MOIST AIR

PROPERTIES
 MOIST AIR
• Drying medium used is drying grains
• Dry Air + Water Vapor

Dry Air →Major : Oxygen & Nitrogen

Minor : Argon, Carbon Dioxide,
Neon
• In determining the thermodynamic properties
of moist air, Goff (1949) arbitrarily defined dry
air having the following composition:
• Molecular weight: 28.966
• Mole- Fraction Composition:
0.2095 - Oxygen
0.7809 –Nitrogen
0.0093 – Argon
0.0003 - Carbon Dioxide
 Definition of Psychrometric Terms
• Moist- Air Thermodynamic Properties
→Vapor Pressure
→Relative Humidity
→Humidity Ratio
→Dry- Bulb Temperature
→Dew Point
→Wet Bulb Temperature
→Enthalpy
→Specific Volume
Vapor Pressure, PV
• is the partial pressure exerted by the water vapor
molecules in moist air

Saturated Vapor Pressure, PVS

→vapor pressure of air fully saturated with water vapor

→the vapor pressure in air used for grain drying is small

(less than 1.0 psia) compared to the atmospheric pressure
(14.7 psia)
 Relative Humidity, Ø
→the ratio of the mole fraction ( or vapor pressure)
of water vapor in the air to the mole fraction ( or
vapor pressure) of the water vapor in the saturated
air at the same temperature and atmospheric
pressure

→expressed as a decimal or a percentage

→rh values between 0 and 100% are encountered
in grain drying
 Humidity Ratio, W
→the weight of water vapor contained in the
moist air per unit weight of dry air
→also known as absolute humidity and specific
humidity
→values for grain drying air are relatively small :
0.005 to 0.2 lb of water per lb of dry air
 Dry Bulb Temperature, T

→ temperature of moist air indicated by

an ordinary thermometer
→ grain – drying air temperatures range
between 40 °f and 550°f ( 4.44 to
287.78°c)
 Dew Point Temperature , Tdp
→temperature at which condensation
occurs when air is cooled at constant
humidity ratio and constant atmospheric
pressure
→can be considered as the saturation
temperature corresponding to the humidity
ratio and vapor pressure of the moist air
 Wet Bulb Temperature
Psychrometric Wet Bulb Temperature, Twb
→the temperature of moist air indicated by a
thermometer whose bulb is covered with a wet wick.
the airflow passing over the wick should have a
velocity of at least 15 ft/ sec
Thermodynamic Wet- Bulb Temperature, T*wb
→the temperature reached by moist air and water if the
air is adiabatically saturated by the evaporating water
ENTHALPY, h
→for dry air-water vapor mixture, is the heat
content of the moist air per unit weight of dry air
above a certain reference temperature
→ datum temperatures chosen are:
dry air → 0°F
liquid water → 32°F
→ values range from 10 to 135 btu per lb dry
air
Specific Volume, v
→volume per unit weight of dry air

specific density of the moist air → is

equal to the reciprocal of its specific volume

→ values range from 12.5 and 25 cu. ft per

lb dry air
 Thermodynamic Relationships of
Moist-air Properties
• Perfect Gas Laws
→at atmospheric pressure conditions, the mixture of gases
and water vapor in moist air can be considered a mixture of
ideal gases that follows the Gibbs- Dalton law of partial
pressures
→Gibbs- Dalton Law for Moist Air:
• P = Poxy + Pnit + Pv
• P = Pa + Pv
• Dry Air: Pa Va = WaRaTabs
• Water Vapor: Pv Vv = WvRvTabs
 Vapor Pressure and Relative Humidity
• The Clausius- Clapeyron equation expresses
the change of vapor pressure with temperature
and can be used to calculate the water vapor
pressure of moist air

• Clausius – Clapeyron Equation:

𝑑𝑃𝑣 ℎ𝑓𝑔
= (EQN 1)
𝑑𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑠 𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑉𝑣
• the latent heat of vaporization (hfg) has to be
calculated at the saturation condition using
the equation:
• hfg = 1075.9 - 0.57 (Tabs – 459.69) eq’n 2

For temperatures below 32°F, the heat of

sublimation at saturation, hsg
• hsg = 1220.84 - 0.05 (Tabs – 459.69) eq’n 3
• substituting eq’n 2 and 3 in 1 for conditions
above and below 32°F, respectively
 Relative Humidity of Moist Air
𝑃𝑣
•Ø =
𝑃𝑣𝑠
Humidity Ratio
• weight of water vapor per unit weight of
dry air
Gas Constant
• Dry Air : Ra = 53.35 ft lb/ lb°R
• Water Vapor : Rv = 85.81 ft lb/ lb°R
HUMIDITY RATIO
 GRAIN
• defined as the humidity ratio , W in lb per lb
multiplied by 7000.

