Psychrometrics (or psychrometry, ; also called hygrometry) is the field of engineering concerned with the physical and thermodynamic properties of gas-vapor mixtures.
With the inventions of the hygrometer and thermometer, the theories of combining the two began to emerge during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 1818, a German inventor, Ernst Ferdinand August (1795-1870), patented the term “psychrometer”, from the Greek language meaning “cold measure”. The psychrometer is a hygrometric instrument based on the principle that dry air enhances evaporation, unlike wet air, which slows it. [1]
Although the principles of psychrometry apply to any physical system consisting of gas-vapor mixtures, the most common system of interest is the mixture of water vapor and air, because of its application in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning and meteorology. In human terms, our thermal comfort is in large part a consequence of not just the temperature of the surrounding air, but (because we cool ourselves via perspiration) the extent to which that air is saturated with water vapor.
Many substances are hygroscopic, meaning they attract water, usually in proportion to the relative humidity or above a critical relative humidity. Such substances include cotton, paper, cellulose, other wood products, sugar, calcium oxide (burned lime) and many chemicals and fertilizers. Industries that use these materials are concerned with relative humidity control in production and storage of such materials. Relative humidity is often controlled in manufacturing areas where flammable materials are handled, to avoid fires caused by the static electricity discharges that can occur in very dry air.
In industrial drying applications, such as drying paper, manufacturers usually try to achieve an optimum between low relative humidity, which increases the drying rate, and energy usage, which decreases as exhaust relative humidity increases. In many industrial applications it is important to avoid condensation that would ruin product or cause corrosion.
Molds and fungi can be controlled by keeping relative humidity low. Wood destroying fungi generally do not grow at relative humidities below 75%.
See main article: article and Dry-bulb temperature. The dry-bulb temperature is the temperature indicated by a thermometer exposed to the air in a place sheltered from direct solar radiation. The term dry-bulb is customarily added to temperature to distinguish it from wet-bulb and dew point temperature. In meteorology and psychrometrics the word temperature by itself without a prefix usually means dry-bulb temperature. Technically, the temperature registered by the dry-bulb thermometer of a psychrometer. The name implies that the sensing bulb or element is in fact dry. WMO provides a 23-page chapter on the measurement of temperature.[2]
See main article: article and Wet-bulb temperature. The thermodynamic wet-bulb temperature is a thermodynamic property of a mixture of air and water vapor. The value indicated by a wet-bulb thermometer often provides an adequate approximation of the thermodynamic wet-bulb temperature.
The accuracy of a simple wet-bulb thermometer depends on how fast air passes over the bulb and how well the thermometer is shielded from the radiant temperature of its surroundings. Speeds up to 5,000 ft/min (~60 mph, 25.4 m/s) are best but it may be dangerous to move a thermometer at that speed. Errors up to 15% can occur if the air movement is too slow or if there is too much radiant heat present (from sunlight, for example).
A wet bulb temperature taken with air moving at about 1–2 m/s is referred to as a screen temperature, whereas a temperature taken with air moving about 3.5 m/s or more is referred to as sling temperature.
A psychrometer is a device that includes both a dry-bulb and a wet-bulb thermometer. A sling psychrometer requires manual operation to create the airflow over the bulbs, but a powered psychrometer includes a fan for this function. Knowing both the dry-bulb temperature (DBT) and wet-bulb temperature (WBT), one can determine the relative humidity (RH) from the psychrometric chart appropriate to the air pressure.
See main article: article and Dew point temperature. The saturation temperature of the moisture present in the sample of air, it can also be defined as the temperature at which the vapour changes into liquid (condensation). Usually the level at which water vapor changes into liquid marks the base of the cloud in the atmosphere hence called condensation level. So the temperature value that allows this process (condensation) to take place is called the 'dew point temperature'. A simplified definition is the temperature at which the water vapour turns into "dew" (Chamunoda Zambuko 2012).
See main article: article and Humidity.
Specific humidity is defined as the mass of water vapor as a proportion of the mass of the moist air sample (including both dry air and the water vapor); it is closely related to humidity ratio and always lower in value.
The mass of water vapor per unit mass of dry air containing the water vapor. This quantity is also known as the water vapor density.[3]
Is a ratio, expressed in percent, of the amount of atmospheric moisture present relative to the amount that would be present if the air was saturated.
