AIR AND IT’S PROPERTIES

MEE433 –Air Conditioning and Ventilation Systems

PROPERTIES OF AIR
Conditioning air means changing the properties of the air. The air
must be clean and contain the proper amount of heat and the proper
amount of heat and the proper amount of moisture in order to create
comfort conditions. Since sheet metal workers install the equipment
and systems that condition the air, they should understand the
properties of air and how these properties can be changed for
comfort and health.

Air has four important properties that you should know:

• Air is a mixture of different gases.
• Air has weight.
• Air expands when heated.
• Air contains varying amounts of water vapor
AIR is a mixture of different gases
Air is a mixture of about 78% of nitrogen, 21% of oxygen,
0.9% of argon, 0.04% of carbon dioxide, and very small
amounts of other gases.
There is an average of about 1% water vapor.

Nitrogen(78%)

Oxygen(21%)

Other Gases(0.1 %)
Argon(0.9%)
AIR has weight
It might not seem like it, but air has weight. Anything with mass has weight, and we
know air has mass because (for example) we can feel it when the wind blows.

The total weight of the atmosphere exerts a pressure of about 14.7 pounds per square
inch at sea level. You don't notice this weight, however, because you are used to it. If you
live in Denver, Colorado, which is at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, then about 85% of
the atmosphere is above you, resulting in an air pressure of about 12.5 pounds per square
inch. At the top of Mount Everest (over 29,000 feet), only 30% of the atmosphere lies
above you, leaving an air pressure of only 4.4 pounds per square inch.
AIR expands when heated
As the molecules heat and move faster, they are moving
apart. So air, like most other substances, expands when
heated and contracts when cooled. Because there is more
space between the molecules, the air is less dense than the
surrounding matter and the hot air floats upward.
AIR contains varying amount of water vapor
The maximum amount of water vapor that can be in the air depends on the air
temperature. Warmer air can hold more water vapor within it. That’s why the muggiest
days usually happen at the height of summer heat. But as the temperature goes down, the
air can hold less vapor and some of it turns into liquid water.
The amount of water vapor in the air is called absolute humidity. The amount of water
vapor in the air as compared with the amount of water that the air could hold is called
relative humidity. This amount of space in air that can hold water changes depending on
the temperature and pressure.
Properties of Air at atmospheric pressure
The properties of Air have been tabulated below, listed by temperature in ascending order. The properties
listed are density, viscosity specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and Prandtl number

Note: Pay attention to the units for viscosity. Example: 1.6478×10-5kg/m.s = 0.000016478 kg/m.s
AIR
CONDITIONING
(Basic and Typical Air-conditioning Process)
BASIC AIRCONDITIONING
PROCESSES
1. MIXING
Where two air streams are mixed the psychrometric process is shown as a straight
line between two air conditions on the psychrometric chart, thus points 1 and 2 are joined
and the mix point 3 will lie on this line. Two air streams are mixed in air conditioning
when fresh air (m1) is brought in from outside and mixed with recirculated air (m2). The
resulting air mixture is shown below as (m3). The mixing ratio is fixed by dampers.
Sometimes, in more sophisticated plant, modulating dampers are used which are driven by
electric motors to control the mixture of air entering the system.

The diagrams below show mixing of two air streams.

By the conservation of mass

formula:
m1 + m2 = m3
By the conservation of energy
formula:
m1 h1 + m2 h2 = m3 h3
Where:
m = mass flow rate of air (kg/s)
h = specific enthalpy of air (kJ/kg)
found from psychrometric chart
2. SENSIBLE COOLING AND HEATING
When air is heated or cooled sensibly, that is, when no moisture is added or removed,
this process is represented by a horizontal line on a psychrometric chart.

For sensible heating:

The amount of heating input to
the air approximates to;
H1-2 = m x Cp x (t2 - t1)
Or more accurately from
psychrometric chart:
H1-2 = m x (h2 - h1)
For sensible cooling:
The amount of cooling input to the air
approximates to;
H2-1 = m x Cp x (t2 - t1)
Or more accurately from psychrometric chart:
H2-1 = m x (h2 - h1)
Where:
H = Heat or cooling energy (kW)
m = mass flow rate of air (kg/s)
Cp = Specific heat capacity of air, may be taken as 1.01 kJ/kg degC.
t = Dry bulb temperature of air (oC)
h = specific enthalpy of air (kJ/kg) found from psychrometric chart.
3. COOLING WITH DEHUMIDIFICATION

The most commonly used method of removing water vapor from air
(dehumidification) is to cool the air below its dew point.

If the air is cooled to the dew point air and is still further cooled then moisture will
drop out of the air in the form of condensate. This can be shown on a psychrometric chart
as air sensibly cooled until it becomes fully saturated (the dew point is reached) and then
the air is cooled latently to a lower temperature.

This is apparent on the psychrometric chart as a horizontal line for sensible cooling to
the 100% saturation curve and then the process follows the 100% saturation curve down to
another point at a lower temperature.

This lower temperature is sometimes called the Apparatus dew Point (ADP) of the
cooling coil. In reality the ADP of the cooling coil is close to the cooling liquid
temperature inside the coil.

Chilled water or refrigerant may be the cooling liquid. The psychrometric process
from state point 1 to 2 to 3 may be shown as a straight line for simplicity as shown above
with a yellow line.
 The total amount of cooling input to the air
approximates to;
H1-3 = m x (h1 - h3)
The sensible heat removed is:
H1-2 = m x (h1 - h2)
The latent heat removed is:
H2-3 = m x (h2 - h3)
Where:
H = Cooling energy (kW)
m = mass flow rate of air (kg/s)
h = specific enthalpy of air (kJ/kg)
found from psychrometric chart

In the absence of a suitable psychrometric chart the following formula may be used;
The sensible heat removed is:
H1-2 = m x Cp x (t1 - t2)
The latent heat removed is:
H2-3 = m x hfg x (g2 - g3)
Where:
H = Cooling energy (kW)
m = mass flow rate of air (kg/s)
Cp = Specific heat capacity of air, may be taken as 1.01 kJ/kg degC.
t = Dry bulb temperature of air (oC)
hfg = latent heat of evaporisation, may be taken as 2454 kJ/kg @20oC.
g = moisture content of air from psychrometric chart (kg/kg dry air)
3.1 Cooling Coil Contact Factor
Some of the air going through a cooling coil does not come into contact with the tubes or
fins of the cooling coil and is therefore not cooled to the ADP temperature. A mixing process
therefore takes place as two air streams mix downstream of the cooling coil as shown below

One air stream is cooled down to the ADP and

the other air stream by-passes the coil surfaces to give
an off-coil air temperature (mixed air stream) a little
higher than the ADP. This may be looked upon as an
inefficiency of the coil and is usually given as the
cooling coil contact factor.
The process is shown on the psychrometric chart
below.
References:

• https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/air/

• http://
officersiasacademy.blogspot.com/2016/02/wind-storm-and-cyclone.html

• https://www.scribd.com/doc/19025308/Air-and-Its-Properties

• https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airhttps://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air

• https://
weatherstreet.com/weatherquestions/How_much_does_air_weigh.html

• https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-weather-works/humidity