Application of Exergy Analysis To Various Psychrometric Processes IJOER

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH
Int. J. Energy Res. 2003; 27:10791094 (DOI: 10.1002/er.933)
Application of exergy analysis to various

psychrometric processes
Bilal A. Qureshi and Syed M. Zubairn,y

Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, KFUPM Box # 1474,
Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
SUMMARY
The relation between work and changes in entropy generation arises from the simultaneous treatment of
the rst and second laws referred to as exergy (or available energy) analysis. In this paper, we discuss
thermodynamic analysis of various psychrometric processes using the concept of exergy. A parametric
study of each of the processes is carried out to determine the variation of second-law eciency as a
function of mass ow rate, relative humidity and temperature. Other trends such as variation of
temperature with relative humidity are also shown where applicable. Irreversible losses are calculated by
applying an exergy balance on each system. In this regard, an engineering equation solver (EES)
programme is used, which is unique because it has built-in functions for most thermodynamic and
transport properties; removing the need for approximate equations. The concept of total exergy as the sum
of thermomechanical and chemical parts is employed in calculating the ow exergies for air and water
vapor mixtures. It is shown for some processes investigated that an increase in the relative humidity of the
incoming air stream increases second-law eciency. We notice that a decrease in mass ow rate of fresh air
(second incoming stream) in the case of adiabatic mixing decreases the second-law eciency of the process.
Also, it is shown that the mass ow rate (of both water and steam) has almost a linear relationship with
relative humidity in the range investigated. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS: exergy; psychrometric; second law
1. INTRODUCTION
The rst law of thermodynamics states that during any cycle, which a system undergoes, the
cyclic integral of heat is equal to the cyclic integral of work (Moran, 1982; Moran and Shapiro,
1995; Sonntag et al., 1998). This law, however, places no restrictions on the direction of ow of
heat and work. It is well known that fulllment of the rst law by a proposed cycle does not
necessarily guarantee that it will occur. In contrast, the second law of thermodynamics stresses
that processes proceed only in a certain direction. It can also help us in calculating entropy
n
Correspondence to: S.M. Zubair, Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and
Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
y
E-mail: smzubair@kfupm.edu.sa
Contract/grant sponsor: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, research project ME/RISK-FOULING/230.
Received 12 July 2002

Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 23 December 2002
1080 B. A. QURESHI AND S. M. ZUBAIR
generation for a given process. Therefore, it is essential to consider both the rst and second
laws in solving problems related to thermodynamic processes.
We note that energy is the consequence of the rst law, while entropy is due to the second law.
Energy may be calculated on the basis of any assumed state of reference, whereas
proper selection of reference state is very important in the case of exergy calculations. Another
main feature of energy is that it increases with the increase of temperature and pressure. For an
ideal gas, it is independent of pressure. However, in the case of exergy, it reaches minimum at
the reference (environment) temperature during isobaric processes; at lower temperatures it
increases as the temperature drops below the reference. Furthermore, exergy of an ideal gas is
dependent on pressure (Szargut, 1980). It is, therefore, understood that not all states with the
same quantity of energy have the same potential to cause change. Thus, any eciency dened on
the basis of rst law will be lacking in one manner or the other. It is exergy, not energy that
represents the true potential of a system to perform an optimal work. Therefore, analyses based
on exergy are important when dierent types of energy are to be compared. For example, heat
and work in air-conditioning processes.
Wepfer et al. (1979), Stecco and Manfrida (1986), as well as many engineering
thermodynamic textbooks (Moran, 1982; Moran and Shapiro, 1995; Sonntag et al., 1998),
have used several examples to illustrate the application of second law to a variety of heating
ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) processes. In these references, a ratio of exergy of the
products to the exergy supplied was used to measure the second-law eciency of the processes.
This was found to be confusing; for example, certain quantities were not used in the calculations
even though they were contributing to the overall eectiveness of the process. Also, in the
steam-spray humidication process discussed by Wepfer et al. (1979), eciency was seen to
become negative under certain operating conditions. Kestin (1980) and Krakow (1994) used the
actual and ideal cycle values to estimate how well the actual cycle approaches a thermodynamic
perfection. Akau and Schoenhals (1980) described various methods for calculating the second-
law eciency for a heat pump system using water as a heat source and a heat sink. The second-
law eciency was dened as the ratio of the required minimum energy input for an ideal system
to the actual energy input of a real system when achieving the desired task, which, in eect was
essentially the same denition used by Krakow (1994) and Kestin (1980). Bejan (1997) dened
the second-law eciency as the ratio of total exergy leaving the system to the total exergy
entering the system, which connes the eciency between 0 and 1. This denition of eciency is
used in our analysis presented in the following section.
Bejan (1997) illustrated, through many examples, the method of exergy analysis when
considering various open and closed systems as well as some psychrometric processes. He shows
the total exergy as the sum of thermomechanical and chemical exergies, where the latter is the
maximum work that could theoretically be harvested as the mixture (if it exists) comes in
equilibrium with the environment. It is shown that chemical exergy is a major component of
total exergy in problems involving mixtures at dierent temperatures and composition. Szargut
et al. (1988) introduced the concept of reference substances dierent for every chemical element
that are most common in the real environment. For simplicity, we have followed the approach
presented by Bejan in this paper.
The objective of this paper is to present a parametric study of various HVAC processes by
applying exergy analysis and to emphasize the importance of the second law as a tool for
measuring irreversible losses (or entropy generation). In this regard, we rst summarize the rst
and second laws of thermodynamics for open systems, which is then followed by analysis of
Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Energy Res. 2003; 27:10791094
APPLICATION OF EXERGY ANALYSIS 1081
some selected psychrometric processes using an engineering equation solving (EES) programme
(Klein, 1999; Klein and Alvardo, 2001). Finally, some observations with regard to these
processes are presented.
2. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
In general, the law of conservation of mass for any control volume is written as
dmc:v: X X
m m 1
dt in out
The general energy equation in a rate form, which also represents the rst law of
thermodynamics for a control volume when the changes in kinetic and potential energies are
negligible, is given by
dEc:v: X n X X
Q i W c:v: m h m h 2
dt i0 in out
Similarly, the second law of thermodynamics for a control volume is written as

