Psychrometrics Problem
Psychrometrics Problem
Psychrometric Problem #1
(Mixed Air Temperature)
Problem
2000 CFM of outside air is entering a mixing box at 50 F Dry Bulb/42 F
Wet Bulb and mixes with the 9000 CFM of return air which is at 80 F Dry
Bulb/70 F Wet Bulb
What is the resulting mixed air dry bulb and wet bulb temperature?
[spoiler intro=Ready to check your work title=]
Solution
First you need to plot both points on a Psychrometric Chart
Then specific volume for each temperature is needed.
This is done by marking both points on a psychrometric chart, then
reading the value on the Specific Volume Line
Next convert the temperatures into lbs of air per minute.
This is done by dividing the CFM by the specific volume
lbs/min
lbs/min
Next add the two together to get the total weight of air
647.48 + 155.04 =802.52 lbs/min
Next step is to calculate the dry bulb of the mixed air
This is found by using the percentage of return and outside air that is in
the mixed air.
Sine the total weight of the air is now known we can see how much of that
weight is made up by outside air and how much is return air
To do this you need to multiply the original dry bulb temperatures by the
percentage of total weight each air flow is contributing
Next is to add the two partial dry bulb temperatures together and get the
mixed air dry bulb temperature
64.54+9.66=74.2 Dry Bulb
To find the other properties of the mixed air you need to draw a straight
line between the two original temperatures. Then mark when the new
temperature is at.
From this you can read that you are at about a 65.5 WB with about a 65%
Relative Humidity
There is also a quicker way to approximate the temperature by using the
CFM
You can use whichever method you like. Just beware when you are taking
the exam and there and answers that are really close together.
Solution
This problem requires a little bit of knowledge about the Vapor
Compression Refrigeration Cycle. The way I find that is easiest to solve
these is to set up a table for the set points you have been given. This way
you can see which points you are missing still. I have created a vapor
compression refrigeration cycle cheat sheet to help
To find the flow rate of the condenser water we need to find the total heat
rejected to the condenser water which is the sum of the refrigeration and
work done by the pump.
Since we only have the COP we will stat by calculating the heat absorbed
by the evaporator by using the following equations.
The problem states that the refrigerant passes through the evaporator at
10 F and leaves as a gas, the enthalpy for h1 can be found.
h1 = 168.06 btu/lbm
The next clue we have is that the refrigerant leaves the condenser as a
liquid at 80 F. Since the refrigerant is not sub-cooled we can find the
pressure. The evaporation process is isothermal so with the pressure and
temperature we can find the enthalpy for h4
h4 = 101.88 btu/lbm
The mass flow rate is given in the problem.
Next step is to find the work done by he compressor, which can be done 2
different ways
Now that we know what the heat in (Qin) and work in (Win) are we can find
the heat out (Qout)
Now that we know the heat that would be absorbed by the cooling tower
water we can find the volumetric flow rate by using the following equation
Now to convert from cubic feet per hour to gallons per minute
The mass flow rate of water to the cooling tower is 719 gpm
Solution
This problem can be solved by using enthalpy. The ventilation load can
be calculated by by using the difference between the enthalpy of the
leaving air and enthalpy of the entering airs.
You will also need to convert the entering air speed from feet per minute
to feet per hour. This is done by multiplying the air speed by 60
The ventilation load is 134,820 btu per hour or about 11.3 tons
Solution
Sine this problem has no dehumidification or humidification we can solve
the problem using the sensible heat ratio (SHR).
The sensible heat ratio is the percentage of sensible heat divided by the
total heat load.
From what the problem tells us, we can get the sensible load, which is the
cooling load across the coil,
With the volumetric flow rate know we can solve for the sensible load