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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
EXPERIMENT IN
ME 5L
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY 1
SUBMITTED BY:
MARBELLA, AMADOR II A.
BSME 4A
SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. MANUEL EUROPEO
Experiment No. 1
Program:
Date Performed: July 29, 2015
Date Submitted: August 10, 2015
Instructor: Engr. Manuel L. Europeo
1.1
Determine and meet quantitative and qualitative data such as air
properties, air humidity, air temperature using Psychrometer
1.2
Plot different air properties on the Psychrometric chart and to
distinguish the relationships between them
2. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILOs):
The students shall be able to:
2.1
Understand and familiarize the use and function of Psychrometer
and Psychometric Chart and be able to apply it in the field of work
2.2
Be able to identify different air properties in certain areas and
enumerate factors why did it arrive in such analysis
2.3
Apply math, science, and engineering knowledge to solve openended problems
2.4
Make engineering decisions using engineering analysis tools
2.5
Set up and perform experiments to help make final decisions
2.6
Effectively function in a multi-disciplinary environment
3. DISCUSSION:
AIR and its PROPERTIES
Earth's atmosphere is composed of air. Air is a mixture of gases, 78%
nitrogen and 21% oxygen with traces of water vapor, carbon dioxide, argon, and
various other components. We usually model air as a uniform (no variation or
fluctuation) gas with properties that are averaged from all the individual
components. Any gas has certain properties that we can detect with our senses.
The values and relations of the properties define the state of the gas.
PROPERTIES
WEIGHT
Air is a mixture of gases and has weight like any other material. Standard Air
is the condition of air that is mainly used for many calculations and
comparisons. Standard air is dry air at 70F and a barometric pressure of
29.92 Hg (mercury) at sea level. It weighs about 0.075 pounds per cubic foot,
or 1.2kilograms per cubic meter. Dry air contains no moisture.
between the dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures is an indicator of the
humidity level.
Wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that water will reach by
evaporative cooling, and that temperature is almost always lower than dry
bulb. Wet bulb temperature is a critical parameter for sizing, and measuring
the performance of evaporative-cooled cooling water systems.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Relative humidity at dew point conditions is 100%. Otherwise, relative
humidity isthe percentage of the amount of water vapor actually present in
the air, to the maximum amount that the air could hold under those
temperature and pressure conditions. This measurement is highly correlated
with human comfort - with about 50% being most comfortable
ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY
With the aid of a psychrometric chart, or its computerized equivalent,
absolute values for water content such as weight fraction of ambient air, or
weight-per-unit-volume of ambient air can be determined for any
combination of dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures, or combination of dry
bulb temperature and relative humidity. This measurement is required to
design various types of moisture removal or humidification systems.
evaporator.
Psychrometry
The properties of moist air are called Psychrometric properties and the
subject the subject that deals with the behavior of moist air is known as
psychrometry. It is the foundation on which most of the air conditioning
calculations are based. Several special terms used in the study of psychrometry
are defined below:
1. Dry air: Dry air is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon-dioxide, hydrogen,
argon, neon, helium etc. with oxygen and nitrogen as its major constituents.
2. Moist air: It is ordinary atmospheric air which is a mixture of dry air and
water vapour.
3. Relative humidity: It is the ratio of mass of water vapour in a given volume of
moist air at a given temperature to the mass of water vapour contained in
the same volume of moist air at the same temperature when the air is
saturated.
4. Dry bulb temperature: It is temperature of air measured by an ordinary
thermometer.
5. Sensible heat of air: It is the enthalpy of dry air which can be calculated by
measuring its dry bulb temperature.
6. Total heat: The total heat of moist air is the sum of sensible heat of dry air
and sensible plus latent heat of water vapour present in it.
7.
INSTRUMENTS/
APPARATUSES
USED
IN
MEASURING
AIR
PROPERTIES
THERMOMETER measures the air temperature. Most thermometers are
closed glass tubes containing liquids such as alcohol or
mercury. When air around the tube heats the liquid, the
liquid expands and moves up the tube. A scale then shows
what the actual temperature is.