n
dSc:v: X X X Qi
m s m s S gen 3
dt in out i0
Ti
Consider a batch of uid that ows into a control volume with an initial
compositionN1 ; N2 ; :::Nn : We say that through a semi-permeable membrane, the mixture and
the environment exchange mass. The steady-state conservation of each of the constituents is
guaranteed by writing directly N i;out N i;in for the ow rate. That is, the rst-law and second-
law statements are considered on a molal basis (instead of a mass basis). W is split into work
done on the environment P0 dV =dt plus a useful component X W ; and heat transfer rates are
split into environmental Q o plus non-environmental Q l interactions. Now, eliminating Q o
between the rst law (2) and the entropy generation-rate denition (3), we nd that the work
transfer rate equation in a generalized form for an open system that also experiences mass-
transfer interactions with the environment can be written as (Bejan, 1997)
dXt X X X
n q r
X W X Q i N x% t j N x% t k To S gen 4
dt i1 j1 k1
where
X Q Q 1 T0 =T 5
and the js and ks refer to inlet and outlet ports, respectively. X Q is the exergy delivery rate or
the mechanical power output from the control volume as an open system.
For a steady-state steady-ow system, we have
dmc:v: dEc:v: dSc:v: dXt
0; 0; 0; 0 6
dt dt dt dt
Thus, Equations (1)(4) become
X X
m m 7
in out
X
n X X
W c:v: Q i m h m h 8
i0 in out
X X n
X Qi
S gen m s m s 9
out in i0
Ti
X
n X
q X
r
X W X Q i N x% t j N x% t k T0 S gen 10
i1 j1 k1
It can be seen from Equation (10) that the steady-ow exergy balance for an open system is
simply written as
X X
X X D X 11
in out
The exergy ow of an open system is represented by the second and third terms on the right-
hand side of Equation (10), where x% t is the total molal ow exergy of the mixture stream, given
by (Bejan, 1997)
X
n
x% t h% h%n T0 %s s% n mni mo;i yi 12
i1
n
where ( ) indicates properties evaluated at the restricted dead state (RDS). This dead state means
that the stream is brought to thermal and mechanical equilibrium (only) with the environment.
As stated before, the total ow exergy is the sum of the thermomechanical and chemical ow
exergies, i.e.
x% t x% x x% ch 13
However, with reference to the RDS (T0, P0), thermomechanical specic molal ow exergy is
given by
x% x h% h%n T0 %s s% n 14
and the specic molal chemical ow exergy
X
n
x% ch mni m0;i yi 15
i1
Considering dry air and water vapour as an ideal gas, an alternative formula presented by
Wepfer et al. (1979), gives the total ow exergy of humid air per kilogram of dry air as
* Ra T0 lnP =P0
xt cp;a ocp;v T0 T =T0 1 lnT =T0 1 o
* 0 ln1 o
Ra T0 1 o * 0 =1 o
* o
* ln o
* =o
* 0 : 16
where the last term is the chemical exergy. The proportionality between specic humidity ratio o
and specic humidity ratio on a molal basis o * is given by
* 1:608o
o 17
where the specic humidity ratio is
o m v =m a 18
It represents the number of kilograms of water that correspond to 1 kg of dry air in the air
water vapour mixture.
Wepfer et al. (1979) used approximate formulations to calculate exergies for pure
components, as is also referred to, in many advanced thermodynamics textbooks (Moran,
1982; Bejan, 1997). However, due to the presence of thermodynamic and transport properties in
the equation-solving software (Klein and Alvardo, 2001) that was used in this work, these were
not needed (whenever the stream under consideration was other than humid air). Equation (16)
was simply used without having the need to use an approximate value.
The second-law eciency, which is a measure of irreversible losses in a given process, is
dened as
total flow exergy leaving
ZII 19
total flow exergy entering
On using Equation (11), we get in general
exergy destruction
ZII 1 20
total flow exergy entering
3. ANALYSIS OF SOME PSYCHROMETRIC PROCESSES
In this section, we present some common psychrometric problems that are typically encountered
in HVAC systems. These problems are categorized as simple mixing, steam spray humidica-
tion, adiabatic evaporation, evaporative cooling and cooling with heating and humidication.
All these problems can be treated as steady-state steady-ow processes. For computation
purpose, the following constant values of air and water vapour were used: cp,a=
1.0035 kJ kg1 K1, cp,v=1.872 kJ kg1 K, Ra=0.287 kJ kg1 K1, and Rv=0.461 kJ kg1 K1,
whereas the dead state was chosen based on typical design conditions (T0=358C,
P0=101.325 kPa, f0=0.4). As discussed earlier, the selection of dead state is an important
aspect of exergy calculations; Wepfer et al. (1979) provide some guidelines in the selection of
dead state values. They emphasized that systems mostly operate at o-design conditions, thus
the instantaneous value of T0, P0 and f0 should be used.
Adiabatic mixing: Two moist-air streams are mixed adiabatically to produce the nal stream
with desired properties (see Figure 1). The unknown states are calculated by applying the
Air 1
.
m a ,1 = 1 . 512 kg/s
Air 3
T1 = 37 . 8 C .
ma , 3
1 = 0 . 01116
T3 = 37.8 C
Air 2
. 3 = 0.014575
ma , 2 , T2
2 , 2
Figure 1. Adiabatic mixing.
conservation of mass equation for dry air and water vapor, and the rst and second laws of
thermodynamics, given by Equations (7)(9). Applying the conservation of mass (Equation (7))
for air and water vapor, respectively, results in
m a;1 m a;2 m a;3 21
m v;1 m v;2 m v;3 22

