THE PSYCHROMETRIC CHART:

Theory and Application

Perry Peralta
NC State University
 PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
„ Identify parts of the chart
„ Determine moist air properties
„ Use chart to analyze processes
involving moist air
Psychrometric chart: Example 1
Given: T = 25°C
Tw =20°C
Required: (a) RH, (b) Tdp, (c) HR, (d) v, (e) h
57.5 kJ/kg d.a.

20.0°C 63%

17.6°C 12.6 g/kg d.a.

25°C
0.86 m3/kg d.a.
PSYCHROMETRIC PROCESSES
 Sensible Heating or Cooling
„ a psychrometric process that involves
the increase or decrease in the
temperature of air without changing its
humidity ratio
„ Example: passing moist air over a room
space heater and of kiln air over the
heating coils
1 2
Sensible heating: Example 5
T2=60ºC T3=70ºC
Tw2=50ºC Tw3=?
RH2=58.8% RH3=?
 287.0 kJ/kg d.a.

.8%
275.5 kJ/kg d.a.

58
51°C

6%
50°C

.
37
2 3

60°C 70°C
 Heating and Humidifying
„ a psychrometric process that involves
the simultaneous increase in both the
dry bulb temperature and humidity ratio
of the air
 2

1
0
Heating and humidifying: Example 7

Two and a half cubic meters of lumber is being dried

at 60°C dry bulb temperature and 52°C wet bulb
temperature. The drying rate of the lumber is 12.5
kg of water per hour. If outside air is at 27°C
dry bulb temperature and 80% relative humidity,
how much outside air is needed per minute to carry
away the evaporated moisture?
52°C

%
80
92 g/kg d.a.
2
1 18 g/kg d.a.

27°C 60°C
0.87 m3/kg d.a.
Heating and humidifying: Example 7
∆HR = (92.0 – 18.0) g/kg dry air
= 74.0 g/kg dry air
wa1 = drying rate/∆HR
= (12.5 kg/hour)/(0.074 kg/kg dry air)
= 168.9 kg dry air/hour

VF1=(wa1)(v1)
=(168.9 kg dry air/hour)(0.87 m3/kg dry air)
= 147 m3/hour = 2.45 m3/minute
 Cooling and Dehumidifying
„ a psychrometric process that involves
the removal of water from the air as the
air temperature falls below the dew-
point temperature
 1

2
Cooling and dehumidifying: Example 9

Moist air at 50°C dry bulb temperature and 32%

relative humidity enters the cooling coil of a
dehumidification kiln heat pump system and is
cooled to a temperature of 18°C. If the drying rate
of 6 m3 of red oak lumber is 4 kg/hour,
determine the kW of refrigeration required.
 115.7 kJ/kg d.a.

%
50.8 kJ/kg d.a.

32
28.8°C 25.2 g/kg d.a.
1
12.9 g/kg d.a.
2

18°C 50°C
Cooling and dehumidifying: Example 9

∆HR = (25.2 – 12.9) g water/kg dry air

= 12.3 g water/kg dry air

drying rate
wa =
∆HR
4 kg water
= h
0.0123 kg water
kg dry air
kg dry air
= 325.2
h
Cooling and dehumidifying: Example 9

∆h = (115.7 – 50.8) kJ/kg dry air

= 64.9 kJ/kg dry air

q = ( ∆h ) ( w a )
 kJ  kg dry air 
= 64.9   325.2 
 kg dry air   h
kJ
= 21105.7 = 5.9 kW
h
Adiabatic or Evaporative Cooling
„ a psychrometric process that involves
the cooling of air without heat loss or
gain. Sensible heat lost by the air is
converted to latent heat in the added
water vapor
2

