UNIT 4

PSYCHOMETRICS AND COMFORT AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

PSYCHOMETRY - INTRODUCTION
Psychometry is the study of the properties of mixtures of air and water vapour. A mixture
of various gases that constitute air and water vapour. This mixture is known as moist air.
SATURATED AIR
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.
PSYCHROMETRIC PROPERTIES
 Dry bulb temperature (DBT)
The temperature of the moist air as measured by a standard thermometer or other
temperature measuring instruments.
 Saturated vapour pressure (psat)
The saturated partial pressure of water vapour at the dry bulb temperature. This is
readily available in thermodynamic tables and charts. ASHRAE suggests the following regression
equation for saturated vapour pressure of water, which is valid for 0 to 100o C
 Relative humidity (Φ)
The ratio of the mole fraction of water vapour in moist air to mole fraction of
water vapour in saturated air at the same temperature and pressure

 Humidity ratio (W):

The humidity ratio (or specific humidity) W is the mass of water associated with
each kilogram of dry air1. Assuming both water vapour and dry air to be perfect gases.
 Dew-point temperature
If unsaturated moist air is cooled at constant pressure, then the temperature at
which the moisture in the air begins to condense is known as dew-point temperature (DPT) of air.
The temperature indicated by the thermometer immersed in the water is the thermodynamic
wet-bulb temperature.
PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
A Psychrometric chart graphically represents the thermodynamic properties of
moist air. Standard psychrometric charts are bounded by the dry-bulb temperature line
(abscissa) and the vapour pressure or humidity ratio (ordinate). The Left Hand Side of the
psychrometric chart is bounded by the saturation line. Above figure shows the schematic of a
psychrometric chart.
SENSIBLE COOLING
During this process, the moisture content of air remains constant but its
temperature decreases as it flows over a cooling coil. For moisture content to remain constant,
the surface of the cooling coil should be dry and its surface temperature should be greater than
the dew point temperature of air. If the cooling coil is 100% effective, then the exit temperature
of air will be equal to the coil temperature. However, in practice, the exit air temperature will be
higher than the cooling coil temperature. Shows the sensible cooling process O-A on a
psychrometric chart. The heat transfer rate during this process is given by:
SENSIBLE HEATING (PROCESS O-B):

During this process, the moisture content of air remains constant and
its temperature increases As it flows over a heating coil. The heat transfer rate during this

process is given by:

Where c pmis the humid specific heat (≈1.0216 kJ/kg dry air) and ma is the mass flow rate of dry
air (kg/s). Figure 28.2 shows the sensible heating process on a psychrometric chart.

COOLING AND DEHUMIDIFICATION (PROCESS O-C):

When moist air is cooled below its dew-point by bringing it in contact with a cold
surface as shown in Fig. some of the water vapor in the air condenses and leaves the air stream
as liquid, as a result both the temperature and humidity ratio of air decreases as shown. This is
the process air undergoes in a typical air conditioning system. Although the actual process path
will vary depending upon the type of cold surface, the surface temperature, and flow conditions,
for simplicity the process line is assumed to be a straight line.

Sensible Heat Factor (SHF) is defined as the ratio of sensible to total heat transfer rate

The slope of the cooling and de-humidification line is purely a function of the sensible heat
factor, SHF. Hence, we can draw the cooling and de-humidification line on psychrometric chart if
the initial state and the SHF are known. In some standard psychrometric charts, a protractor with
different values of SHF is provided. The process line is drawn through the initial state point and
in parallel to the given SHF line from the protractor as shown in Fig
We can define a by-pass factor (BPF) as:

A contact factor (CF) can be defined which is given by: CF = 1 – BPF

Mass balance of water vapor for the control volume yields the rate at which steam has to be
added, i.e., mw:

Where Q his the heat supplied through the heating coil and hw is the enthalpy of steam.