Analogous to the specific enthalpy of a pure substance. In psychrometrics, the term quantifies the total energy of both the dry air and water vapour per kilogram of dry air.
Analogous to the specific volume of a pure substance. However, in psychrometrics, the term quantifies the total volume of both the dry air and water vapour per unit mass of dry air.
The psychrometric ratio is the ratio of the heat transfer coefficient to the product of mass transfer coefficient and humid heat at a wetted surface. It may be evaluated with the following equation:[4] [5]
r=
| hc | |
| kycs |
where:
r
hc
ky
cs
The psychrometric ratio is an important property in the area of psychrometry, as it relates the absolute humidity and saturation humidity to the difference between the dry bulb temperature and the adiabatic saturation temperature.
Mixtures of air and water vapor are the most common systems encountered in psychrometry. The psychrometric ratio of air-water vapor mixtures is approximately unity, which implies that the difference between the adiabatic saturation temperature and wet bulb temperature of air-water vapor mixtures is small. This property of air-water vapor systems simplifies drying and cooling calculations often performed using psychrometric relationships.
Humid heat is the constant-pressure specific heat of moist air, per unit mass of the dry air.[6] The Humid Heat is the amount of Heat required to change the temperature of unit mass of a Water Vapor - Air Mixture by 1 °C.
Many psychrometric properties are dependent on pressure concept:
A psychrometric chart is a graph of the thermodynamic parameters of moist air at a constant pressure, often equated to an elevation relative to sea level. The ASHRAE-style psychrometric chart, shown here, was pioneered by Willis Carrier in 1904.[8] It depicts these parameters and is thus a graphical equation of state. The parameters are:
\rho
\rho=
| Mda+Mw | |
| V |
=\left(
| 1 | |
| v |
\right)(1+W)
where:
Mda
Mw
V
v
W=
| Mw | |
| Mda |
The psychrometric chart allows all the parameters of some moist air to be determined from any three independent parameters, one of which must be the pressure. Changes in state, such as when two air streams mix, can be modeled easily and somewhat graphically using the correct psychrometric chart for the location's air pressure or elevation relative to sea level. For locations at not more than 2000 ft (600 m) of altitude it is common practice to use the sea-level psychrometric chart.
In the ω-t chart, the dry bulb temperature (t) appears as the abscissa (horizontal axis) and the humidity ratio (ω) appear as the ordinate (vertical axis). A chart is valid for a given air pressure (or elevation above sea level). From any two independent ones of the six parameters dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, relative humidity, humidity ratio, specific enthalpy, and specific volume, all the others can be determined. There are
\left({6\atop2}\right)=15
The region above the saturation curve is a two-phase region that represents a mixture of saturated moist air and liquid water, in thermal equilibrium.
The protractor on the upper left of the chart has two scales. The inner scale represents sensible-total heat ratio (SHF). The outer scale gives the ratio of enthalpy difference to humidity difference. This is used to establish the slope of a condition line between two processes. The horizontal component of the condition line is the change in sensible heat while the vertical component is the change in latent heat.[11] [12] [13]
Psychrometric charts [14] are available in SI (metric) and IP (U.S./Imperial) units. They are also available in low and high temperature ranges and for different pressures.
A common variation of this problem is determining the final humidity of air leaving an air conditioner evaporator coil then heated to a higher temperature. Assume that the temperature leaving the coil is 10°C (50°F) and is heated to room temperature (not mixed with room air), which is found by following the horizontal humidity ratio from the dew point or saturation line to the room dry bulb temperature line and reading the relative humidity. In typical practice the conditioned air is mixed with room air that is being infiltrated with outside air.
The "Mollier i-x" (Enthalpy – Humidity Mixing Ratio) diagram, developed by Richard Mollier in 1923,[15] is an alternative psychrometric chart, preferred by many users in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and Russia.[16]
The underlying psychrometric parameter data for the psychrometric chart and the Mollier diagram are identical. At first glance there is little resemblance between the charts, but if the chart is rotated by ninety degrees and looked at in a mirror the resemblance becomes apparent. The Mollier diagram coordinates are enthalpy and humidity ratio. The enthalpy coordinate is skewed and the lines of constant enthalpy are parallel and evenly spaced. The ASHRAE psychrometric charts since 1961 use similar plotting coordinates. Some psychrometric charts use dry-bulb temperature and humidity ratio coordinates.