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The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, April 1999. © Copyright 1999 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-
Conditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in paper
form without permission of ASHRAE.
P
eople sometimes attribute ef fects to coil leaving air temperature does not change, so the available
“humidity” without understanding the dehumidification capacity does not change. The resulting room
relative humidity at 70°F (21°C) will be 65%, possibly generat-
underlying physics. For example, we have all ing complaints that the relative humidity is too high.
experienced “hot, humid” summer weather. Yet the While room conditions should be analyzed in accordance with
ASHRAE Standard 55-1992, Thermal Environmental Con-
outdoor air relative humidity on a “hot, humid” summer ditions for Human Occupancy to evaluate comfort, if relative
day (95°F db/78°F wb [35°C db/26°C wb]) is less than humidity itself is the problem, one practical solution might be to
operate the system at the design temperature setpoint of 75°F
50%. By contrast, the outdoor air relative humidity on a
(24°C). Achieving moderately low humidity at low room tem-
“cold, dry” winter day is typically around 80%. This article peratures may require using a reheat system. Achieving low rela-
examines the difference between relative humidity, tive humidity at low temperatures usually requires specialized
systems like desiccant dehumidification.
specific humidity, and vapor pressure. It goes on to Specific humidity is the amount of moisture in the air per
explore how those measures influence phenomena unit mass of air. It is usually expressed as grains of water per
pound of dry air (gr/lb) or pounds of water per pound of
loosely attributed to “humidity.”
dry air (lbw/lbda, kgw/kgda). Specific humidity is proportional
to the enthalpy or total energy content of the moist air mixture.
Measures of Humidity Specific humidity changes when moisture is added or removed.
Different measures of humidity quantify different physical Changing temperature does not change specific humidity unless
properties of the mixture of water vapor (moisture) and air. Un- the air is cooled below the dew point.
derstanding how moist air behaves requires understanding those Dew point is the temperature where moisture begins to con-
measures of humidity. dense out of the air. When air is cooled to its dew point, it reaches
Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of water va- 100% relative humidity or saturation. Cooling the air any further
por in the air to the amount of water vapor air can hold at that causes water vapor in the air to change to the liquid phase. Liquid
temperature. At 100% relative humidity, the dry bulb, wet bulb, water molecules accumulate, droplets form, and moisture condenses
and dew point temperatures are equal. At 100% relative humid- out of the air. At the new conditions, the air contains less moisture,
ity, the air is saturated, which means it cannot hold any more has lower specific humidity, and has a lower dew point temperature,
moisture. Raising the temperature without changing the amount but it is still at 100% relative humidity. Raising the temperature of
of moisture in the air reduces the relative humidity. The relative air at its dew point reduces its relative humidity but does not change
humidity goes down because warmer air can hold more moisture its water vapor content (specific humidity) so does not change its
than colder air. For example, a comfort cooling system might be dew point.
designed to maintain 75°F (24°C)/55% RH at design load using Vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by free molecules at
56°F (13°C) coil leaving air temperature. The system might the surface of a solid or liquid. Consider water in a closed vessel
have enough sensible capacity to cool the room to 70°F (21°C) at 75°F (24°C). Water will evaporate until the partial pressure
at less than design load, or the system might be oversized. The of the water in the vessel reaches 0.44 in. Hg (1.49 kPa), which
Figure 1a: Temperature and moisture gradient in a wall Figure 1b: Temperature and moisture gradient in a wall (no
(condensation). condensation).
is the vapor pressure of water at 75°F (24°C). cific humidity, or vapor pressure. Engineers must identify the
For a given substance, vapor pressure is a function of tem- operative parameter before they can design HVAC/R systems
perature. As temperature increases, vapor pressure increases. that avoid or mitigate the effects of moisture in the air.
