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CHAPTER 8 PSYCHROMETRY AND THERMAL COMFORT

8.1 Psychrometry and Thermodynamic Properties of Moist Air

Psychrometry is the study and measurement of the properties of moist air. Moist air is a mixture of dry air
and water vapor. The amount of water vapor that air may contain depends on temperature and pressure; this
amount is maximum at saturation, a state of equilibrium between moist air and the condensed water phase
(liquid, or ice).

Moist air, up to about 3 atmospheres, obeys the perfect gas law with sufficient accuracy for engineering
calculations. Thus, the Gibbs-Dalton law for a mixture of perfect gases is obeyed and the total atmospheric
pressure, p, is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the components of air:

p ＝ pa + pv (1)

where pa = pressure of dry air and pv = pressure of water vapor.

Definitions

Humidity ratio W (also called specific humidity) is the ratio of mass of water vapor mv to dry air mass ma
mv va
W ＝ ―― or W＝― (2)
ma vv

where v is specific volume.

Relative humidity RH is the ratio of the mole fraction of water vapor xv in a mixture to the mole fraction xs
of the vapor in a saturated mixture at the same temperature T and pressure p.
⎛ xv ⎞ pv ps
RH ＝ ⎜―⎟ and xv ＝ ― xs ＝ ― (3)
⎝ xs ⎠T , p p p

pv
Therefore RH ＝ ―⋅ “100%” (4)
ps

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Degree of saturation  is equal to the air humidity ratio divided by the humidity ratio of a saturated mixture
at the same temperature and pressure.
⎛W⎞
μ ＝ ⎜―― ⎟ (5)
⎝ Ws ⎠T , P

Dew point Tdp is the temperature to which unsaturated air must be cooled at constant pressure for it to
become saturated (or for condensation to begin). Note that throughout this process the humidity ratio is
constant.

Ws ⎛⎝p , Tdp⎞⎠ ＝ W (p , T) (6)

The dew-point temperature may be determined as a function of the partial water vapor pressure with the
following correlations (ASHRAE 1989), in which the vapor pressure should be in kPa.

For dew-points in the range 0 to 93 degC:

2 ⎛⎛ 3⎞ .1984⎞
Tdp ＝ 6.54 + 14.526 ⋅ ln ⎛⎝pv⎞⎠ + .7389 ⋅ ln ⎛⎝pv⎞⎠ + ⎝⎝.09486 ⋅ ln ⎛⎝pv⎞⎠ ⎠ + .4569 ⋅ pv ⎠ (6a)

For dew-points below 0 degC:

2
Tdp ＝ 6.09 + 12.608 ⋅ ln ⎛⎝pv⎞⎠ + 0.4959 ⋅ ln ⎛⎝pv⎞⎠ (6b)

Relation Between Relative Humidity (RH) and Specific Humidity W:

From the perfect gas law

pv ⋅ V pv ⋅ V ⋅ Mv pa ⋅ V ⋅ M a
mv ＝ ――＝ ―――― and ma ＝ ―――― (7)
Rv ⋅ T R⋅T R⋅T

where

R ≔ 8.314 ⋅ ――― universal gas constant

⋅

V = volume
T = temperature, K

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Ma ≔ 0.02896 ⋅ ――
molecular masses

Mv ≔ 0.01802 ⋅ ――

Mv R
―― = 0.62224 Ra ≔ ――
Ma Ma

R
Rv ≔ ―― Ra = 287.08564 ――
Mv ⋅

Therefore, since
mv pv
W ＝ ―― W ＝ 0.622 ⋅ ― (8)
ma pa

and since
pv
pa ＝ p − pv W ＝ 0.622 ⋅ ―― (9)
p − pv

Substitute pv from (8) in

pv
RH ＝ ―
ps

to obtain
W ⋅ pa
RH ＝ ―――
0.622 ⋅ ps

The density of the mixture of dry air and vapor is given by the sum of their respective densities. The specific
volume, v, of the air-vapor mixture is expressed for unit mass of dry air:

Ra ⋅ T Ra ⋅ T
v ＝ ――＝ ―― (10)
pa p − pv

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Enthalpy of moist air is the sum of the enthalpies of dry air and vapor and is referred to unit mass of dry air
because the mass of water vapor may vary:

h ＝ ha + W ⋅ hv (11)

≔ ⋅ 1000

Assuming perfect gas behavior:

ha ＝ cpa ⋅ ⎛⎝T − Tref⎞⎠ + ha ⎛⎝Tref⎞⎠

(12)
hv ＝ hg + cpv ⋅ ⎛⎝T − Tref⎞⎠

where

cpa ≔ 1 ⋅ ――― specific heat capacity of air at constant pressure

⋅

cpv ≔ 1.805 ⋅ ――― specific heat capacity of vapor at constant pressure

⋅

reference temperature (note that storage of energy

Tref ≔ 0 ⋅
is always relative to a reference temperature)

hg ≔ 2501 ⋅ ― saturated vapor enthalpy at Tref

Therefore, substituting equation (12) in equation (11), we obtain

h ＝ (T + W ⋅ (2501 + 1.805 ⋅ T)) ⋅ ― (13)

T= temperature, kg is dry air

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Thermodynamic Wet-Bulb Temperature Twb

The temperature at which water, by evaporating into the air, can bring the air to saturation adiabatically at the
same temperature and constant pressure. During this process, the humidity ratio is increased from an initial
value W to the value W's corresponding to the wet-bulb temperature; the enthalpy is increased from the initial
value h to hs. The mass of water added per kg dry air is (W's-W), which adds energy to the moist air equal to
(W's-W)·h'w. Therefore, an energy balance yields

h + ⎛⎝W's ⎛⎝Twb⎞⎠ − W⎞⎠ ⋅ h'w ⎛⎝Twb⎞⎠ ＝ hs ⎛⎝Twb⎞⎠ (14)

The above equation defines thermodynamic wet-bulb temperature. A psychrometer consists of two
thermometers, one covered with a wet wick. When the wet-bulb is exposed to an air stream, water evaporates
and then reaches an equilibrium temperature called the wet-bulb temperature, which is close to the Twb.
Substituting equation (13) in (14) and

kJ approximate relationship for

h'w ＝ 4.186 ⋅ T ⋅ ―
kg specific enthalpy of water

and solving for W we obtain

⎛⎝2501 − 2.381 ⋅ Twb⎞⎠ ⋅ W's − ⎛⎝Tdb − Twb⎞⎠

W ＝ ――――――――――――
2501 + 1.805 ⋅ Tdb − 4.186 ⋅ Twb

This equation is used in an iterative manner to calculate wet-bulb temperature.

Water Vapor Saturation Pressure ps

To determine moist air properties, the water vapor saturation pressure is required. This may be obtained from
Tables or more easily mathematically as follows (ASHRAE 1989):

Let
T ≔ (20 + 273.15) Temperature transformed from degC to Kelvin

Water vapor saturation pressure over water (0 to 200 degC):

3
a ≔ −5.8002206 ⋅ 10 b ≔ 1.3914993

−2 −5
c ≔ −4.8640239 ⋅ 10 d ≔ 4.1764768 ⋅ 10

−8
e ≔ −1.4452093 ⋅ 10 f ≔ 6.5459673

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⎛a 2 3 ⎞
ps ≔ exp ⎜―+ b + c ⋅ T + d ⋅ T + e ⋅ T + f ⋅ ln (T)⎟ ⋅
⎝T ⎠

ps = 2338.8037 compare with 2338.9 Pa from Tables

The saturation pressure over ice for the temperature range -100 to 0 degC is calculated as follows:

E.g., for

T ≔ (273.15 − 10)

Equation constants:
3
g ≔ −5.6745359 ⋅ 10

−3
h ≔ 6.3925247 k ≔ −9.677843 ⋅ 10

−7 −9
l ≔ 6.22115701 ⋅ 10 ll ≔ 2.0747825 ⋅ 10

−13
n ≔ −9.484024 ⋅ 10 p ≔ 4.1635019

⎛g 2 3 4 ⎞
psice ≔ exp ⎜―+ h + k ⋅ T + l ⋅ T + ll ⋅ T + n ⋅ T + p ⋅ ln (T)⎟ ⋅
⎝T ⎠

psice = 259.90212 compare with 259.91 Pa from Tables

References
ASHRAE. 1989. ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals. Atlanta, GA.

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