On using Equation (18), we get
m a;1 o1 m a;2 o2 m a;3 o3 23
The rst law for the open system (refer to Equation (8)), results in
m a;1 h1 m a;2 h2 m a;3 h3 24
The unknown parameters at state 2 as well as exergy of moist-air streams can be calculated by
using the above equations.
Referring to Figure 1, we note that there are two inlets and one outlet. An exergy balance on
the system gives
X D X 1 X 2 X 3 25
In accordance with the denition of second-law eciency discussed above, we get
X 3 X D
ZII 1 26
X 1 X 2 X 1 X 2
The parametric analysis is carried out by varying properties of the second moist-air stream
(state 2) and mass ow rate ratio m a;1 =m a;2 of the entering streams. This process is synonymous
with mixing return air (state 1) and fresh air (state 2) to get the desired mixed air stream (state 3).
The relevant results are presented in Figures 2(a) and 2(b). It can be seen from Figure 2(a) that
as the mass ratio m a;1 =m a;2 increases (or m a;2 decreases); the eciency of the process goes
down. Also, we note that for every 10% increase in the mass ratio, the temperature at state 2
(refer to Figure 2(b)) increases by about 1.1 K, while the relative humidity decreases (between
0.91% and 1.24%) to achieve the prescribed mixed stream. This is expected, because initially the
fresh air is the dominant stream in the mixing process. It is equivalent to having a single moist
stream entering and leaving the system. Thus, the eect of return air would be very little and
state of the fresh air (T2 and f2 ) should be near to the mixed air conditions, as is also observed.
It should be noted that the eect of this process is solely to destroy exergy. Therefore, as this
dominance recedes, we move towards a more practical situation. The water content in the fresh
air stream increases and more and more exergy is destroyed, reducing the eciency.
Steam-spray humidication: A schematic of steam-spray humidication system is shown in
Figure 3. On using Equation (7), the conservation of mass for air and water vapour is given by
m a;1 m a;2 27
m v;1 m st m v;2 28
or, on using Equation (18), we get
m a;1 o1 m st m a;2 o2 29
0.35
0.3
0.25
II
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
mratio = ma,1 /ma,2
(a)
323 0.34
320.8 0.32
2
318.6 0.3
T2
T2 [K]
2
316.4 0.28
314.2 0.26
312 0.24
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
(b) mratio = ma,1 /ma,2

Figure 2. (a) Eect of mass ow ratio on second-law eciency. (b) Eect of mass ow ratio on
temperature and relative humidity of state 2.
The rst law (refer to Equation (8)) for this system, with no heat and work, reduces to
m a;1 h1 m st hst m a;2 h2 30
We note that these equations are adequate to calculate all unknown quantities, including exergy
of the moist-air streams, and the steam that is sprayed into the system.
Similar to the previous system, there are two inlets and one exit stream. Applying exergy
balance on the system of Figure 3, we get
X D X 1 X st X 2 31
and, the second-law eciency reduces to

X 2 X D
ZII 1 32
X 1 X st X 1 X st
Saturated Steam 3
.
mst, Tst
Air 1 Air 2
. .
ma , 1 = 3.024 kg/s ma , 2 = 3.024 kg/s
T1 = 35 C T2 = 35.41 C
1, 1 2 = 0.01757
Figure 3. Steam-spray humidication.
0.028
0.026
0.024
0.022
II
0.02
0.018
0.016
0.014
0.012
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
(a) 1
390 0.045
380 0.04
370 0.035
mst [kg/s]
mst
Tst [K]
360 0.03
Tst
.
350 0.025
340 0.02
330 0.015
320 0.01
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
(b) 1
Figure 4. (a) Eect of relative humidity of incoming stream on second-law eciency. (b) Eect of relative
humidity of the incoming stream on steam temperature and mass ow rate.
Figures 4(a) and 4(b) present variation in second-law eciency and the steam-spray ow rate
and temperature to balance the variation in relative humidity of the entering stream. It is noted
that as relative humidity (f1) of the incoming air stream increases, eciency of the process
increases even though this increase is not considerable (1.65% for every 10% increase in relative
humidity). In addition, the eciency itself is very low even though the temperature of steam
required is very small. As expected, the mass ow rate of steam required, to achieve the desired exit
(humid air) conditions, reduces since the temperature of the incoming air stream is kept constant
causing the water content within the stream to increase. Consequently, this constant reduction in
mass ow rate raises the temperature of the steam. We note from Figure 4(b) that the temperature
increase is not at a constant rate and it increases signicantly after a relative humidity of 30%.
Adiabatic evaporation: A schematic of an adiabatic evaporation process is shown in Figure 5,
wherein water at a given temperature is mixed adiabatically with the moist air. Following a
similar procedure that is used in the previous example, the conservation of mass (Equation (7)),
for air and water, respectively, yields
m a;1 m a;2 33
m v;1 m w m v;2 34
In terms of specic humidity ratio (refer to Equation (18)), we get
m a;1 o1 m w m a;2 o2 35
From the rst law (refer to Equation (8)), we have
m a;1 h1 m w hw m a;2 h2 36
Similar to the previous two example problems, there are two inlets and one exit (see Figure 5).
Using Equation (11) for the system shown schematically in Figure 5, we get
X D X 1 X w X 2 37
The second-law eciency (refer to Equations (19), (20) and (37)) results in
X 2 X D
ZII 1 38
X 1 X w X 1 X w
Figure 6(a) presents the variation of second-law eciency as a function of relative humidity of
incoming air stream, while Figure 6(b) indicates the temperature and mass ow rate of water
required corresponding to the given inlet relative humidity. This process is similar to the
previous example; however, the water is normally added at a low temperature. It is noted that as
relative humidity (f1) of the incoming air stream increases, eciency also increases and stays
around 37%. As expected, the mass ow rate of spray-water required, to achieve the prescribed
exit humid air conditions, reduces since the temperature of the incoming stream is kept constant
Air 1 Air 2
. .
ma,1 = 3.024 kg/s ma , 2 = 3.024 kg/s
T1 = 35 C T2 =17.34 C
1 , 1 2 = 1
Water
. 3
mw , Tw
Figure 5. Adiabatic evaporation.
0.372
0.3718
0.3716
0.3714
0.3712
II 0.371
0.3708
0.3706
0.3704
0.3702
0.147 0.1475 0.148 0.1485 0.149 0.1495 0.15
(a) 1
0.02205 290
0.022
288
0.02195
mw [kg/s]
Tw
Tw [K]
0.0219 286
mw
0.02185 284
0.0218
282
0.02175
0.0217 280
0.147 0.1475 0.148 0.1485 0.149 0.1495 0.15
(b) 1
Figure 6. (a) Eect of relative humidity of the incoming stream on second-law eciency. (b) Eect of
relative humidity of the incoming stream on temperature and mass ow rate of water.
causing the water content within the stream to increase. Most importantly, we note that
adiabatic humidication is very sensitive to the mass ow rate and temperature of the water
that is sprayed. Due to this reason, a very narrow range of relative humidity was allowed
and the temperature increased at a constant rate of 1 K per 0.03% rise in relative humidity (f1).
Evaporative cooling: Consider the steady-ow system shown in Figure 7. This system lowers
the temperature of dry air stream (m a;1 ) by mixing it with a trickle of water (m w ). The latter
evaporates and becomes part of the humid air mixture. On using Equation (7), the conservation
of mass for air and water yields
m a;1 m a;2 39
m w m v;2 40
On using Equation (18), we get

mw m a;2 o2 41
Liquid Tw = 22 C
Water .
mw
Dry Air Cooled Humid

Air
.
ma,1 =1 kg/s .
ma,2 = 1 kg/s
T1 2, 2
Figure 7. Evaporative cooling.
The rst law of thermodynamics (refer to Equation (8)), for no heat and work, reduces to
m a;1 h1 m w hw m a;2 h2 42
The exergy destruction (refer to Equation (11)) and second-law eciency (refer toEquations (19)
and (20)) for this system can be written as:
X D X 1 X w X 2 43
X 2 X D
ZII 1 44

X1 Xw
X 1 X w
The parametric investigation is performed by varying the temperature (T1) of the incoming
dry air, which will dictate the mass ow rate of water required to achieve the prescribed
temperature (T2) of the outgoing mixture. The results are presented in Figures 8(a) and 8(b),
wherein second-law eciency, relative humidity of the exit stream and mass ow rate of water as
a function of inlet dry-bulb temperatures are plotted. It is noted that as temperature of the inlet
air stream increases, eciency of the process gradually decreases. As expected, this temperature
rise increases the mass ow rate of water, which, in turn, increases the rate of evaporative
cooling. It is clear from these gures that there is a direct relationship between the water ow
rate and relative humidity of humid air that leaves the system since it is assumed that the
entering air is completely dry.
Cooling with dehumidication and heating: Consider that a humidair stream is dehumidied
in two parts as shown in Figure 9. In the rst part [state (1)(2)], the stream is cooled at con-
stant pressure to a low enough temperature (T2) such that the water stream (m w ) condenses
and is collected as liquid water at atmospheric pressure and temperature, T2. In the second
part of the apparatus, the remaining air and water vapor stream is heated isobarically back to
temperature, T0.
The conservation of air (refer to Equation (7)) for rst and second part of the system results in
m a;1 m a;2
45
m a;2 m a;3
Due to constant air mass ow rate, the general variable m a is used in the following analysis.
Here, the water balance for rst part of the system, using Equation (7), can be written as
m v;1 m v;2 m w 46
0.7
0.65
0.6
II
0.55
0.5
0.45
0.4
294 296 298 300 302 304 306 308 310
(a) T1 [K]
0.8 0.009
0.7 0.008
2 0.007
mw [kg/s]
0.6
mw
0.006
2
0.5
0.005
0.4
0.004
0.3 0.003
0.2 0.002
294 296 298 300 302 304 306 308 310
(b) T1 [K]
Figure 8. (a) Eect of temperature of the incoming dry air stream on second-law eciency. (b) Eect of
temperature of the incoming dry air stream on mass ow rate of water and relative humidity of exiting
humid air stream.
Figure 9. Cooling with dehumidication and heating.
In terms of humidity ratio (refer to Equation (18)), we get