COOLING & HUMIDIFICATION (PROCESS O-E):

As the name implies, during this process, the air temperature drops and its
humidity increases. This process is shown in fig.28.6. As shown in the figure, this can be achieved
by spraying cool water in the air stream. The temperature of water should be lower than the dry-
bulb temperature of air but higher than its dew-point temperature to avoid condensation (tdpt <
tw < to).
It can be seen that during this process there is sensible heat transfer from air to water and latent
heat transfer from water to air. Hence, the total heat transfer depends upon the water
temperature. If the temperature of the water sprayed is equal to the wet-bulb temperature of
air, then the net transfer rate will be zero as the sensible heat transfer from air to water will be
equal to latent heat transfer from water to air. If the water temperature is greater than WBT,
then there will be a net heat transfer from water to air. If the water temperature is less than
WBT, then the net heat transfer will be from air to water. Under a special case when the spray
water is entirely recirculated and is neither heated nor cooled, the system is perfectly insulated
and the make-up water is supplied at WBT, then at steady-state, the air undergoes an adiabatic
saturation process, during which its WBT remains constant. This is the process of adiabatic
saturation, the process of cooling and humidification is encountered in a wide variety of devices
such as evaporative coolers, cooling towers etc.

HEATING AND DE-HUMIDIFICATION (PROCESS O-F):

This process can be achieved by using a hygroscopic material, which absorbs

or adsorbs the water vapor from the moisture. If this process is thermally isolated, then the
enthalpy of air remains constant, as a result the temperature of air increases as its moisture
content decreases as shown in Fig This hygroscopic material can be a solid or a liquid. In general,
the absorption of water by the hygroscopic material is an exothermic reaction, as a result heat is
released during this process, which is transferred to air and the enthalpy of air increases.

ADIABATIC SATURATION

Adiabatic saturation temperature is defined as that temperature at which water, by

evaporating into air, can bring the air to saturation at the same temperature adiabatically. An
adiabatic saturator is a device using which one can measure theoretically the adiabatic saturation
temperature of air.
As shown in Fig. an adiabatic saturator is a device in which air flows through an infinitely long duct
containing water. As the air comes in contact with water in the duct, there will be heat and mass
transfer between water and air. If the duct is infinitely long, then at the exit, there would exist
perfect equilibrium between air and water at steady state. Air at the exit would be fully saturated
and its temperature is equal to that of water temperature. The device is adiabatic as the walls of
the chamber are thermally insulated. In order to continue the process, make-up water has to be
provided to compensate for the amount of water evaporated into the air. The temperature of the
make-up water is controlled so that it is the same as that in the duct. After the adiabatic saturator
has achieved a steady-state condition, the temperature indicated by the thermometer immersed
in the water is the thermodynamic wet-bulb temperature. The thermodynamic wet bulb
temperature will be less than the entering air DBT but greater than the dew point temperature.
Certain combinations of air conditions will result in a given sump temperature, and this can be
defined by writing the energy balance equation for the adiabatic saturator.
A line passing through all these points is a constant wet bulb temperature line. Thus all inlet
conditions that result in the same sump temperature, for example point 1’ have the same wet
bulb temperature. The line is a straight line according to the straight-line law. The straight-line
joining 1 and 2 represents the path of the air as it passes through the adiabatic saturator.
Normally lines of constant wet bulb temperature are shown on the psychrometric chart. The
difference between actual enthalpy and the enthalpy obtained by following constant wet-bulb
temperature is equal to (w2-w1)hf.

WORKING & EQUIPMENT OF AN AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

It consists of

 Dampers

 Air filter
  Cooling coil,

 Spray type humidifier,

 Heating coil and a Fan. Atmospheric air flows through the dampers.

The quantity of air depends upon the "load and the dampers control it. Air then passes through
the Air filter. The filter removes dirt, dust and other impurities. The air now passes over a cooling
coil. So when air is cooled below its dew point temperature, the water vapour is removed from
the air in the form of water droplets. The surface temperature of the cooling coil has to be
maintained below the dew-point temperature of the atmospheric air to accomplish
dehumidification. The quantity of water removed from air is collected in the sump and is
drained. The temperature of air leaving the cooling coil is lower than the ambient temperature
for comfort. During the dry weather the spray type humidifier is used to increase the humidity of
the conditioned air. During wet weather condition the relative humidity of the air is high, is
controlled by the heating coil. For the comfort condition required is DBT around 23O C and
relative humidity 60%. So the air is to be cooled and humidified to the comfort condition. Now
the conditioned air is supplied to the conditioned space by a fan and ducts.

WORKING OF THE WINDOW AIR CONDITIONER

The working of the window air conditioner shown in Figure is described as under:
The refrigerant vapour leaving the compressor is at high pressure and temperature. It then
passes through the condenser. Outside air is drawn in by the fan and it cools the refrigerant in
the condenser, the refrigerant then becomes liquid. The high pressure, low temperature liquid
refrigerant enters the expansion valve. The pressure and temperature of the refrigerant falls
when it leaves the valve. The cold refrigerant from the valve passes through the evaporator (the
evaporator side of the air conditioner faces the room to be cooled). The warm air from the room
is drawn in by blower. The evaporator cools this air and the liquid inside the evaporator tube
gets vaporized by absorbing the heat from the warm air. The cool air is again sent to the room
through the opening at the top of the air conditioning unit. The liquid and vapour refrigerant
from the evaporator passes to the compressor and is compressed to high-pressure, high
temperature liquid. The operation hereafter is carried out in cycle as the same manner as
explained.

SPLIT AIR CONDITIONER

A Streamlined and light-weight air handler is mounted on the inside wall. Refrigerant and
condensate lines run through a small hole in the wall to the outside unit. Initial power is to the
outside unit and then relayed to the air handler. Extremely quiet as the compressor and
condenser coil are outside. Full electronic and remote control. The compressor (6) in the exterior
unit compresses the refrigerant into a high-temperature, high-pressure gas. When this gas flows
along the cooling fins of the condenser (7), heat is exuded and the gas is led to the evaporator
(1) in the interior unit. The liquid expands into a gas at a low temperature and low pressure. This
gas absorbs the warmth of the air in the room, the cooled air is blown back into the room and
the heat is led to the compressor along with the gas.

A fan (3) draws the air (a) over the filter (2) and blows the cooled air (b) back into the room. A
fan (8) draws air over the condenser and blows warm air (d) away. As with cooling, the moisture
in the air condenses on the cold evaporator at room temperature.

AIR WASHER & FILTERS

In direct evaporative cooling, the process or conditioned air comes in direct
contact with the wetted surface, and gets cooled and humidified. FIGURE shows the schematic
of an elementary direct, evaporative cooling system and the process on a psychrometric chart.
As shown in the figure, hot and dry outdoor air is first filtered and then is brought in contact with
the wetted surface or spray of water droplets in the air washer. The air gets cooled and
dehumidified due to simultaneous transfer of sensible and latent heats between air and water
(process o-s). The cooled and humidified air is supplied to the conditioned space, where it
extracts the sensible and latent heat from the conditioned space (process s-i). Finally the air is
exhausted at state i. In an ideal case when the air washer is perfectly insulated and an infinite
amount of contact area is available between air and the wetted surface, then the cooling

and humidification process follows the constant wet bulb temperature line and the temperature
at the exit of the air washer is equal to the wet bulb temperature of the entering air (to,wbt), i.e.,
the process becomes an adiabatic saturation process. However, in an actual system the
temperature at the exit of the air washer will be higher than the inlet wet bulb temperature due
to heat leaks from the surroundings and also due to finite contact area. One can define the
saturation efficiency or effectiveness of the evaporative cooling system ε as:
WINTER AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

In winter the outside conditions are cold and dry. As a result, there will be a
continuous transfer of sensible heat as well as moisture (latent heat) from the buildings to the
outside. Hence, in order to maintain required comfort conditions in the occupied space an air
conditioning system is required which can offset the sensible and latent heat losses from the
building. Air supplied to the conditioned space is heated and humidified in the winter air
conditioning system to the required level of temperature and moisture content depending upon
the sensible and latent heat losses from the building. In winter the heat losses from the
conditioned space are partially offset by solar and internal heat gains. Thus in a conservative
design of winter A/C systems, the effects of solar radiation and internal heat gain are not
considered.
Heating and humidification of air can be achieved by different schemes. Figure shows one such
scheme along with the cycle on psychrometric chart. As shown in the figure, the mixed air
(mixture of return and outdoor air) is first pre-heated (m-1) in the pre-heater, then humidified
using a humidifier or an air washer (1-2) and then finally reheated in the re-heater (2-s). The
reheated air at state‘s’ is supplied to the conditioned space.
The flow rate of supply air should be such that when released into the conditioned space at state
‘s’, it should be able to maintain the conditioned space at state I and offset the sensible and
latent heat losses (Q sand Ql). Pre-heating of air is advantageous as it ensures that water in the
humidifier/air washer does not freeze. In addition, by controlling the heat supplied in the pre-
heater one can control the moisture content in the conditioned space.

AIR WASHER HUMIDIFICATION

The humidification of air can be achieved in several ways, e.g. by bringing
the air in contact with a wetted surface, or with droplets of water as in an air washer, by adding
aerosol sized water droplets directly to air or by direct addition of dry saturated or superheated
steam.
Figure shows another scheme that can also be used for heating and humidification of air as
required in a winter air conditioning system. As shown in the figure, this system does not consist
of a pre-heater. The mixed air is directly humidified using an air washer (m-1) and is then
reheated (1-s) before supplying it to the conditioned space. Though this system is simpler
compared to the previous one, it suffers from disadvantages such as possibility of water freezing
in the air washer when large amount of cold outdoor air is used and also from health hazards to
the occupants if the water used in the air washer is not clean. Hence this system is not
recommended for comfort conditioning but can be used in applications where the air
temperatures at the inlet to the air washer are above 0o C and the conditioned space is used for
products or processes, but not for providing personnel comfort.
COMFORT CHART
A chart which relates effective temperature, dry-bulb temperature, wet-
bulbtemperature, and air movement to human comfort; comfort zones are indicated on
such a chart.

Effective temperature (ET): This factor combines the effects of dry bulb temperature and air
humidity into a single factor. It is defined as the temperature of the environment at 50% RH
which results in the same total loss from the skin as in the actual environment. Since this value
depends on other factors such as activity, clothing, air velocity and Tmrt,

ASHRAE has defined a comfort chart based on the effective and operative temperatures. Figure
29.3 shows the ASHRAE comfort chart with comfort zones for summer and winter conditions. It
can be seen from the chart that the comfort zones are bounded by effective temperature lines, a
o
constant RH line of 60% and dew point temperature of 2 C. The upper and lower limits of humidity
o
(i.e. 60 % RH and 2 C DPT, respectively) are based on the moisture content related considerations
of dry skin, eye irritation, respiratory health and microbial growth. The comfort chart is based on
statistical sampling of a large number of occupants with activity levels less than 1.2 met. On the
chart, the region where summer and winter comfort zones overlap, people in winter clothing feel
slightly warm and people in summer clothing feel slightly cool. Based on the chart ASHARE makes
the following recommendations:
Inside design conditions for winter:
o
Top between 20.0 to 23.5 C at a RH of 60%
o o
Top between 20.5 to 24.5 C at a DPT of 2 C
Inside design conditions for summer:
o
Top between 22.5 to 26.0 C at a RH of 60%
o o
Top between 23.5 to 27.0 C at a DPT of 2 C TopW Winter zone summer zone DPT=2oC ET=20oC
ET=22.5Oc
MECHANICAL/REFRIGERATION DEHUMIDIFIERS,
The most common type, usually work by drawing moist air over a refrigerated coil with a
fan. The cold evaporator coil of the refrigeration device condenses the water, which is removed,
and then the air is reheated by the condenser coil. The now dehumidified, re-warmed air is
released into the room. This process works most effectively at higher ambient temperatures with
a high dew point temperature. In cold climates, the process is less effective. It is most effective
at over 45% relative humidity; higher if the air is cold[citation needed].
This type of dehumidifier differs from a standard air conditioner in that both the evaporator and
the condenser are placed in the same air path. A standard air conditioner transfers heat energy
out of the room because its condenser coil releases heat outside. However, since all components
of the dehumidifier are in the same room, no heat energy is removed. Instead, the
electric power consumed by the dehumidifier remains in the room as heat, so the room is
actually heated, just as by an electric heater that draws the same amount of power.
In addition, if water is condensed in the room, the amount of heat previously needed to
evaporate that water also is re-released in the room (the latent heat of vaporization). The
dehumidification process is the inverse of adding water to the room with an evaporative cooler,
and instead releases heat. Therefore, an in-room dehumidifier always will warm the room and
reduce the relative humidity indirectly, as well as reducing the humidity more directly, by
condensing and removing water.

TYPES OF FANS
There are two main kinds of industrial fans:

 Centrifugal fans
 Axial-flow fans
Centrifugal fans
Centrifugal fans consist of a wheel or a rotor mounted on a shaft that rotates in a scroll-shaped
housing. Air enters at the eye of the rotor, makes a right-angle turn, and is forced through the
blades of the rotor by centrifugal force into the scroll-shaped housing. The centrifugal force
imparts static pressure to the air. The diverging shape of the scroll also converts a portion of the
velocity pressure into static pressure.
There are three main types of centrifugal fans:

 Radial-blade fans - Radial-blade fans are used for heavy dust loads. Their straight, radial
blades do not get clogged with material, and they withstand considerable abrasion. These
fans have medium tip speeds and medium noise factors.
 Backward-blade fans - Backward-blade fans operate at higher tip speeds and thus are more
efficient. Since material may build up on the blades, these fans should be used after a dust
collector. Although they are noisier than radial-blade fans, backward-blade fans are
commonly used for large-volume dust collection systems because of their higher efficiency.
 Forward-curved-blade fans - These fans have curved blades that are tipped in the direction
of rotation. They have low space requirements, low tip speeds, and a low noise factor. They
are usually used against low to moderate static pressures.
Axial-flow fans
Axial-flow fans are used in systems that have low resistance levels. These fans move the air
parallel to the fan's axis of rotation. The screw-like action of the propellers moves the air in a
straight-through parallel path, causing a helical flow pattern.
The three main kinds of axial fans are-

 Propeller fans - These fans are used to move large quantities of air against very low static
pressures. They are usually used for general ventilation or dilution ventilation and are good
in developing up to 0.5 in. wg (124.4 Pa).
 Tube-axial fans - Tube-axial fans are similar to propeller fans except they are mounted in a
tube or cylinder. Therefore, they are more efficient than propeller fans and can develop up
to 3 to 4 in. wg (743.3 to 995 Pa). They are best suited for moving air containing substances
such as condensible fumes or pigments.
 Vane-axial fans - Vane-axial fans are similar to tube-axial fans except air-straightening vanes
are installed on the suction or discharge side of the rotor. They are easily adapted to
multistaging and can develop static pressures as high as 14 to 16 in. wg (3.483 to 3.98 kPa).
They are normally used for clean air only.

CENTRIFIGUAL DUST COLLECTOR

High speed rotating (air) flow is established within a cylindrical or conical container called
a cyclone. Air flows in a helical pattern, beginning at the top (wide end) of the cyclone and
ending at the bottom (narrow) end before exiting the cyclone in a straight stream through the
center of the cyclone and out the top. Larger (denser) particles in the rotating stream have too
much inertia to follow the tight curve of the stream, and strike the outside wall, then fall to the
bottom of the cyclone where they can be removed. In a conical system, as the rotating flow
moves towards the narrow end of the cyclone, the rotational radius of the stream is reduced,
thus separating smaller and smaller particles. The cyclone geometry, together with volumetric
flow rate, defines the cut point of the cyclone. This is the size of particle that will be removed
from the stream with a 50% efficiency. Particles larger than the cut point will be removed with a
greater efficiency, and smaller particles with a lower efficiency as they separate with more
difficulty or can be subject to re-entrainment when the air vortex reverses direction to move in
direction of the outlet [1].