ME−412

REFRIGERATION & AIR-

CONDITIONING
Teacher In-charge
PROF. DR. ASAD NAEEM SHAH
[email protected]

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY,
LAHORE
 PSYCHROMETRY AND
WETTED-SURFACE HEAT
TRANSFER

(Psychrometry is the study of the properties of

mixtures of air and water vapor or simply moist air)

Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah

 INTRODUCTION
o Psychrometry is important in air-conditioning (AC)
practice because atmospheric air is not completely dry
but a mixture of air and water vapor. In some air-
conditioning processes water is removed from the air-
water-vapor mixture, and in others water is added.
➢ APPLICATIONS:
o Psychrometric principles are applied to load calculations,
air-conditioning systems, cooling and dehumidifying
coils, cooling towers, and evaporative condensers.
o The subject is also important in some equipment where
heat and mass transfer processes between air and a
wetted surface occur e.g., humidifiers, dehumidifying &
cooling coils, and water-spray equipment such as
cooling towers and evaporative condensers.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 INTRODUCTION Cont.
o Moreover, some convenient relations can be developed to
express the rates of heat and mass transfer (HMT) using
enthalpy potential.
➢ AIR & WATER VAPOR:
o Air−a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and small amount of
some other gases normally contains some water vapor (or
moisture) and is referred to as atmospheric air. By
contrast, air that contains no water vapor is called dry air.
o Atmospheric air or moist air is a mixture of water vapor
and dry air in which the composition of dry air remains
relatively constant. But, the amount of water vapor
changes as a result of condensation and evaporation from
oceans, lakes, rivers, showers, and even the human body.
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 PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
o Although the amount of water vapor in the air is small, it
plays a major role in human comfort. Dry air and water
vapor (moisture) form a binary mixture i.e., a mixture of
two substances.
o Psychrometric chart is a graphical representation of
thermodynamic properties of moist air, where all data
essential for thermodynamic and psychrometric analysis
of air-conditioning (AC) processes can be summarized.
o There are two reasons for the development of
Psychrometric chart (Fig. 1).
• To become aware of the bases of the chart &
• To be able to calculate properties at new sets of
conditions, e.g., nonstandard barometric pressure.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
Following are the important features
of the Psychrometric chart:

Humidity ratio
Dry bulb temp.

Enthalpy
 𝟏 −SATURATION LINE
o The two important coordinates of the chart are the
temperature 𝑡(℃) for the abscissa and temporarily the
water-vapor pressure 𝑝𝑠 (𝑘𝑃𝑎) for the ordinate (Fig. 2).
o First consider the chart to represent water alone (i.e. no air).
Data for the saturation line can be
obtained directly from tables of
saturated water (Table A-1).
The saturation line can now be drawn
on the chart (Fig. 2). The region to the
right of the saturation line represents
superheated water vapor.
If superheated vapor is cooled at
constant pressure, it will eventually
reach the saturation line where it
Fig. 2: Saturation line. begins to condense.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 SATURATION LINE Cont.
o Now consider the water vapor along with air. At a given
water-vapor pressure, which is now a partial pressure (in
the presence of air), condensation occurs at the same
temperature as it would if no air were present.
o However, there is a slight interaction between the
molecules of air and water vapor in this case, which
changes the steam-table data slightly. Table A − 2
presents the properties of air saturated with water vapor.
o But, a comparison of vapor pressures of the water in the
air mixture (air−water-vapor mixture given in Table A−2)
with that of pure water (shown in Table A−1) reveals
practically no difference in pressure at a given
temperature.
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 SATURATION LINE Cont.
o If the condition of the mixture lies on the saturation line,
the air is said to be saturated−i.e., any decrease in
temperature will result in condensation of the water
vapor into liquid. To the right of the saturation line the air
is, however, unsaturated.
o If point A (Fig. 2) represents the condition of the air, the
temperature of mixture (at A) will have to be reduced to
temperature B to start the condensation. Air at A is said
to have a dew-point temperature of B.
o The dew point temperature ( 𝑡𝑑𝑝 ) is defined as the
temperature at which condensation begins when the air
is cooled at constant pressure (Fig. 3) i.e., it is the
saturation temperature of water corresponding to the
vapor pressure: 𝒕𝒅𝒑 = 𝒕𝒔𝒂𝒕@𝒑𝒔 where 𝑝𝑠 is water-vapor pressure
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 SATURATION LINE Cont.
o On a hot and humid day, dew formation on the can/bottle
indicates that the temperature of the drink is below the
dew-point temperature of the surrounding air i.e., 𝑡 < 𝑡𝑑𝑝
o For saturated air, the dry-bulb, wet-bulb, and dew-point
temperatures are identical.

