ADDING WATER VAPOUR TO HUMID AIR

Statement
Ambient air at 25 C, 93 kPa and 50%RH is forced to flow at a rate of 0.1 kg/s inside a duct, and a
saturated (at 93 kPa) water-vapour flow-rate of 0.001 kg/s is added in a mixing chamber.
a)
Evaluate the dew and wet-bulb temperatures of the incoming air.
b)
Conditions after mixing.
A una corriente de 0,1 kg/s de aire atmosfrico en condiciones 25 C, 93 kPa y 50% de humedad
relativa se le aade un flujo de vapor saturado a 93 kPa de 0,001 kg/s. Se pide:
a)
Temperaturas de roco y de bulbo hmedo de la atmsfera.
b)
Condiciones tras el mezclado.
Solution

Fig. 1. Sketch of the process.

a)

Evaluate the dew and wet-bulb temperatures of the incoming air.

For the dew point temperature, p* (Tdew ) p* (T ) , using Antoine equation, one gets an explicit
form:
p* (Tdew )
p* (T )
ln
ln ln
p0
p0

ln A

Tdew
T
C
C
T0
T0
T
1
1
dew
C
(39) Tdew 13.8 C
1
ln
1
ln 0.5
T0

T
298 K
B
C
(39) 3985
T0
1K

but for the wet-bulb temperatures we have an implicit equation:

M va
M va
hLV0 c pa Twet T0
hLV0
p
p
1
1
1 p* (T1 )
p* (Twet )
0.622
(1000 J/(kg K)) 298 K 273 K
2.5 MJ/kg
93 kPa
1
0.5 (3.17 kPa)
0.622
(1000 J/(kg K)) Twet 273 K
2.5 MJ/kg
93 kPa
1
p* (Twet )
c pa T1 T0

which must be solved by iterations (a good start is the actual temperature), or simply by linearroot-finding between the residuals at the actual temperature and at the dew-point temperature),

yielding Twet=17.4 C. Warning: mind that the iterative procedure can diverge if improperly
followed (e.g. it diverges if the linear term in Twet is solved for, a value is given to Twet in the
other term, and the resulting Twet iterated.
b)

Conditions after mixing.

If we assume that the exit is still unsaturated humid air, the equations are:
mass balance for dry air: ma1 ma 3
mass balance for water: ma1w1 m2 ma3 w3
energy balance: ma1h1 m2 h2 ma3h3
that reduce to one equation with one unknown, T3:
c pa T1 T0 w1hLV 0

m2
m

h2 c pa T3 T0 w1 2 hLV 0
m
m

the other variables, absolute humidity, air enthalpy, and vapour enthalpy, at the entrance, being
known:

w1

0.622
0.011
93 kPa
1
0.5 (3.17 kPa)

h1=cpa(T1-T0)+w1hLV0=1000(298-273)+0.0112.5106=52.5 kJ/kg
h2=cL(Tb-T0)+hLVb+cpv(T2-Tb)=4200(373-273)+2.26106+2000(371-373)=2670 kJ/kg
m2 0.001

0.01
m
0.1

and so on, yielding as result T3=299 K (26 C). Now we compute the relative humidity for these
values (p,T,w) and we find 3=0.88.
Comments. Notice that the assumption of unsaturated exit must be checked by computing the
relative humidity and checking that <1. If more water vapour were added, the exit could be supersaturated (see Ex. 8.4: Adding water vapour to humid air).
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