BAROMETER measures air pressure. It tells you whether or not the
pressure is rising or falling. A rising barometer means sunny and dry conditions,
SLING
PSYCHROMETER
measures
relative
humidity,
ATMOMETER
is
used
for
measuring
evaporating
capacity of air.
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
The measured medium is disturbed due to the act of measurement. The evaporation
process at the wet bulb will add moisture to the air.
2.
3.
4.
If the wick is covered with dirt, the wick will become stiff and its water absorbing
capacity will reduce, however, a stiff/dirty wick will resume normalcy when boiled in hot water.
4. MATERIALS:
Psychrometer
A sling psychrometer, or wet-and-dry-bulb
thermometer,
consists
of
two
thermometers, one that is dry and one that
is
kept moist with distilled water on a sock or
wick. The two thermometers are thus called
the dry-bulb and the wet-bulb. At
temperatures above the freezing point of
water, evaporation of water from the wick
lowers the temperature, so that the wet-bulb
thermometer usually shows a lower temperature
than
that of the dry-bulb thermometer. When the air temperature is below freezing,
however, the wet-bulb is covered with a thin coating of ice and may be warmer
than the dry bulb.
Relative humidity is computed from the ambient temperature as shown by the drybulb thermometer and the difference in temperatures as shown by the wet-bulb
and dry-bulb thermometers. Relative humidity can also be determined by locating
the intersection of the wet and dry-bulb temperatures on a psychrometric chart.
The two thermometers coincide when the air is fully saturated, and the greater the
difference the drier the air. Psychrometers are commonly used in meteorology, and
in the HVAC industry for proper refrigerant charging of residential and commercial
Psychrometric Chart
A psychrometric chart is a graph of the thermodynamic parameters of moist air at a constant pressure, often
equated to an elevation relative to sea level. The ASHRAE-style psychrometric chart, shown here, was
pioneered by Willis Carrier in 1904.[9] It depicts these parameters and is thus a graphical equation of state.
The parameters are:
Wet-bulb temperature (WBT) is that of an air sample after it has passed through a constantpressure, ideal, adiabatic saturation process, that is, after the air has passed over a large surface of
liquid water in an insulated channel. In practice this is the reading of a thermometer whose sensing bulb
is covered with a wet sock evaporating into a rapid stream of the sample air (see Hygrometer). When
the air sample is saturated with water, the WBT will read the same as the DBT. The slope of the line of
constant WBT reflects the heat of vaporization of the water required to saturate the air of a given relative
humidity.
Dew point temperature (DPT) is the temperature at which a moist air sample at the same pressure
would reach water vapor "saturation." At this point further removal of heat would result in water vapor
condensing into liquid water fog or, if below freezing point, solid hoarfrost. The dew point temperature is
measured easily and provides useful information, but is normally not considered an independent
property of the air sample as it duplicates information available via other humidity properties and the
saturation curve.
Relative humidity (RH) is the ratio of the mole fraction of water vapor to the mole fraction of
saturated moist air at the same temperature and pressure. RH is dimensionless, and is usually
expressed as a percentage. Lines of constant RH reflect the physics of air and water: they are
determined via experimental measurement. The concept that air "holds" moisture, or that moisture
"dissolves" in dry air and saturates the solution at some proportion, is erroneous (albeit widespread);
see relative humidity for further details.
Humidity ratio is the proportion of mass of water vapor per unit mass of dry air at the given
conditions (DBT, WBT, DPT, RH, etc.). It is also known as the moisture content or mixing ratio. It is
typically plotted as the ordinate (vertical axis) of the graph. For a given DBT there will be a particular
humidity ratio for which the air sample is at 100% relative humidity: the relationship reflects the physics
of water and air and must be determined by measurement. The dimensionless humidity ratio is typically
expressed as grams of water per kilogram of dry air, or grains of water per pound of air (7000 grains
equal 1 pound).
Specific enthalpy, symbolized by h, is the sum of the internal (heat) energy of the moist air in
question, including the heat of the air and water vapor within. Also called heat content per unit mass. In
the approximation of ideal gases, lines of constant enthalpy are parallel to lines of constant WBT.
Enthalpy is given in (SI) joules per kilogram of air, or BTU per pound of dry air.
Specific volume is the volume of the mixture (dry air plus the water vapor) containing one unit of
mass of "dry air". The SI units are cubic meters per kilogram of dry air; other units are cubic feet per
pound of dry air. The inverse of specific volume is usually confused as the density of the mixture (see
"Applying the Psychrometric Relationships" CIBSE, August 2009). However, to obtain the actual mixture
density one must multiply the inverse of the specific volume by unity plus the humidity ratio value at the
point of interest (see ASHRAE Fundamentals 1989 6.6, equation 9).
The psychrometric chart allows all the parameters of some moist air to be determined from any three
independent parameters, one of which must be the pressure. Changes instate, such as when two air
streams mix, can be modeled easily and somewhat graphically using the correct psychrometric chart for the
location's air pressure or elevation relative to sea level. For locations at not more than 2000 ft (600 m) of
altitude it is common practice to use the sea-level psychrometric chart.
In the -t chart, the dry bulb temperature (t) appears as the abscissa (horizontal axis) and the humidity ratio
() appear as the ordinate (vertical axis). A chart is valid for a given air pressure (or elevation above sea
level). From any two independent ones of the six parameters dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature,
relative humidity, humidity ratio, specific enthalpy, and specific volume, all the others can be determined.
5. PROCEDURE:
1. Inspect the cotton wick on the sling psychrometer and make sure that it is in good
condition and firmly in contact with the thermometer bulb. A psychrometer with a
yellowed or frayed wick will not give an accurate reading, and the wick should be replaced.
Do not touch the wick with your fingers, because contaminants will affect the accuracy.
Also, check for a separated mercury column.
2. Thoroughly saturate the wick with distilled water. If the water beads up and does not
easily soak in, the wick should be replaced.
3. Face into the wind (if any) and begin swinging the psychrometer at a steady,
comfortable pace (about 2 turns per second is good). Be extremely careful that you dont
strike the psychrometer on a nearby table, railing, or other obstruction! Also, keep it far
enough from your body that you dont pick up your own body heat.
4. After about 1 minute, stop and check the wet-bulb temperature, quickly reading it to the
nearest 1/10 degree (if you stop too long, the temperature will start to change). Then
continue swinging the psychrometer for another minute or so. Check the wet-bulb
temperature again and see whether it has changed from your previous reading. If it has,
continue swinging for another minute and check again. Repeat as necessary. Your goal is
to get the lowest possible reading out of the wet bulb thermometer (assuming that it
started out near the dry air temperature). Important note: make sure that the wick does
not become too dry. If it does, you will need to add another drop or two of distilled water
and start over.
5. Carefully but quickly read and record the final wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures to
the nearest 0.1 degree, interpolating between tick marks as necessary.
Note: If the Psychrometer is rotated for a short period, then the wet bulb
temperature recorded will not be proper.
Note: If the Psychrometer is rotated for a longer period, the wick will get dried soon
and the wet bulb temperature will not be at its minimum value
Area Conditions:
Area Conditions:
Near Court
TIME : 12: 26 pm
Weather Condition: Cloudy
Ventilation: Open area
No of persons many
Area Conditions:
Technical Education
department Lobby
TIME : 12:21pm
Weather Condition:
Sunnyand windy
Ventilation: Open areaand
Indirect sunlight
No of persons 4
Area Conditions:
COE 13 Corridor
TIME : 12:06 pm
Weather Condition: Sunny
Ventilation: Open area
No of persons 7
are 24 and 34 degrees Celsius respectively. The sling psychrometer was made to
spin for about 2 minutes to achieve a more accurate reading.