Fig. 3: Dew point temperature. Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 𝟐 −RELATIVE HUMIDITY
o It is defined as the ratio of the mole fraction of water vapor
in moist air to mole fraction of water vapor in saturated air
at the same temperature (for the same volume of air).
𝑚𝑠
𝜙= → (1)
𝑚𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑡.
𝑝𝑠 𝑉
where 𝑚𝑠 = ; and subscript ‘s’ denotes water vapor.
𝑅𝑠 𝑇
𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝. 𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟
⇒𝜙=
𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝.
𝑝𝑠
⇒𝜙= → (2)
𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡.
o So lines of constant relative humidity are added to the
chart by marking off vertical distances between the
saturation line and the base of the chart, shown in Fig. 3.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 RELATIVE HUMIDITY Cont.
o The relative humidity of 0.50, for example, has an
ordinate equal to one-half that of the saturation line at
that (same) temperature (Fig. 3).
Thus, relative humidity is the
A amount of moisture in a given
sample of air to the amount
of moisture the air would
hold if totally saturated at the
B temperature of sample.

Fig. 3: Relative humidity line. Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 𝟑 −HUMIDITY RATIO
o The mass of water vapor present in a unit mass of dry air
is called humidity ratio or specific humidity and is denoted
by 𝑊. Actually, it is the mass of water interspersed in each
kilogram of dry air i.e., it is based on 1 kg of dry air.
o The temperature of air (in air-conditioning applications)
ranges from about −10° to about 50°C. In this range, dry
air can be treated as an ideal gas with a constant 𝑐𝑝 value
of about 1.00 kJ/kg·K.
o Moreover, the saturation pressure of water is 12.3 kPa at
50°C. At pressures below this value, water vapor can also
be treated as an ideal gas with negligible error (under 0.2
percent), even when it is a saturated vapor.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 HUMIDITY RATIO Cont.
o Therefore, both water vapor and air (dry) may be
assumed to be perfect gases (obeying the equation 𝑝𝑣 =
𝑅𝑇 and having constant specific heats) in the usual air-
conditioning applications so:
𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑠
𝑊= = → (3)
𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑎
𝑝𝑠 𝑉/𝑅𝑠 𝑇 𝑝𝑠 /𝑅𝑠
⇒𝑊= = → (4)
𝑝𝑎 𝑉/𝑅𝑎 𝑇 (𝑝𝑡 − 𝑝𝑠 )/𝑅𝑎
where, the subscripts a and s are used for dry air and water-
vapor, respectively.
W = 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜, (𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟)/(𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟)
𝑉 = 𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 − 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑚3
𝑝𝑡 = 𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑝𝑎 + 𝑝𝑠 , 𝑃𝑎 (Dalton’s law)
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 HUMIDITY RATIO Cont.
𝑝𝑎 = 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 , 𝑃𝑎
𝑅𝑎 = 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 287𝐽/𝑘𝑔. 𝐾
𝑅𝑠 = 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 = 461.5𝐽/𝑘𝑔. 𝐾
𝑇 = 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 − 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝐾
o Substituting the values of 𝑅𝑎 and 𝑅𝑠 into Eqn. (4) gives:
287 𝑝𝑠 𝑝𝑠
𝑊= × = 0.622 × → (5)
461.5 𝑝𝑡 − 𝑝𝑠 𝑝𝑡 − 𝑝𝑠
𝑊𝑝𝑡
⇒ 𝑝𝑠 = → (6)
0.622 + 𝑊
o The atmospheric pressure 𝑝𝑡 has now appeared on the
scene. Equations (5-6) show the relationship between 𝑊
and 𝑝𝑠 , so that companion scales can be shown on
ordinates of the psychrometric chart, as illustrated in Fig. 4.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 HUMIDITY RATIO Cont.
o As Eqn. (6) shows, the relation between 𝑊 and 𝑝𝑠 is not
perfectly-linear. Thus in psychrometric chart, the 𝑊 scale
is divided linearly, which makes the 𝑝𝑠 scale slightly
nonlinear.