When the vapor pressure reaches atmospheric pressure (29.92
in. Hg [100 kPa]), the liquid boils. For water at sea level, this Condensation
condition occurs at 212°F (100°C). At 5,000 ft (1524 m) above Condensation is strictly a function of relative humidity. When
sea level, atmospheric pressure is only 24.89 in. Hg (84 kPa). air cools to a temperature below its dew point, moisture con-
That is why water boils at 202°F (94°C) in Denver. denses out of the air. It is not necessary to cool the entire air
Vapor pressure is a measure of the affinity of a substance mass to get condensation. Condensation occurs on the coldest
for itself. If a substance has low affinity for itself, it evapo- surface in a room. A cold window might cool nearby air below
rates readily even at low temperature. The substance will have its dew point and cause condensation while the rest of the room
a high vapor pressure. For most HVAC processes, the vapor remains at normal temperature.
pressure of interest is for water in contact with itself. How- Condensation causes a variety of problems. Condensation is a
ever, water in contact with other substances (e.g., wood, pa- housekeeping problem if moisture puddles on the floor or if droplets
per, salt) also has a vapor pressure. The vapor pressure of stain the materials they contact. Condensation can damage wood,
water in contact with those other substances may be different paper, and fabric, and it accelerates rusting of steel. It can also hurt
from the vapor pressure of water in contact with itself. products like frozen foods in a supermarket. No one wants to buy
the package of ice cream coated with frost. Moreover, for water
Effects of Humidity vapor in the air to form frost on the package of ice cream, it must
Understanding how moisture affects materials and processes give up its heat of vaporization (approximately 1000 Btu/lb [2326
requires understanding whether those effects are a function of kJ/kg]) and its heat of fusion (approximately 144 Btu/lb [335 kJ/
relative humidity, specific humidity, or vapor pressure. Much of kg]). It gives up some of that heat to the air and some of it to the ice
the literature on effects of humidity covers a narrow temperature cream. The ice cream warms up a bit and can even begin to soften
range. Those studies likely used relative humidity because it is or melt if the freezer is not cold enough.
easy to measure. At constant temperature, relative humidity var- HVAC/R designs generally try to avoid condensation in the
ies directly with moisture content — the lower the moisture con- conditioned space. For cooling applications, they accomplish that
tent, the lower the relative humidity. Since the studies were con- goal with dehumidifying coils that remove moisture from the sup-
ducted over a narrow temperature range, the data lend little in- ply air before it enters the conditioned space. Most comfort cool-
sight into whether the operative factor is relative humidity, spe- ing systems are designed to control temperature, so they control
relative humidity and the risk of condensation only indirectly. easier to work in grains/lb than lb/lb.
However, matching both the sensible (temperature) and latent Although the units are different, the principle is similar to the
(dehumidification) capacities to the cooling loads is part of a more familiar temperature gradient calculation:
successful design.
Excessive winter humidification risks condensation on cold Quantity Area Driving Force
window and wall surfaces. Excess humidification is humidity R-Value Btu/h ft2 (m2) °F (°C)
above what the building envelope was designed to accommo- Permeance (perms) gr/h ft2 (m2) in. Hg (kPa)
date. Besides condensation, excess humidification can cause prob-
lems like peeling paint, either inside or outside. In Figure 1a, with the insulation inside the exterior sheath-
ing, the surface of the sheathing falls below the dewpoint and
Moisture in the Building Structure damaging condensation can occur. The following calculation
Condensation problems are not limited to the occupied space. shows the basis for that conclusion:
Condensation inside walls can be a serious problem. Any con-
ditioned building has a temperature gradient between indoors R-value of all components up to plywood: 5.89
and outdoors. The temperature difference across each element Total R-value of assembly: 7.49
of the wall structure is proportional to the insulating value of
that element. Buildings also have a moisture gradient between Temperature on inside surface of plywood:
indoors and outdoors. The moisture difference across each ele-
Inside R-value Temperature
ment of the structure is proportional to the vapor diffusion resis-
Temp. Ratio Difference
tance of the element.
