The psychrometry is a term employed to indicate the scientific discipline concerning the determination of the physical and thermodynamic characteristics of a gas-steamer mixture. The hygroscopy is the particular case of the air-steamer mixture of water.
Usual applications
The principles of the
psychrometry can apply to any system bringing into play gas-steamer mixtures. Most current being the
Ventilation, the
Air conditioning and the
Meteorology.
The psychrometric report/ratio
The psychrometric report/ratio connects the absolute humidity and maximum moisture with the difference between the wet temperature of bulb and that in adiabatic saturation.
In the case of the mixture vapor the water-air one, the report/ratio is about the unit what simplifies calculations for the problems of drying and cooling.
Psychrometric diagrams
A psychrometric diagram gathers the main features of the humid air for a given atmospheric pressure (in general that with the sea level, i.e. 1013hPa):
- absolute Humidité noted Y is the quantity of water contained in the air, it is expressed in gram (S) per kilogram of dry air.
- Enthalpy specific symbolized by the letter h* . That corresponds to the energy contained in the fluid in a state given (temperature, pressure,… fixed)
the specific enthalpy of the dry air is given by:
with
heat-storage capacity of the air for
temperatures of air lain between -20°C and 50°C
the specific enthalpy of the steam is given by:
with
latent heat of vaporization
and
heat-storage capacity of the vapor
the specific enthalpy of liquid water is given by:
with
heat-storage capacity of liquid water for
temperatures of air lain between 0°C and 50°C
the specific enthalpy of the humid air is given by:
if
if
- Volume , noted is the volume of humid air per unit of mass of dry air.
By knowing only two characteristics of the air one can find the whole of the properties of the humid air thanks to the diagram.
How to read the diagrams
There exist two type of diagrams:
- the diagram of Carrier:
The curve of dew is the higher curve of the diagram (HR=100%), the other relative curves of moisture have the same pace. The values of the enthali are located on oblique lines.
- the diagram of Mollier:
The isenthalpes are on obliques although the title of the diagram lets think that the isenthalpes are horizontal lines. The temperatures are read on quasi horizontal lines. Finally the curve of dew is the lower curve of the diagram.
See too
Bonds
- Psychrometric Chart - detailed psychrometric Diagram with the curves of enthalpy, mass of air, water mass.
- American company of the engineers in heating, refrigeration and air-conditioned
- Universal Industrial Gases, Inc. webpage - Bonds towards the tables of the physical properties, the diagrams…
- Corwin' S Calculators Calculator of the water content and the temperature of dew.