• the constant 0.622 becomes 4354 ( = 0.622 *

7000) for calculating W in grains

• *humidity ratio of moist air at saturation, Ws, is

found by setting ø = 1
ENTHALPY

•enthalpy of the moist air is the sum of

the enthalpies of the dry air and of the
water vapor associated with the dry air

•ha = ca (T – To)
• associated water vapor which is superheated ( T
– Tdp ) degrees above the dew point
temperature:
• enthalpy/ lb = enthalpy of the superheated
vapor + enthalpy of evaporation at dew point
temperature + enthalpy of water at dew point
temperature
• CA = 0.24 BTU/ lb°F
• CV = 0.45 BTU/ lb°F
• CW = 1.0 BTU/ lb°F

• H = CA T + W (1061 + 0.45T)
 Specific Volume, v

• defined as the volume per unit weight of

dry air.
• the specific density of the moist air is equal
to the reciprocal of its specific volume.
• the specific volume of air used for grain
drying is between 12.5 and 25 cu.ft. per lb
dry air.
Specific Volume, v
 WET BULB TEMPERATURE
•for moist air, the numerical value of the
thermodynamic and psychrometric wet
bulb temperature are approximately
equal but not for gas- vapor mixtures.
 PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
• The thermodynamic properties of the dry air-
water vapor mixture are frequently needed in
analyzing grain-drying problems.
• To avoid time-consuming calculations, special
charts containing the values of the most
common thermodynamic properties of moist
air have been prepared → PSYCHROMETRIC
CHARTS
PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
• Differ with respect to the barometric
pressure, temperature range, number of
thermodynamic properties included, and the
choice of coordinates
• United States: Grosvenor type →absolute
humidity is plotted vs the dry bulb
temperature
• Europe: Mollier chart →the absolute
humidity and enthalpy as coordinates
PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-
Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE, 1967)
→developed a number of Mollier-type
psychrometric charts in the 40ºF to 250ºF range
→these charts have been constructed from the Goff
and Gratch ( 1945) thermodynamic data for
standard atmospheric pressure ( 14.7 psia = 29.92
in.Hg) and use oblique-angle enthalpy-humidity
ratio coordinates
PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
• since the ASHRAE psychrometric charts are drawn from
thermodynamic data of moist air calculated by statistical
mechanics methods, the values on the psychrometric
charts will be slightly more accurate than those computed
from the equations based on the perfect gas laws.
• The difference between the two methods ( equations and
chart) is less than 1%.
• A psychrometric chart is drawn and is therefore applicable
only at one atmospheric pressure
• The ASHRAE charts are for standard barometric ( sea
level) pressure. At significant elevations such as 5000 ft,
the standard charts cannot be used and one is forced to
use thermodynamic equations or special psychrometric
charts
USE OF PSYCHROMETRIC CHART
• thermodynamic properties of moist air at one
atmosphere:
➢Dry-bulb temperature
➢Wet-bulb temperature
➢Dew point ( saturation) temperature
➢Humidity ratio
➢Relative humidity
➢Specific volume
➢Enthalpy
 SENSIBLE HEATING AND COOLING
• at constant humidity ratio, heat is added to
or withdrawn from the drying air in a heat
exchanger as in an indirect heater (for grain
drying) or in an evaporator (for grain
chilling)
• The processes of sensible heating and
cooling are represented on the
psychrometric chart by straight horizontal
lines parallel to the abscissa (see figure)
SENSIBLE HEATING AND COOLING

→results in changes in the dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures, the
enthalpy, the specific volume and the relative humidity of the moist air.
→no change occurs in the humidity ratio, dew point temperature and vapor
pressure of the moist air
 HEATING WITH HUMIDIFYING

→during this process, not only heat but also a small amount of water vapor is added to
the air
→result: enthalpy, humidity ratio, vapor pressure, dry-bulb temperature, wet-bulb
temperature and dew point temperature, and specific volume of the air are increased
COOLING WITH DEHUMIDIFYING
→during this process, air is
often cooled to below the
dew point temperature by
passing it over an
evaporator. Since the air is
saturated with water vapor
at the dew point
temperature, water
condenses out of the air as
soon as its temperature
drops below Tdp
→Decrease: humidity ratio,
dew point, wet bulb, dry-
bulb, enthalpy and specific
volume
DRYING

→the drying of a column of grain can

be considered an adiabatic process
→as the air passes through the wet
grain mass, a large part of the
sensible heat of the air is
transformed into latent heat as a
result of the increasing amount of
water held in the air as vapor
→decrease: dry-bulb
Increase: humidity ratio, RH, vapor
pressure and dewpoint temperature
Constant: enthalpy, wet bulb
temperature
MIXING OF TWO AIRSTREAMS

• IN A NUMBER OF CONTINUOUS-FLOW GRAIN DRYERS, TWO STREAMS

OF AIR WITH DIFFERENT MASS FLOW RATES, TEMPERATURES, AND
HUMIDITY RATIOS ARE MIXED