Figure 1 illustrates the temperature and vapor pressure gradi-
70°F – 5.89 × [70°F – (–10°F)] = 7.1°F (–13.8°C)
ents in a wood stud wall and shows how insulation placement 7.49
affects performance.1 While this example is for a modern house,
Vapor diffusion resistance of components up to plywood: 0.88
the analysis applies to any structure, including historic build-
ings. The house had urea formaldehyde foam insulation that Total vapor diffusion resistance of assembly: 2.71
had shrunk away from the studs, leaving large areas effectively Dew point calculation for surface of plywood
uninsulated. Moisture from the humidified house condensed on
the back side of the sheathing, ruining it. The owner wanted to Inside Rep Moisture
install insulated sheathing for energy conservation and to avoid Moisture Ratio Difference
another condensation problem.
Table 1 is a dew point calculation for Figure 1a. Like the 22.4 gr/lb – 0.88 × (22.4 – 1.3) gr/lb
2.71
temperature gradient, the moisture gradient is proportional to = 15.5 gr/lb dew point = 20°F (–6°C)
the resistance of each element in the wall. Where the tempera-
ture gradient is expressed in degrees, the moisture gradient is Since the temperature on the plywood is lower than the dew
expressed in vapor pressure (in. Hg or kPa) or specific humidity point, moisture can condense.
(grains/lb, lbw/lbda, or kgw/kgda). Since vapor permeance data Figure 1b shows that installing the insulation outside the sheath-
are commonly tabulated in grains in the I-P system of units, it is ing keeps the sheathing above the local dewpoint, avoiding con-
Rust
Atmospheric corrosion (rust) is uncontrolled oxidation of
a metal. In the case of stainless steels, oxidation produces a
thin, protective coating on the metal surface. That oxidation
is part of what makes stainless steel “stainless.” Aluminum
and copper also form protective oxide coatings. On the other
hand, carbon steel forms a loose oxide that readily separates
from the base metal. The loose oxide particles fall off as scale,
exposing new base metal to oxidize. The process continues Figure 3: Dimensional change of wood with change in moisture
until the metal rusts away. content.
Plain carbon steel reportedly remains uncorroded when ex-
posed to air at a relative humidity less than about 30%.14 The than relative humidity as a driving force for rusting. If the vapor
reference does not indicate whether 30% RH at 85°F (29°C) is pressure of water in the surrounding air is higher than the vapor
any more aggressive to carbon steel than 30% RH at 25°F pressure of water in small capillaries in the iron/iron oxide sur-
(–4°C). The increase in corrosion with increasing humidity is face, the capillaries draw moisture out of the air. Moisture in the
attributed to an increase in the electrical conductivity of the envi- capillaries reacts with contaminants in the air or on the surface,
ronment contacting the metal surface.15 All corrosion is electro- increasing conductivity and resulting corrosion. Because rust
lytic in nature, so the increase in conductivity almost certainly tends to be irregular, more rust forms more capillaries, fostering
plays a part. However, moisture content does not affect the elec- even more rust.
trical conductivity of air. Any increase in conductivity associated This analysis suggests that preventing corrosion appears to
with increased moisture can only be due to the interaction of have more to do with surface finish and dew point than relative
water vapor with pollutants in the air. humidity environment. A smooth, polished surface provides few
The ASM Metals Handbook describes the influence of sur- capillaries and few sites for capillary condensation. At high tem-
face condition on rust. Rust forms on surfaces with small pores peratures, low dew point results in a low relative humidity. How-
at lower humidity than on surfaces with large pores. Small pores ever, as temperature goes down, relative humidity can increase
draw moisture out of the air by capillary condensation due to without necessarily promoting rust if the vapor pressure of mois-
differences in vapor pressure.16 ture in the air is below the vapor pressure required for capillary
Vapor pressure and capillary condensation make more sense condensation.