m a;1 o1 m w m a;2 o2 47
On using Equation (8), the energy balance (with no work) for rst part of the system reduces to
m a;1 h1 m w hw m a;2 h2 Q c 48
The water balance for second part of the system (refer to Equation (7)) is
m v;2 m v;3 49
In terms of humidity ratio (refer to Equation (18)), sensible heating gives
o2 o3 50
The energy balance (refer to Equation (8)) for the second part of system results in
m a h2 Q h m a h3 51
Finally, the exergy destruction (refer to Equation (11)), for rst and second part of the system is
given, respectively, by
X D;1 X 1 X Q;c X w X 2 52
X D;2 X 2 X Q;h X 3 53
It is important to note that besides the incoming humid air stream (state 1); the heat
transfer rates are contributing to the total inow of exergy. The second-law eciency (refer to
Equation (20)), of the entire system shown schematically in Figure 9, can be written as
X D;1 X D;2
ZII 1 54

X 1 X Q;c X Q;h X 1 X Q;c X Q;h

Figures 10(a)10(c) present parametric analysis of the system considered in Figure 9. In these
gures the relative humidity (f1) of the incoming humid air stream is varied, which controls the
mass ow rate of water required to achieve the intermediate temperature (T2). It can be seen
from Figure 10(a) that as relative humidity (f1) of the incoming moist air stream increases,
eciency also increases. Since relative humidity is increasing at a constant temperature, the
water content of the entering stream increases. Therefore, one would expect that the mass ow
rate of condensate (refer to Figure 10(c)) increase with the relative humidity. It can also be seen
from Figure 10(b) that exergy destruction contribution of rst part of the system (state 12),
reaches its minimum at about 78% relative humidity of the incoming humid air stream while
that of the second part (state 23), continuously decreases in a nonlinear fashion. Most
importantly, this gure clearly shows that the second part of the system contributes more to the
overall losses. Various calculated values are also summarized in Table I.
4. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Various psychrometric processes that are commonly encountered in HVAC systems are
investigated by considering both the rst and second laws of thermodynamics. In this regard,
second-law eciency of the processes is dened to quantify the irreversible losses. It should be
pointed out that despite the low second-law eciencies, it is best to perform these processes as
they are because no measure to reduce exergy destruction in these processes will be economically
feasible. So practically, size, and economics should be considered as important consideration in
engineering design of HVAC systems.
All computations are conducted with an EES programme that has built-in functions for
thermodynamic and transport properties. These built-in properties make it possible for a single
simplied equation to be used for all streams (except humid air). This reduces not only the
0.5
0.12 0.9
0.45 X D,1-2
X D,2-3
0.4 0.8
0.116
0.35
0.7
0.3 0.112
XD,1-2
XD,2-3
II
0.25 0.6
0.108
0.2 0.5
0.15
0.104
0.4
0.1
0.05 0.1 0.3