(𝒑𝒔 )
𝑾
Fig. 4: Humidity ratio 𝑊 as another ordinate.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 HUMIDITY RATIO Cont.
𝑝𝑠
∵𝜙=
𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡.
o Putting Eqn. (6) into above equation:
𝑊𝑝𝑡
𝜙= → 7
0.622 + 𝑊 𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡.
o Alternatively, 𝑊 in terms of 𝜙:
0.622 𝜙 𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡.
⇒𝑊= → (8)
𝑝𝑡 − 𝜙 𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡.
o It is important to note that, relative humidity of the air 𝜙
changes even when its specific humidity 𝑊 remains
constant, and vise versa.

Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah

 EXAMPLE
Compute the humidity ratio of air at 60 percent relative humidity
when the temperature is 30°C. The barometric pressure is the
standard value of 101.3 kPa.

SOLUTION
o The water-vapor pressure of saturated air at 30°C is 4.241 kPa
(From Table A-1). As
𝑝𝑠
𝜙=
𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡.
𝑝𝑠
⇒ 0.6 = ⇒ 𝑝𝑠 = 2.545𝑘𝑃𝑎
4.241
𝑝𝑠 2.545
∵ 𝑊 = 0.622 × = 0.622 × = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟔 = 𝒌𝒈Τ𝒌𝒈
𝑝𝑡 − 𝑝𝑠 101.3 − 2.545

Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah

 𝟒 −ENTHALPY
o The enthalpy of the mixture of dry air and water vapor is
the sum of the enthalpy of the dry air and the enthalpy of
the water vapor.
o Enthalpy values are always based on some datum plane,
and the zero value of the dry air is chosen as air at 0°C.
The zero value of the water vapor is taken as saturated
liquid water at 0°C.
o The enthalpy of water vapor in air can be taken to be equal
to the enthalpy of saturated vapor at the same temperature,
i.e.,
ℎ𝑠 𝑡℃, 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑤 ≅ ℎ𝑔 𝑡℃ → (10)
o In Eqn. (10), ℎ𝑔 is considered to be the enthalpy of water
vapor for saturated steam.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 ENTHALPY Cont.
o But the water vapor in the air−vapor mixture is likely to be
superheated. Actually, there is no significant error between
the two values as the enthalpy & temperature relationship
on the Mollier diagram (Fig. 5) shows that the enthalpy of
superheated water vapor is approximately equal to the
enthalpy of saturated vapor at the same temperature.

Fig. 5: Line of constant

temperature shows that the
enthalpy of superheated
water vapor is approximately
equal to the enthalpy of
saturated vapor at the same
temperature.

Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah

 ENTHALPY Cont.
o Moreover, at temperature below 50℃ the constant
enthalpy line and the constant temperature line are the
same. As water vapor is an ideal gas < 50℃ , so the
enthalpy of water vapor is a function of temperature only,
i.e. ℎ = ℎ 𝑡℃ ≅ ℎ𝑔 as shown in Fig. 6.
t

Fig. 6: Enthalpy of water vapor

as a function of temperature.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 ENTHALPY Cont.
o As the equation for the enthalpy can be given as:
H = 𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑎 + 𝑚𝑠 ℎ𝑠
𝑚𝑠
⇒ ℎ = ℎ𝑎 + ℎ𝑠
𝑚𝑎
⇒ ℎ = ℎ𝑎 + 𝑊ℎ𝑔 ∵ ℎ𝑠 = ℎ𝑔
⇒ ℎ = 𝑐𝑝 𝑡 + 𝑊ℎ𝑔 𝑘𝐽Τ𝑘𝑔 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 → (9)
where
𝑐𝑝 = specific heat of dry air at constant pressure = 1.0
kJ/kg·K
𝑡 = temperature of air-vapor mixture, °C
ℎ𝑔 = enthalpy of saturated steam (water-vapor) at
temperature of air-vapor mixture, kJ/kg.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 ENTHALPY Cont.
o A line of constant enthalpy can now be added to the
psychrometric chart, as in Fig. 6. Hence several arbitrary
temperatures can be chosen and the humidity ratio
computed for the enthalpy line using Eqn. (9).
EXPLANATIVE EXAMPLE
Locate the point on the 95 kJ/kg enthalpy
line where the temperature is 50°C.
SOLUTION
At t = 50°C, ℎ𝑔 = 2592 kJ/kg (Using Table A-1).
Solving for 𝑊 from Eqn. (9) for h = 95 kJ/kg :
ℎ − 𝑐𝑝 𝑡 95 − 1.0 50
𝑊= =
ℎ𝑔 2592
= 0.0174 𝑘𝑔Τ𝑘𝑔
Fig. 6: Line of constant enthalpy
This result checks the value from psyc- chart.

