Psychrometric Charts and its use

What is a Psychrometric Chart?

A psychrometric chart for a given location can tell you information about temperature (wet
bulb and dry bulb) and humidity (relative and absolute). While they may seem overwhelming
at first, by learning how the variables interact, you can begin to use the psychrometric chart to
interpret occupant comfort and effective passive design strategies for your location.

Psychrometric charts show temperature vs. humidity, and can be used to express human thermal
comfort, design strategies, and energy requirements for those strategies.

A psychrometric chart is a graphical representation of the psychrometric processes of air.

Psychrometric processes include physical and thermodynamic properties such as dry bulb
temperature, wet bulb temperature, humidity, enthalpy, and air density.

A psychrometric chart can be used in two different ways. The first is done by plotting
multiple data points, that represent the air conditions at a specific time, on the chart. Then,
overlaying an area that identifies the “comfort zone.” The comfort zone is defined as the
range within occupants are satisfied with the surrounding thermal conditions. After plotting
the air conditions and overlaying the comfort zone, it becomes possible to see how passive
design strategies can extend the comfort zone.

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 Example of how plotted data on a psychrometric chart can be studied, and related to passive design.
In this chart, the dark blue boxes represent the comfort zone, and the other colors represent design
strategies that have been enabled to study how they can potentially expand the comfort zone. This
psychrometric chart was generated using Climate Consultant.

The chart is also often used by mechanical engineers to dynamically plot points that represent
the exterior air conditions and understand the process the air must go through to reach
comfortable conditions for the occupants inside a building. When using the psychrometric
chart for this purpose the data points move around the chart.

Psychrometric charts show temperature vs. humidity, and can be used to express human thermal
comfort, design strategies, and energy requirements for those strategies.

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Anatomy of the Psychrometric Chart
Temperature

Every psychrometric chart includes vertical lines that represent the dry bulb temperatures. Air
temperature increases from left to right.

Dry bulb temperature lines on a psychrometric chart

Every psychrometric chart also includes wet bulb temperatures. These lines are indicated at
diagonals, and like dry bulb temperatures they increase from left to right.

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 Wet bulb temperature lines on a psychrometric chart

Relative Humidity

Another feature indicated on every psychrometric chart is relative humidity lines. These lines
are curved, and begin at 100% along the top of the chart, and decrease moving downward. It
is fairly common for these lines to be indicated in intervals of ten.

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 Relative humidity lines on a psychrometric chart

Data Points

Psychrometric charts indicate data points for each location they are representing. The style of
the data points can vary depending upon the computer application that was used to generate
the psychrometric chart, or if the chart was generated by hand. Each data point represents a
collection of air qualities at a snap shot in time. It can be hourly, daily, monthly, or even
seasonal data. The density of data points on the chart is used to decipher average conditions.
At times it can be useful to view summer and winter data points independently. But viewing
them together allows you to consider all passive design strategies in an integrated manner.

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Based on the data points in this example, we can conclude average conditions are between 30° C and
35° C.

Comfort Zone
The comfort zone is typically indicated by shading a portion of the psychrometric chart. This
shaded area is highly variable per climate and project. The comfort zone is either populated
by a software system, or manually by a designer, based upon the activity to take place in the
building and the level of anticipated clothing to be worn by the occupants.

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 In this example, we know temperatures greater than 30° C will be considered too hot, and
less than 20°C will be considered too cold.

Other items that can be found on some, but not all psychrometric charts, are as follows.

 Horizontal lines that provide dew point temperature readings along the right hand side
of the chart. This is useful for knowing at what temperature water will begin to
condensate. Which can transpire to mold and insulation with decreased thermal
performance if not accurately accounted for in the design of a building.
 Horizontal lines that provide humidity ratio/moisture content measurements along the
right hand side of the chart. This information aids with understanding the density of
the air, which relates to buoyancy and air quality issues.
 Along the upper left hand side of the chart at times will be diagonal ticks/lines placed
at a similar angle and direction as the wet bulb temperature lines. These are enthalpy
measurements that are useful for understanding heat energy needed, or existing in the
air.

The video below provides a good overview of the psychrometric chart. It features the Ecotect
Weather Tool.

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Interpreting the Psychrometric Chart
Since psychrometric charts can provide you with a rapid overview of air conditions as they
relate to occupant comfort, some steadfast judgments can be made. For example, is your
climate hot and humid, or dry and arid? How are your occupants going to feel most of the
time—too hot, too cold, or comfortable?
Some common examples of these broad conclusions are depicted below.

Temperature (orange = too hot, blue = too cold)

Humidity (blue = too humid, yellow = too dry

Design Strategies and the Psychrometric Chart

After understanding how your climate reads on a psychrometric chart, you can use it to
understand what sustainable design strategies can be best used to improve occupant comfort.
 When data points fall to the right of the comfort zone, you will want to reduce the air
temperature. An example strategy to achieve this would be to increase air flow with
natural ventilation.
 When data points fall to the left of the comfort zone, you will want to increase the air
temperature. A common strategy to do this passively is to incorporate solar heat gains
with high thermal mass materials.
 When relative humidity is too low it can be increased with evaporative cooling. And
when it is too high it can be decreased with the use of desiccants.
An example of how this sort of analysis could be done is demonstrated below. Climate
Consultant was used to generate all the charts.

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 Beginning psychrometric chart, with comfort zones depicted for summer and winter clothing levels.
The chart also indicates that only 9.5% of occupants will be comfortable with no design strategies.

Natural ventilation is applied to reduce air temperatures, and occupant comfort moves up to 10%.

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 Opportunities for passive solar gain are combined with high mass materials, in order to raise air
temperatures. As a result, occupant comfort moves up to 29.1%.

Humidification is combined with passive heating, and occupant comfort reaches 98.9%.

Links and References

 Psychrometric Charts

Useful video that provides an in depth explanation of the psychrometric chart.

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Psychrometric Chart Use

Figure 1. Psychrometric Chart

Psychrometric Chart and Air Characteristics

A psychrometric chart presents physical and thermal properties of moist air in a graphical
form. It can be very helpful in troubleshooting greenhouse or livestock building
environmental problems and in determining solutions. Understanding psychrometric charts
helps visualization of environmental control concepts such as why heated air can hold more
moisture, and conversely, how allowing moist air to cool will result in condensation. The
objective of this fact sheet is to explain characteristics of moist air and how they are used in a
psychrometric chart. Three examples are used to illustrate typical chart use and interpretation.
Properties of moist air are explained in the Definitions at the end for your reference during
the following discussions.

Psychrometric charts are available in various pressure and temperature ranges. Figure 1, at
the top of the page, is for standard atmospheric pressure (14.7 psi) and temperatures of 30o to
120 oF which is adequate for most greenhouse or livestock housing applications.
Psychrometric properties are also available as data tables, equations, and slide rulers.

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A psychrometric chart contains a lot of information packed into an odd-shaped graph. If we
dissect the components piece by piece, the usefulness of the chart will be clearer. Boundaries
of the psychrometric chart are a dry-bulb temperature scale on the horizontal axis, a humidity
ratio (moisture content) scale on the vertical axis, and an upper curved boundary which
represents saturated air or 100 percent moisture holding capacity. The chart shows other
important moist air properties as diagrammed in Figure 2: wet-bulb temperature; enthalpy;
dewpoint or saturation temperature; relative humidity; and specific volume. See Definitions
for explanation of these terms. Moist air can be described by finding the intersection of any
two of these properties and from that point all the other properties can be read. The key is to
determine which set of lines on the chart represent the air property of interest. Some practice
with examples will help. Use Figures 2 and 3 with the psychrometric chart in Figure 1 to
verify whether you can find each air property.

An understanding of the shape and use of the psychrometric chart will help in diagnosing air
temperature and humidity problems. Note that cooler air (located along lower, left region of
chart) will not hold as much moisture (as seen on the y-axis' humidity ratio) as warm air
(located along right side of chart). A rule of thumb, inside typical greenhouses or animal
buildings during winter conditions, is that a 10oF rise in air temperature can decrease relative
humidity 20 percent. Use of a psychrometric chart will show that this is roughly true. For
example, to decrease relative humidity in a winter greenhouse during a critical time period,
we could heat the air.