0.72 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.8 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9 0.72 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.8 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9
(a) 1 (b) 1
0.004
0.0035
0.003
m w [kg/s]
0.0025
0.002
0.0015
0.001
0.0005
0
0.72 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.8 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9
(c) 1
Figure 10. (a) Eect of relative humidity of the incoming stream on second-law eciency. (b) Eect of
relative humidity of the incoming stream on individual exergy destruction contribution. (c) Eect of
relative humidity of the incoming stream mass ow rate of water condensate.
Table I. Performance results for a cooling with dehumidication and heating system.
P P
f1 Q c (kJ kg1) m w (kg s1) 1
in x (kJ kg )
1
out x (kJ kg ) ZII (%)
0.72 6.284 0.0001976 0.5065 0.02605 5.1440
0.74 7.290 0.0006054 0.5619 0.07982 14.210
0.76 8.296 0.0010140 0.6189 0.13370 21.600
0.78 9.304 0.0014230 0.6775 0.18760 27.680
0.80 10.31 0.0018320 0.7376 0.24150 32.740
0.82 11.32 0.0022420 0.7994 0.29560 36.980
0.84 12.34 0.0026520 0.8626 0.34970 40.540
0.86 13.35 0.0030630 0.9272 0.40390 43.560
0.88 14.36 0.0034750 0.9934 0.45810 46.120
0.90 15.38 0.0038870 1.0610 0.51240 48.300
computational eort, but also the need for approximate equations. It is shown through
calculations that an increase in the relative humidity of the incoming air stream increases
second-law eciency of the processes considered in this study. In the case of cooling with
dehumidication and heating, an interesting exergy destruction contribution is noted. We found
that in the rst part of the system, exergy destruction reaches its minimum at about 78% relative
humidity of the incoming humid air stream, while that of the second part continuously decreases
in a nonlinear fashion.
NOMENCLATURE
cp = specic heat capacity at constant pressure (kJ kg1 K1)

E = energy (kJ)
HVAC = heating ventilation and air conditioning
EES = engineering equation solver
h = enthalpy (kJ kg1)
m = mass (kg)
m = mass ow rate (kg s1)
N = number of moles (mol)
N = molal ow rate (mol s1)
P = pressure (kPa)
Q = rate of heat transfer (kW)
R = ideal gas constant (kJ kg1 K1)
RDS = restricted dead state
s = specic entropy (kJ kg1 K1)
S = entropy (kJ K1)
S gen = rate of entropy generation (kW)
t = time (s)
T = temperature (K)
x = specic ow exergy (kJ kg1)
x% = specic molal ow exergy (kJ kmol1)
X = rate of exergy transport (kW)
y = mole fraction
n = properties evaluated at the restricted dead state
Greek letters
ZII = second-law eciency
X = non-ow exergy (kJ)
m = chemical potential (kJ kmol1)
f = relative humidity
o = specic humidity ratio (kgwater kg1
air )
*
o = mole fraction ratio (kmolwater kmol1air )
Subscripts
a = dry air
c = cold
ch = chemical
c.v. = control volume
D = destruction
h = hot
in = inlet
0 = dead or reference state
out = outlet
Q = heat transfer
st = steam
t = total
v = water vapor
W = mechanical power
w = water
x = thermomechanical
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the support provided by King Fahd University of Petroleum and Mineral
through the research project ME/RISK-FOULING/230.
REFERENCES
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Systems. Version 6.160, F-Chart Software, Madison, WI.
Krakow KI. 1994. Relationships between irreversibility, exergy destruction, and entropy generation for systems and
components. ASHRAE Transactions 100(I):310.
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Application of Exergy Analysis To Various Psychrometric Processes IJOER

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH

Int. J. Energy Res. 2003; 27:10791094 (DOI: 10.1002/er.933)

Application of exergy analysis to various

Bilal A. Qureshi and Syed M. Zubairn,y

KEY WORDS: exergy; psychrometric; second law

Received 12 July 2002

Similarly, the second law of thermodynamics for a control volume is written as

3. ANALYSIS OF SOME PSYCHROMETRIC PROCESSES

Figure 1. Adiabatic mixing.

m v;1 m v;2 m v;3 22

(b) mratio = ma,1 /ma,2

and, the second-law eciency reduces to

Figure 3. Steam-spray humidication.

On using Equation (18), we get

Dry Air Cooled Humid

Figure 7. Evaporative cooling.

Figure 9. Cooling with dehumidication and heating.

In terms of humidity ratio (refer to Equation (18)), we get

0.05 0.1 0.3

cp = specic heat capacity at constant pressure (kJ kg1 K1)

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