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Measuring Humidity - Basics

Dalton’s Law
Air is a mixture of different gases. Under normal environmental conditions the gases have an ideal behaviour,
i.e. each gas molecule can act independently from all others. Dalton’s law is valid :

The total pressure of a gas is the sum of the partial pressures

p [mbar, hPa] = pN2 + pO 2 + pAr + ...

The partial pressure p is defined as the pressure of a gas, if it would occupy alone the whole volume of the
gas mixture.

Water in its gaseous phase (vapour) is also a component of air mixture. Under normal conditions it behaves
like an ideal gas. With Dalton´s law p becomes:

p [mbar, hPa] = pN2 + pO 2 + pAr + ...+ e

or p [mbar, hPa] = pda + e

e partial pressure of (water) vapour

p da partial pressure of dry air

Vapour Pressure Above Liquid

The concentration of water vapour in air is limited.
There is a maximum partial pressure of vapour
which depends on temperature. Air at high tem-
temperature 1
perature can take more vapour than at low
number of molecules

temperature.

This behaviour can be explained as follows :

The molecules in a liquid are moving with different
velocities (or energies) whereby the average
temperature 2 > temperature 1
energy is proportional to the temperature of the
liquid. With respect to energy, the water molecules
show a statistical distribution as in Fig. 1.
The molecules with energy lower than the binding Energy

energy of the liquid cannot leave the water sur- Fig.1: Statistical energy distribution of molecules in a
face. Those with higher energy can leave the liquid.
water.
They evaporate and increase the vapour partial
pressure in the air (Fig. 2).
The opposite phenomenon happens with the Vapour
water vapour molecules. Those with lower energy partial pressure es
than the binding level of the liquid condensate on
the water surface and decrease the vapour partial
pressure in the air. condensation
evaporation

Water

Fig.2 : Equilibrium at temperature T.

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In a closed volume partly filled with water at temperature T (Fig.2) there is an equilibrium between
evaporation and condensation. If there is a lack of water molecules in the moist region, more evaporation will
occur and the vapour concentration will increase. In the opposite case more molecules will condense than
evaporate and the vapour concentration will decrease.

The balance between evaporation and condensation leads to a vapour partial pressure (respectively
concentration) which only depends on temperature.

A temperature rise will increase the energy of water molecules (Fig.1) and the balance will be shifted to
higher vapour concentration.
For equilibrium at temperature T the vapour concentration (or water partial pressure e or number of water
molecules per m³) is the maximum concentration which can exist at this temperature and cannot be
exceeded. A higher concentration would lead to condensation again and after a short time the old balance
would be reached.
This vapour concentration is called saturated concentration or in terms of partial pressure
saturation vapour pressure above water ew s
at temperature T.

The saturation pressure above water ews has an exponential dependence on T and is given in Tab.1.

Vapour Pressure Above Ice

Below 0.01 degC (triple point of water) water can exist in a liquid phase as well as in a solid phase (ice)
whereby the liquid phase is not stable. For temperatures lower than 0.01 degC, in addition to vapour
pressure above water there is also a vapour pressure above ice. (Tab 2.)

T [degC] ews [mbar] T [degC] e ws [mbar] T [degC] eis [mbar]

100 1014.19 0 6.112 0.01 6.117
90 701.82 -10 2.8652 0 6.112
80 474.16 -20 1.2559 -10 2.5989
70 312.02 -30 0.5103 -20 1.0324
60 199.48 -40 0.1903 -30 0.3800
50 123.53 -50 0.0644 -40 0.1284
40 73.853 -60 0.0195 -50 0.0394
30 42.470 -70 5.187E-03 -60 0.0108
20 23.392 -80 1.190E-03 -70 2.615E-03
10 12.281 -90 2.298E-04 -80 5.472E-04
0.01 6.117 -100 3.622E-05 -90 9.670E-05
-100 1.402E-05

Tab.1: Saturation vapour pressure values ews above water. Tab.2: Saturation vapour
pressure values eis above ice.

Measuring Humidity - Basics

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Consequently there are two saturation curves below 0.01 degC which are given in Fig.3 in a logarithmic scale.
From -100 degC to 100 degC the saturation vapour pressure is changing over 8 orders of magnitude.
1,E+04

1,E+03

saturation vapour pressure [mbar]

1,E+02

1,E+01

1,E+00
water
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150
1,E-01 ice

1,E-02

1,E-03

1,E-04

1,E-05
temperature [degC]

Fig.3 : Vapour saturation curves above ice and water. Below the triple point (0.01 degC) the curve splits into two
graphs.

Real Gas Correction

Up to now we have regarded water vapour as an ideal gas, i.e. water molecules act independently from each
other in the air mixture.
In reality there is a small interaction between molecules which leads to a small increase of saturation vapour
in air. This is described by an enhancement factor f(p,T).
For normal pressure the enhancement factor is near one and can be neglected. In this case, water vapour
can be seen as an ideal gas.