NOTE: Lines of constant enthalpy are shown to the left of the saturation
line on psychrometric- chart.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 𝟓 −SPECIFIC VOLUME
o The specific volume is the number of cubic meters of
mixture (or the cubic meters of dry air) per kilogram of
dry air.
o The perfect-gas equation is used to calculate the specific
volume of the air−vapor mixture.
𝑅𝑎 𝑇 𝑅𝑎 𝑇
𝑣= = → (11)
𝑝𝑎 𝑝𝑡 − 𝑝𝑠
o To establish points on a line of constant specific volume,
0.90 𝑚3 Τ𝑘𝑔 for example, substitute 0.9 for 𝑣 , the
barometric pressure for 𝑝𝑡 , and at arbitrary values of T
solve for 𝑝𝑠 . The pairs of 𝒑𝒔 and t values then describe
the line of constant 𝑣, as shown in Fig. 7.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
SPECIFIC VOLUME Cont.

Fig. 7: Line of constant specific volume.

Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah

 EXAMPLE
What is the specific volume of an air-water-vapor mixture
having a temperature of 24°C and a relative humidity of 20
percent at standard barometric pressure?
SOLUTION
o The water-vapor pressure of saturated air at 24°C is
2.982 kPa (From Table A-1)
o So, the vapor pressure with 𝜙 = 20% is calculated as:
∵ 𝑝𝑠 = 𝜙 𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑡. = 0.2 2.982 = 0.596 𝑘𝑃𝑎 = 596 𝑃𝑎
o Applying Eqn. (11) i.e.,
𝑅𝑎 𝑇 287 24 + 273.15
𝑣= = = 0.85 𝑚3 Τ𝑘𝑔 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝑝𝑡 − 𝑝𝑠 101,300 − 596
o This result checks the value from psychrometric- chart.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 COMBINED HEAT AND MASS
TRANSFER−THE STRAIGHT-LINE LAW
o The straight-line law states that when air is transferring
heat and mass (water) to or from a wetted surface, the
condition of the air shown on a psychrometric chart
drives toward the saturation line at the temperature of the
wetted surface.
o If air flows over a wetted surface as shown in Fig. 1, the
condition of air passing over differential area dA changes
from condition 1 to condition 2 on the psychrometric chart
(Fig. 2). The straight-line law asserts that point 2 lies on
a straight line drawn between point 1 and the saturation
curve at the wetted-surface temperature.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
COMBINED HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER−THE
STRAIGHT-LINE LAW Cont.
o Obviously, the warm air at 1 drops in temperature when
it comes in contact with water at temperature 𝑡𝑤 .

Fig. 1: Air passing over a wetted- Fig. 2: Condition of air drives toward
surface. saturation line at temperature of
wetted-surface.

Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah

COMBINED HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER−THE
STRAIGHT-LINE LAW Cont.
o Moreover, the air at 1 (having a higher vapor pressure 𝑝𝑠
than the liquid at temperature 𝑡𝑤 ) will transfer mass by
condensing some water vapor and dropping the humidity
ratio of the air.
o It is important to note that the rates of heat and mass
transfer (HMT) are so related that the path is a straight
line driving toward the saturation line at the temperature
of the wetted-surface.
o This special property is due to the value of unity of the
Lewis relation − a dimensionless group 𝐿𝑒 = 𝛼Τ𝐷
governing the transport of energy (heat) & mass, where
𝛼 = thermal diffusivity of the material, and
𝐷 = mass diffusion coefficient.
Arranged by Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah