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© 2006, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). Published in ASHRAE Journal, (Vol.

48, January 2006). For personal use only. Additional distribution in either paper or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s permission.

Psychrometric
Spreadsheet
By Steve Kavanaugh, Ph.D., Fellow ASHRAE, Barbara Hattemer McCrary and Keith A. Woodbury

M
any engineers use spreadsheet programs for calculations Review of Psychrometric Equations
Humidity Ratio
and graphing because of the variety of relatively easy-to- Psychrometric charts and equations are
convenient methods of dealing with the
use embedded features. One such feature is the Microsoft® Visual thermodynamic properties of mixtures
of water vapor and air. Obviously, an
Basic® Macro for use in Excel®. This tool permits BASIC computer important parameter is the mass of these
two components. The humidity ratio (W) W
W)
programming codes to be used to perform computations that are is used to express the mass of water vapor
per unit mass of dry air and corresponds
cumbersome with conventional spreadsheet equations. to the near right vertical axis of the psy-
chrometric chart. Current practice is to
This article describes a series of mac- added benefit of being appropriate for any use the units of mass of water to mass
ros that use psychrometric equations1 to elevation—not just sea level. The macros
compute moist air properties (humidity also can be extended to spreadsheet pro- About the Authors
ratio, dew point, enthalpy, specific vol- grams that compute the properties when Steve Kavanaugh, Ph.D., is a professor of me-
ume, specific heat, relative humidity) two airstreams are mixed, an airstream chanical engineering at the University of Alabama
by entering the dry-bulb temperature, passes through a cooling coil, a heat re- in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Barbara Hattemer McCrary
is an engineer with Johnson, Spellman and Associ-
wet-bulb temperature (RH), and local covery unit, or a heating coil. Engineers
ates in Norcross, Ga., and a former grants-in-aid
elevation. can cut and paste the necessary macros recipient at the University of Alabama. Keith A.
The resulting spreadsheet is essentially from existing public domain programs or Woodbury is an associate professor of mechanical
an electronic psychrometric chart with the develop their own versions. engineering at the University of Alabama.

28 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org January 2006


of air (lbw /lba or gw /kg
kga). Some documents continue the use pw
= 0.62198 p – p (4)
of grains per pound mass of air, where 7,000 grains = 1 pound w
(0.45 kg) mass.
The atmospheric pressure can be corrected for non-sea level
W=
Mw lbw

Ma lba
7,000
lbw
(
grains lbw
×
lba
) elevations (Z,
Z, in feet above sea level) as shown in the 2001
Z
(1) ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals:1
The maximum amount of water vapor that can be mixed (
(psia
p(psia) = 14.696 (1 – 6.8753 × 10–6 Z)5.2559 (5)
with air increases with temperature. RH is the mole fraction (or
percent) of water vapor present in the air relative to the mole In addition to the easily measured air dry-bulb temperature
fraction of air that is completely saturated with moisture at a (tta), a second indicator is necessary to determine moist air
given temperature. This ratio is also the partial pressure of the properties. Options include the dew-point temperature (td),
water vapor ((pw) relative to the partial pressure of water vapor wet-bulb temperature (ttwb), or RH.
when the air is saturated ((pws). The dew-point temperature can be determined by measuring
xw pw the temperature of a surface when moisture begins to condense.
RH = = The dew-point temperature also corresponds to the saturation
xws at ta pws at ta
temperature or the temperature when RH is 100%. A correlation
(2)
In lieu of steam tables to provide the value of pws as a func- for dew-point temperature (ttd  °F) from 32°F to 200°F (0°C
tion of temperature, Equation 3 is suggested for temperatures to 93°C) as a function of the partial pressure of water vapor ((pw
between 492°R (32°F or 0°C) and 852°R (392°F or 200°C).1  psia) is (2001 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals):1
C8 td = 100.45 + 33.193(ln pw) + 2.319(ln pw)2 + 0.17074 (ln pw)3
(
pws = Exp t + C9 + C10t + C11t2 + C12t3 + C13 ln t ) (3)
1.2063(pw)0.1984
+ 1.2063( (6)
where The air wet-bulb temperature is determined by placing a ther-
pws  psia mometer bulb that is covered with a completely wetted wick in
t  °R an airstream. The evaporation rate and corresponding cooling
C8 = –1.0440397× 104 effect noted by the depression of the wet bulb relative to the
C9 = –1.129465× 10 dry-bulb temperatures provides an indication of the moisture
C10 = –2.7022355 × 10–2 level in the air.
C11 = 1.2890360 × 10–5 When relative humidity is used as the second indicator, the
C12 = –2.4780681 × 10–9 value of pw can be determined using Equation 2 with the value
C13 = 6.5459673 of pws determined from Equation 3. When the dew-point tem-
perature is the second indicator, pw is the saturation pressure
The partial pressure of water vapor for unsaturated air ((pw) at this dew-point temperature ((pws at td), which is also found
can be found by combining Equations 2 and 3 if the relative using Equation 3. In either case, pw is used in Equation 4 to
humidity is known. Equation 4 is used to compute the humidity determine the humidity ratio (W ). If the wet-bulb temperature
ratio (W)
W)) from the local atmospheric pressure ((pp) and pw using
W (ttwb) is the second indicator, the humidity ratio is found from
the relationships of molecular weight ((MW
MW),
MW ), mole fractions ((x),
x), 2001 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals:
and the partial pressures of water and air,
(1,093 – 0.556ttwb ) Ws at twb – 0.24(tt – twb)
M MWw × xw 18.01528 × xw 0.62198 pw W ( )=
lbw
1,093 + 0.444tt – twb
W= w = lba
= = (7)
Ma MWa × xa 28.9645 × xa pa
January 2006 ASHRAE Journal 29
Ws in Equation 7 is determined by inserting the saturation function name followed by a set of parenthesis containing the
pressure of water vapor at the wet-bulb temperature (ttwb) into dry-bulb temperature, wet-bulb temperature, and elevation.
Equation 4. The value in Equation 7 is the thermodynamic For example, if a cell contains “=HumRat (80,67,0)”, the
wet-bulb temperature (also called the temperature of adiabatic displayed value should be 0.0112, which is the humidity ratio
saturation). For moist air, the wet-bulb temperature measured in lbw /lba for air with a dry bulb of 80°F (27°C) and a wet bulb
by the proper use of a psychrometer closely approximates the of 67°F (19°C) at sea level.
thermodynamic wet-bulb temperature. Once the humidity ratio is known, enthalpy, specific heat, and
specific volume can also be calculated using Equations 8, 9,
Equations for Moist Air Properties and 10. Since these equations are relatively simple, the values
The thermodynamic properties of moist air can be deter- can be computed with a formula in a spreadsheet cell.
mined from the dry bulb temperature and humidity ratio. These
include the enthalpy, specific volume (or its inverse, density) Function HumRat (db, wb, ElevInFt)
and specific heat. In the United States, the current convention Convert the wet bulb in °F to Rankine
is to set base values at 0°F (–18°C) and compute the values at RT = wb + 459.67
other temperatures. At 0°F (–18°C), hw=1,061 Btu/lb (2468 Find the atmospheric pressure in psia from Equation 5
kJ/kg) and ha= 0 Btu/lb (0 kJ/kg). The specific heat of air is AtmPress = 14.696 × (1 – 0.0000068753 × ElevInFt)5.2559
0.24 Btu/lb·°F [1 kJ/(kg · K)] and water vapor is 0.444 Btu/lb·°F Use Equation 3 to find the saturation pressure at wet-bulb temperature
[1.9 kJ/(kg · K)]. For moist air at dry bulb temperature (tta) and c8 = –10,440.397
c9 = –11.29465
humidity ratio (W),W
W), c10 = –0.027022355
c11 = 0.00001289036
h(Btu/lba
( ) = 0.24tt + W (1,061 + 0.444t) (8) c12 = –0.000000002478068
c13 = 6.5459673
The specific heat of moist air is: pws = Exp

cp ((Btu/lba – °F) = 0.24 + 0.444W (9) (c8/RT + c9 + c10 × RT + c11 × RT2 + c12 × RT3 + c13 × Log(RT))
Use Equation 4 to find the saturated humidity ratio at the wet bulb-temperature
The specific volume of moist air is: wsat = (pws × 0.62198) / (AtmPress – pws)

ft3 Use Equation 7 to find the humidity ratio


 ( )
lb
= 0.37059tt + 459.67[1 + 1.6078W ] / p(psia) HumRat = ((1,093 – 0.556 × wb) × wsat - 0.24 × (db – wb)) /
(1,093 + 0.444 × db – wb)
(10) End Function

Psychrometric Equations in Spreadsheet Macro Format Figure 1: Macro for humidity ratio from dry-bulb temperature,
Previous articles in ASHRAE Journal have alluded to the use wet-bulb temperature and elevation.
of spreadsheet macros for com-
puting piping pressure drops2 and
solving for friction factors in air
ducts.3 These articles emphasized
another spreadsheet tool (Goal
Seek) that was used to iteratively
solve the implicit Colebrook
equation for friction factor ( f ).
This additional tool is unneces-
sary since the computation of
moist air properties is straightfor-
ward once the macro for humidity
ratio is developed.
Figure 1 is an example macro
for computing humidity ratio
from the dry-bulb temperature
(tta), wet bulb (ttwb), and elevation
(feet above sea level). The macro
is stored in an Excel module in the
form of a function called HumRat.
The function is used just like any
other Excel function by clicking
on a cell in the main spreadsheet
and inserting an “=” sign and the Figure 2: Dew-point spreadsheet. Visual Basic Editor is accessed from a drop-down menu.

