INSTITTUTION: DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

NAMES REG NO: SIGN

GITAU EVAN KAIRU E034-01-0949/2017
DENNIS MUKOYANI E034-01-0942/2017
COURSE: BSC.CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
UNIT NAME: ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS 1
UNIT CODE: EMG 2205
TASK: SENSIBLE HEAT
LECTURER’S NAME: PRO.NANCY
EXPERIMENT DATE: 8/11/2018
SUBMISSION DATE: 22/11/2018
ABSTRACT
Moist air is a mixture of dry air (gases such as O2, N2, CO2) and water vapor. A
useful tool for studying and analyzing thermodynamics properties of moist air is
the psychometrics chart. To provide thermal comfort conditioning in occupied
spaces, air must be conditioned. Depending on the climate conditioning and the
indoor requirement, air conditioning processes could be sensible heating or
cooling, de-humidifying, humidifying etc. The purpose of this experiment is to
practically show the uses of the psychometrics chart, and thermodynamically
analyze some of the air conditioning processes.
OBJECTIVES
 To carry out performance test on typical air conditioning processes.
 To investigate heating of air in a duct
INTRODUCTION
Air conditioning is the conditioning of air within a defined space, usually a
residence or a place of business. conditioning usually involves heating or cooling,
humidifying or dehumidifying, and filtering or cleaning air and controlling its
moisture level. conditioning it to provide maximum indoor comfort. an air
conditioner transfers heat from the inside of a building, where it is not wanted, to
the outside. refrigerant in the system absorbs the excess heat and is pumped
through a closed system of pumping to an outside coil. A fan blows outside air
over the hot coil, transferring heat from the refrigerant to the outdoor air. Its
because the heat is removed from the indoor air, the indoor area is closed. Air
conditioning is a system giving automatic control of the required environmental
conditions by method of heating, cooling, humidification, dehumidification,
cleaning and movement of air in the building, vehicles and industries.
Sensible heat is heat exchanged by a body or thermodynamic system that changes
the temperature, and some macroscopic variables of the body, but leaves
unchanged certain other macroscopic variables, such as volume or pressure.

In the domestic and industrial air conditioning applications some psychometric

processes have to be performed on the air to change the psychometric properties of
air so as to obtain certain values of temperature and humidity of air within the
enclosed space. Some of the common psychometric processes carried out on air
are: sensible heating and cooling of air, humidification and dehumidification of air,
mixing of various streams of air, or there may be combinations of the various
processes. Illustrating and analyzing the psychometrics properties and
psychometric processes by using the psychometric chart is very easy, convenient
and time saving. In the next few paragraphs we shall see some of the most
commonly employed psychometric processes in the field of HVAC and how they
are represented on the psychometric chart. These control conditions may be
desirable to maintain the health and comfort of the occupants or to meet the
requirements of industrial process irrespective of the external climatic conditions.

THEORY
Sensible heat is heat exchanged by a body or thermodynamic system in which the
exchange of heat changes the temperature of the body or system and some
microscopic variables of the body or system, such as volume or pressure.
In sensible heating process, heat exchange happens between two media and results
in change of temperature in both the media.. The rate of sensible heat gain or loss
is calculated using the formula, where m is the mass flow rate if rate of heat gain is
calculated or mass of medium being heated
Cp is the specific heat capacity of the medium being heated
T is the change in temperature
The term sensible heat is used in contrast to latent heat which is the amount of heat
exchanged that is hidden, meaning it occurs without change of temperature. For
example, during a phase change such as melting of ice the temperature of the
system containing the ice and the liquid is constant until all the ice has melted.
Both sensible and latent heats are observed in many processes while transporting
energy in nature. Latent heat is associated with changes of state, measured at
constant temperature, especially the phase changes of atmospheric water vapor,
mostly vaporization and condensation whereas sensible heat directly affects
temperature of the atmosphere.
In this experiment we carried out sensible heating of air in a duct. Sensible heating
of air is important when the air conditioner is used as the heat pump to heat the air.
In the heat pump the air is heated by passing it over the condenser coil that carries
high temperature refrigerant. In some cases, the heating of air is also done to suit
different industrial and comfort air conditioning applications, when large air
conditioning systems are used.
In general, the sensible heating process is carried out by passing the air over the
heating coil. The coil may be heated by passing the refrigerant hot water, the steam
or by electric resistance heating coil. The hot water and steam are used for
industrial purposes.