1
Evaporative cooling: Example 10
Referring to Figure 21, air at state point 1 (65°C
dry bulb temperature and 57°C wet bulb temperature)
experiences a temperature drop of 3°C as it passes
through the 1.2-m wide stack of lumber. Determine
the properties of the air at state point 2 and compare
them with those at state point 1. If the air is flowing
at a rate of 2 meters per second, determine the drying
rate assuming that the volume of the stack of
2.5-cm-thick lumber is 2.5 m3. The stack is
1.2 m wide x 3.6 m long, and the boards are
separated by stickers 3.8 cm wide x 1.9 cm thick that are
spaced 0.6 m apart.
 T=62ºC
T=65ºC
Tw=57ºC
Evaporative cooling: Example 10
Given: T1 = 65°C; Tw1 = 57°C
Adiabatic cooling to T2 = 62°C
Air flow rate = 2 m/s
Volume of lumber = 2.5 m3
Board thickness = 2.5 cm
Stack dimensions: 1.2 m wide x 3.6 m long
Sticker dimensions: 3.8 cm wide x 1.9 cm thick
Sticker spacing = 0.6 m
Required: (a) Properties of the air at state point 2
relative to that at state point 1
(b) Drying rate
Solution:
57°C
2
124.5 g/kg d.a.

1
123.1 g/kg d.a.

62°C 65°C

1.15 m3/kg d.a.

1.14 m3/kg d.a.
Evaporative cooling: Example 10
(a) At state point 1: T1 = 65°C
Tw1 = 57°C
Tdp1 = 56.3°C
RH1 = 66.9%
HR1 = 123.1 g/kg of dry air
v1 = 1.15 m3/kg of dry air
h1 = 387.7 kJ/kg of dry air
At state point 2: T2 = 62°C
Tw2 = 57°C
Tdp2 = 56.5°C
RH2 = 77.3%
HR2 = 124.5 g/kg of dry air
v2 = 1.14 m3/kg of dry air
h2 = 387.7 kJ/kg of dry air
Evaporative cooling: Example 10

(b) Drying rate = ( ∆HR )( w a )

VF
wa =
v2
VF = ( A )( air flow rate )
Evaporative cooling: Example 10

 V  Pl + Ss 
A=  Pl St − St Sw 
 Pl Pw Bt  Ss 

 2.5  3.6 + 0.6 

A=  3.6 * 0.019 − 0.019 * 0.038 
 3.6 *1.2 * 0.025  0.6 

A = 1.47 m 2
Evaporative cooling: Example 10

A = 1.47 m 2

VF = ( A )( air flow rate )

3
 m  m
VF = (1.47 m3 )  2  = 2.9
 s  s
Evaporative cooling: Example 10

m3
VF =2.9
s

VF
wa =
v2
m3
2.9
s kg dry air
wa = 3
= 2.6
m s
1.14
kg dry air
Evaporative cooling: Example 10
kg dry air
w a = 2.6
s

Drying rate = ( w a )( ∆HR )

 kg dry air   g 
Drying rate =  2.6  1.4 
 s  kg dry air 
g kg
= 3.6 = 13.0
s h
 Adiabatic Mixing of Moist Air
Stream
„ A psychrometric process that involves
no net heat loss or gain during the
mixing of two air streams
 2
3

1
Adiabatic mixing: Example 11
 T2=26.7ºC
RH2=80%
VF2=28 m3/min

T3=43.3ºC
Tw3=37.8ºC T1=43.3ºC
Tw1=37.8ºC
VF1=112 m3/min
 37.8°C

1
3

80%

26.7°C 43.3°C

0.87 m3/kg d.a. 0.95 m3/kg d.a.

Adiabatic mixing: Example 11
VF
wa =
v
m3
112
minute kg dry air
w a1 = 3
= 117.9
m minute
0.95
kg dry air

m3
28
minute kg dry air
wa2 = 3
= 32.2
m minute
0.87
kg dry air
Adiabatic mixing: Example 11

line 1-3 w a2 32.2

= = = 0.21
line 1-2 w a2 +w a1 32.2 + 117.9

Therefore, length of line segment 1-3 is 0.21 times

the length of line 1-2
 37.8°C

35.6°C
1
3

80%

26.7°C 40°C 43.3°C

0.87 m3/kg d.a. 0.95 m3/kg d.a.

Adiabatic mixing: Example 11
T3 = 40.0°C
Tw3 = 35.6°C