressure ps and it is maximum partial
pressure of water vapour at temperature td. The air containing moisture in such a
state (point C) is called saturated air.
For saturated air (i.e. when the air is holding maximum amount of water vapour),
the humidity ratio or maximum specific humidity:
P𝑠
W = Wmax = 0.622 P −p (4)
b 𝑠
Where
Ps = partial pressure of air corresponding to saturation temperature (i.e. dry bulb
temperature td)
5. Degree of saturation or percentage humidity (μ): The degree of saturation is
the ratio of actual mass of water vapour in a unit mass of dry air to the mass of
water vapour in the same mass of dry air when it is saturated at the same
temperature (dry bulb temperature). In other words, it may be defined as the ratio
of actual specific humidity to the specific humidity of saturated air at the same
dry bulb temperature. It is, usually denoted by (𝜇), mathematically, degree of
saturation is:

0.622 p𝑣 ps
W pb − p𝑣 p𝑣 pb − ps p𝑣 1 − pb
μ= = = = (5)
Ws 0.622 Ps ps pb − p𝑣 ps 1 − p𝑣
pb − ps pb
6. Relative humidity (∅): The relative humidity is the ratio of actual partial
pressure of water vapour in moist air at a given temperature (dry bulb
temperature) to the saturation pressure of water vapour (or partial pressure of
water vapour in saturated air) at the same temperature.
P𝑣
∅=
Ps

P𝑣 Ps
Hence, W = 0.622 = 0.622 ∅
Pa Pa

𝑊 Pa
∅= (6)
0.622 Ps
Note:
We know that degree of saturation:
ps ps
p𝑣 1 − pb 1 − pb
μ= p =∅ ps (7)
ps 1 − 𝑣 1 − ∅
pb pb

μ
∅= ps (8)
1 − (1 − μ) p
b
Notes
- For saturated air, the relative humidity is 100%.
- The partial pressure of saturated air (ps) is obtained from the steam tables
corresponding to dry bulb temperature tdb.
- If the relative humidity, ∅ = p𝑣 Τps is equal to zero, then the humidity ratio,
W=0, i.e. for dry air, 𝜇 = 0.
- If the relative humidity, is ∅ = P𝑣 ΤPs equal to 1, then W=Ws , and 𝜇 = 1. Thus
𝜇 varies between 0 and 1.
7. Pressure of water vapour (p𝑣 ): According to Carrier’s equation, the partial
pressure of water vapour,
pb − pw t d − t w
p𝑣 = pw − (9)
1544 − 1.44 t w
Where:
pw =Saturation pressure corresponding to wet bulb temperature (from steam
tables),
pb =Barometric pressure,
t d =Dry bulb temperature, and
t w =Wet bulb temperature.
8. Vapour density or absolute humidity (ρ𝑣 ): The vapour density or absolute
humidity is the mass of water vapour present in 1 m3 of dry air. Let
V𝑣 = Volume of water vapour in m3 of dry air at its partial pressure,
Va = Volume of dry air in m3 of dry air at its partial pressure
ρ𝑣 =Density of water vapour in kg/m3 corresponding to its partial pressure and dry
bulb temperature tdb and ρa =Density of dry air in kg/m3 of dry air.
9. Dew point temperature (tdp): It is the temperature of air recorded by a
thermometer, when the moisture (water vapour) present begin to condense. In other
words, the dew point temperature is the saturation temperature (tsat) corresponding
to the partial pressure of water vapour (pv). It is, usually, denoted by (tdp). Since, (pv),
is very small, therefore the saturation temperature by water vapour at (pv) is also low
(less than the atmospheric or dry bulb temperature). Thus the water vapour in air exists
in the superheated state and the moist air containing moisture in such a form (i.e.
superheated state) is said to be unsaturated air. This condition is shown by point A on
temperature-entropy (T-s) diagram as shown in Fig. (4).
If a sample of unsaturated air, containing superheated water vapour, is cooled at
constant pressure, the partial pressure (pv) of each constituent remains constant until
the water vapour reaches the saturated state as shown by point B in Fig. (4). At this
point B, the first drop of dew will be formed and hence the temperature at point B is
called dew point temperature. Further cooling will cause condensation of water vapour.
From the above we see that the dew point temperature is the temperature at which the
water vapour begins to condense.
10. Dew point depression: It is the difference between the dry bulb temperature and dew
point temperature of air.
Example (1):
One cubic meter of H2 at 1 bar and 25°C is mixed with one cubic meter of N2 at 1
bar and 25°C. For the mixture at the same conditions, find:
(a) Mole fractions of components.
(b) Partial pressures of components.
(c) Mass fractions of components.
(d) Molecular weight of the mixture.
(e) Gas constant of the mixture.
(f) Volume of the mixture.
Example (2):
The readings from a sling psychrometer are as follows: Dry bulb
temperature = 30°C; Wet bulb temperature =20°C; Barometer reading =
740 mm of Hg. Using steam tables, determine: 1. Dew point temperature;
2. Relative humidity; 3. Specific humidity; 4. Degree of saturation; 5.
Vapour density; and 6. Enthalpy of mixture per kg of dry air.
Example (3):
On a particular day, the atmospheric air was found to have a dry bulb temperature
of 30ºC and a wet bulb temperature of 18ºC. The barometric pressure was
observed to be 756 mm of Hg. Determine the relative humidity, the specific
humidity, the dew point temperature, and the enthalpy of air per kg of dry air.
Example (4):
A room 7 m x 4 m x 4 m is occupied by an air-water vapour mixture at 38 . The
atmospheric pressure is 1 bar and the relative humidity is 70%. Determine the
humidity ratio, dew point, mass of dry air and mass of water vapour. If the
mixture of air-water vapour is further cooled at constant pressure until the
temperature is 10°C; find the amount of water vapour condensed.
Example (5):
The humidity ratio of atmospheric air at 28°C dry bulb temperature and 760 mm
of Hg is 0.016kg/kg of dry air. Determine: 1. partial pressure of water vapour; 2.
relative humidity; 3. dew point temperature; 4. specific enthalpy; and 5. vapour
density.
Thank you