Humidity Functions
Relative Humidity RH [%RH]
Tab.1 and Tab.2 give the values for saturation vapour pressure as a function of temperature. These values
are maximum values and cannot be exceeded. Usually the partial vapour pressure is lower.

Relative humidity RH is defined as the ratio between the actual partial vapour pressure e and the saturation
vapour pressure above water ews :
RH = (e / ews )*100 [%RH]

Absolute Humidity (vapour density) dv [g/m³]

is the mass of water in 1 m³ moist air.
dv = mv / v [g/m³] mv... mass of water vapour
v... air volume
Dew Point Td [degC]
When cooling air with non saturated vapour pressure e the partial pressure will stay constant for a while.
Simultaneously the relative humidity will increase due to decreasing saturation vapour pressure:

RH = (e / ews )*100 ew s = ews (T) [%] T decreasing ===> ews decreasing ===> RH increasing

At 100% RH the partial pressure of vapour e in the air equals the saturation vapour pressure above water
ew s(T):
e = ews(T)

If the temperature decreases further, condensation will start.

The dew point Temperature Td is the temperature where condensation begins.

Measuring Humidity - Basics

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Mixing Ratio r [g/kg]

r is the mass of water to evaporate and mix with 1 kg dry air to perform a certain relative humidity or partial vapour
pressure e.

Specific Enthalpy h [kJ/kg]

The enthalpy of 1 kg moist air with relative humidity RH and corresponding mixing ratio r at temperature T is the
total energy you need
- to warm up dry air from 0 degC to T
- to evaporate the water (latent heat of water)
- to warm up the vapour from 0 degC up to T

The specific enthalpy is a relative quantity, i.e. only variations are of interest, not the absolute value.
The variation of enthalpy is the measure of energy required to transform the moist air from one equilibrium state to
another.

example 1 :
To warm up air from 20 degC to 25 degC and humidify the air from 40% RH to 60% RH 20.2 kJ/kg would be
needed.

T [degC] RH [%RH] h [kJ/kg]

state 1 20 40 34.6
state 2 25 60 54.8
difference 20.2

example 2 :
Warming up from 20 to 25 degC at constant relative humidity 40% requires only 10.3 kJ/kg.

T [degC] RH [%RH] h [kJ/kg]

state 1 20 40 34.6
state 2 25 40 44.9
difference 10.3

example 3 :
Warming up from 20 to 25 degC at constant partial vapour pressure (i.e. e = const , r = const , Td = const), the
relative humidity decreases from 40% to 29.5% RH. This requires only 5.1 kJ/kg energy.

T [degC] RH [%RH] h [kJ/kg]

state 1 20 40 34.6
state 2 25 29.5 39.7
difference 5.1

Measuring Humidity - Basics

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Tel: (215) 340-2650 e-mail: [email protected]
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Mollier Diagram
The Mollier diagram is a very useful instrument to solve HVAC-problems graphically. It includes all humidity
functions in one chart.
50
45
40 rh = 10% rh = 20%

35 rh = 40% rh = 60%

30
temperature T [degC]

rh = 80%
25 rh = 100%

20
15
10
5
0
-5 fog region
-10
-15
-20
-25
0 5 10 15 20 25
mixing ratio r [g/kg]
Fig. 4a : Mollier diagram: curves of constant relative humidity . The region below 100% (fog region) is not
valid because condensation occurs.

50
rh = 10% rh = 20%
45
rh = 40%
40 rh = 60%
35
30 rh = 80%
temperature T [degC]

rh = 100%
25
20 70
60
15 50

10 40
h = 54.8
30
5
20
0
10 h = 34.6
-5
-10 0 enthalpy h [kJ/kg] fog region
-15
-10
-20
-20
-25
0 5 10 15 20 25
mixing ratio r [g/kg]
Fig. 4b : Curves of constant enthalpy are added to Fig.4a . Also example 1 is included.

Measuring Humidity - Basics

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Tel: (215) 340-2650 e-mail: [email protected]
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Accuracies of Calculated Variables

Dew (frost) point temperature

Dew (frost) point temperature

Accuracies in degC
Accuracies in degC

Accuracies in % of measuring
Wet bulb temperature

Absolute humidity
Accuracies in degC

value [g/m 3]
Accuracies in % of measuring
Water vapour pressure

Specific enthalpy

Accuracies in kJ/kg
value [mbar]
Accuracies in % of measuring

Accuracies of the calculated variables are subject to

the accuracy of the humidity and temperature -
Mixing ratio

measurement.
value [g/kg]

The above accuracy values are valid for ±2% RH

and ±0.2 degC.

High accuracy values can be reached by a special

humidity/temperature calibration.

EE30/EE30EX