30 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org January 2006


For enthalpy (Btu/lb): = 0.24 × 80 + HumRat (80,67,0) ×
(1,061 + 0.444 × 80) (11)
For specific heat (Btu/lb – °F): = 0.24 + 0.444 ×
HumRat (80,67,0) (12)
Note that Equation 10 requires the value of atmospheric
pressure. This value was found inside the function HumRat,
but it is not available since only one value can be passed from
a function to the Excel spreadsheet. Therefore, atmospheric
pressure must be calculated with Equation 5 in another macro
or spreadsheet cell. However, the value of atmospheric pres-
sure rather than elevation must be passed to the macro if it is
calculated in a cell.

Make Your Own Dew-Point Macro


Equation 6 is used to demonstrate the steps required to
develop a macro to compute dew-point temperature when the
vapor pressure is known. Although this value could also be
found with an equation in a spreadsheet cell, it serves as a simple
example. Figure 2 shows how the main spreadsheet might look.
The value for saturated vapor pressure is entered in Cell B1 and
an equation in Cell B2 calls the macro function TDP to compute Figure 3: Screenshot of inserting module in Visual Basic program.
the dew-point temperature for the value in Cell B1.
Then develop the macro: Function TDP(pw)
• Select “Tools” on the main toolbar; C1 =100.45
• Select “Macros” on the first drop-down box; and C2 = 33.193
C3 = 2.319
• Select “Visual Basic Editor” in the second drop down C4
C = 0.17074
box ((Figure 2). C5 = 1.2063
Alpha = Log(pw)
This will bring up a screen as shown in Figure 3 that has
a work box on the left side with the heading “Project-VBA Equation 6—Also Equation 37, Chp. 6, 2001 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals
TDP = C1 + C2 × Alpha + C3 × (Alpha2) + 0.17074 × (Alpha3) +
Project.” 1.2063 × pw0.1984
• Select “This Workbook”;
End Function
• Select “Insert” on the top toolbar;
• Select “Module” on the drop-down box; Figure 4: Macro for dew-point temperature for vapor pressure.
• Type the code (Equation 6) shown in Figure 4 in the
empty box that appears in the right portion of the
screen;
• When the entry is completed, select “File” on the main
toolbar;
• Save the spreadsheet (Note: You must save the spread-
sheet after any changes are made to the macro or the
edited macro will not function correctly in the spread-
sheet); and
• Select “File” again, and then “Close and Return to Mi-
crosoft Excel.”

Extending Psychrometric Spreadsheets to Mixed Air


Processes
These spreadsheets are essentially an electronic psychro-
metric chart and can be combined with the equations for moist
air processes that appear in the 2001 ASHRAE Handbook—
Fundamentals. Consider Equation 13, which computes the
total capacity of a cooling coil (neglecting the small amount of
energy in the condensate) as shown in Figure 5. Known values
are typically the airflow rate (Q), the elevation, and the entering Figure 5: Air coil: total cooling.4

January 2006 ASHRAE Journal 31


air dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures. The function HumRat extended to solving and analyzing HVAC moist air process
is used to find the humidity ratio for the entering air (Point 1) problems.
and Equations 8 and 10 are used to compute the enthalpy (h1)
and specific volume (( 1). For case where the outlet air dry-bulb Note
and wet-bulb temperatures are known, HumRat is used to find An objective of this article is to demonstrate the ease of
the leaving air humidity ratio and Equation 8 is used to find the adding functions to spreadsheet programs. The examples are
leaving air enthalpy (h2 ). applicable when the dry-bulb, wet-bulb, and dew-point tem-
peratures are above the freezing point of water. The ASHRAE
publication Understanding Psychrometrics5 includes additional
(13) below freezing equations. Also, the public domain spreadsheet
program PsychProcess.xls is available at www.geokiss.com/
Summary software/PsychProcess05.xls. It contains additional macros
Equations are available in the psychrometrics chapter of the and moist air programs.
2001 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals to determine moist
air properties if the dry-bulb temperature, local pressure, and References
the humidity ratio are known. The pressure can be computed 1. 2001 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals, Chapter 6, Psychro-
from elevations above sea level. The humidity ratio can be metrics.
determined from the dry-bulb temperature and one of three 2. Lester, T.G. 2002. “Calculating pressure drops in piping systems.”
ASHRAE Journal 44(9):41–43.
other indicators: wet-bulb temperature, relative humidity or
3. Lester, T.G. 2003. “Solving for friction factor.” ASHRAE Journal
dew-point temperature. Visual Basic macros can be used to 45(7):41–44.
handle the somewhat cumbersome equations for determining 4. Kavanaugh, S.P. 2006. HVAC Simplified. Atlanta: ASHRAE,
humidity ratio. When completed, these macros can be combined forthcoming.
with equations for moist air properties to develop an electronic 5. Gatley, D.P. 2005. Understanding Psychrometrics. Atlanta:
psychrometric chart. The usefulness of this tool can be further ASHRAE.

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32 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org January 2006

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