REQUIREMENT/EQUIPMENTS

 RA2 Air Conditioning Unit

 Compatible PC
 RA2 Software

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Set the tan to 60%. Set the preheat control to manual and set to 30%. Let the
system stabilize.

Once the system has stabilized, select the table icon to record the sensor readings
in the table.

increase the preheat control in steps of 10%, allowing stabilizing and repeat the
experiment.

Check that the preheat element on the mimic diagram changes to red to indicate
that the heater is in operation. Check that the preheat temperature sensor rises then
stabilizes at approximately the set temperature. The heater element on the mimic
diagram should change between Grey and red to indicates the times during which
power is being supplied to the heater.

EQUIPMENT SET UP

The boiler is not required for this exercise and need not be filled. Ensure that the
equipment and PC have been set up as described in the installation guide and that
the PC is connected and switched on with the RA2 software running. The software
should indicate IFDVCM(No) in the bottom right of the software window and
there and green USD indicator lights on the electrical console should be
illuminated.

METHOD
To change the condition of the air entering a duct by increasing the preheat
temperature. To investigate the effect of temperature, change on heating power and
electrical power.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS/DATA
DATA ANALYSIS
average average
average temp Average change in average
mass flow electrical
T1 temp T2 T2-T1 pre heat
rate power

26.21282195 32.1 5.9 0.029147906 320.3059689 181.0023048

26.29267171 33.5 7.2 0.029176569 376.8243427 228.5054125

26.53222097 35.14268619 8.610465215 0.029466184 422.8481228 269.5819495

26.53222097 36.02103349 9.488812517 0.029391849 473.9639922 328.6379849

26.63868731 37.81765297 11.17896566 0.028952959 526.2751716 377.3629495

26.54552927 38.84239149 12.29686222 0.029188485 588.6167266 420.79

26.82500341 40.47931146 13.65430805 0.029598335 644.5597439 476.9541634

AVERAGE
AVERAGE
AVERAGE AVERAGE CHANGE MASS AVERAGE
ELECTRICAL
TEMP T1 TEMP T2 IN T2-T1 FLOW PRE HEAT
POWER
RATE

25.9599644 30.01899359 4.059029197 0.028426997 249.0066532 132.3639083

26.21282195 32.1 5.9 0.029147906 320.3059689 181.0023048

26.29267171 33.5 7.2 0.029176569 376.8243427 228.5054125

26.53222097 35.14268619 8.610465215 0.029466184 422.8481228 269.5819495

26.53222097 36.02103349 9.488812517 0.029391849 473.9639922 328.6379849

26.63868731 37.81765297 11.17896566 0.028952959 526.2751716 377.3629495

26.54552927 38.84239149 12.29686222 0.029188485 588.6167266 420.79

26.82500341 40.47931146 13.65430805 0.029598335 644.5597439 476.9541634

AVERAGE HEAT TRANSFER IN AIR VS

CHANGE IN TEMPARATURE

800
AVERAGE HEAT TRANSFER IN AIR(W)

600
400 AVERAGE PRE HEAT

200
Linear (AVERAGE PRE
0 HEAT)
0 5 10 15
TEMPARATURE CHANGE OC
 AVERAGE ELECTRICAL POWER VS
TEMPARATURE CHANGE
600
AVERAGE ELECTRICAL POWER(W)

500
400
300 AVERAGE ELECTRICAL
POWER
200
100 Linear (AVERAGE
ELECTRICAL POWER)
0
0 5 10 15
TEMPARATURE CHANGE 0C

DISCUSSION
SOURCES OF ERROR
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION

REFERENCES
1. Ananthanarayanan, V., Sahai, Y., Mobley, C.E. & Rapp, R.A. (1987). Modeling
of fixed bed heat storage units utilizing phase-change materials. Metallurgical
Transactions B, 18B, 339-346.
2. Beasley, D.E. & Clark, J.A. (1984). Transient response of a packed bed for
thermal energy storage. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 27(9), 1659-1669.
3.Beasley, D.E. & Ramanarayanan, C. (1989). Thermal response of a packed bed
of spheres containing a phase change material. Int. J. Energy Research, 13, 253-
265.
4. Buddhi, D., Bansal, K., Sawhney, R.L.& Sodha, M.S. (1988). Solar thermal
storage systems using phase change materials. Int. J. Energy Research, 12, 547-
555.