Figure 2. Properties of moist air on a psychrometric chart. Wet-bulb

temperature and enthalpy use the same chart line but values are read off
seperate scales.

Use of Psychrometric Chart in Greenhouse and Barn

Example 1 Find air properties

A sling psychrometer gives a dry-bulb temperature of 78oF and a wet-bulb temperature of

65oF. Determine other moist air properties from this information. Two useful air properties
for environmental analysis in agricultural buildings would be relative humidity and dewpoint
temperature. Relative humidity is an indicator of how much moisture is in the air compared to
desirable moisture conditions, and dewpoint temperature indicates when condensation
problems would occur should the (dry-bulb) temperature drop.

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Find the intersection of the two known properties, dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures, on the
psychrometric chart, Figure 1. The dry-bulb temperature is located along the bottom
horizontal axis. Find the line for 78oF, which runs vertically through the chart. Wet-bulb
temperature is located along diagonal dotted lines leading to scale readings at the upper,
curved boundary marked "saturation temperature". The intersection of the vertical 78oF dry-
bulb line and the diagonal 65oF wet-bulb line has now established a "state point" for the
measured air. Now read relative humidity as 50 percent (curving line running from left to
right up through the chart) and dewpoint temperature as 58oF (follow horizontal line, moving
left, toward the curved upper boundary of saturation temperatures). This example is shown in
Figure 3 so you may check your work.

What might we conclude from this information? The relative humidity of 50 percent is
acceptable for most livestock and greenhouse applications. If we allowed the air temperature
(dry-bulb) to decrease to 58oF (dewpoint) or below, the air would be 100 percent saturated
with moisture and condensation would occur. The humidity ratio, as seen on the vertical, y-
axis scale, is a reliable indicator of air moisture level since it reflects the pounds of moisture
contained in a pound of dry air and does not fluctuate with dry-bulb temperature readings as
does relative humidity. The humidity ratio for air in this example is about 0.0104 lb moisture/
lb dry air (move right horizontally from state point to humidity ratio scale).

Figure 3. Diagram of Example 1. Verify these values on the psychrometric chart (Figure 1).

Example 2 Winter ventilation

Often air is heated before it is introduced into greenhouse or young-livestock building

environments. Consider an application where outdoor air at 40oF (dry-bulb) temperature and
80 percent relative humidity is heated to 65oF (dry-bulb) before it is distributed throughout
the building.

Find the state point for the incoming cool air on the lower left portion of the psychrometric
chart (point A in Figure 4) Note that other properties of the 40oF air include a wet-bulb
temperature of 38oF a dewpoint temperature of about 34oF and humidity ratio of 0.0042 lb
moisture/ lb dry air. Heating air involves an increase in the dry-bulb temperature with no
addition or reduction in the air's water content. The heating process moves horizontally to the
right along a line of constant humidity ratio. See Figure 4 for this heating process between

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points A and B. Heating the air to 65oF (dry-bulb) has resulted in decreasing the relative
humidity to about 32 percent. The heated air entering the building is dry enough to be useful
in absorbing moisture from the plant or animal environment. (Verify that the heated air at
point B continues to have a dewpoint of 34oF and humidity ratio of 0.0042 lb moisture/ lb dry
air.) The heated air, with its lower relative humidity, can be mixed with moist, warm air
already in the building. As fresh air moves through an animal environment, it will pick up
additional moisture and heat before it reaches the ventilation system exhaust. We might
measure the exhausted air conditions at 75oF (dry-bulb) and 70 percent relative humidity,
represented by point C in Figure 4. Note that in this exhausted air, the humidity ratio has
tripled to 0.013 lb moisture/ lb dry air. This means that a lot more water is ventilated out of
the building in the warm, moist exhaust air than was brought in by the cold, high relative
humidity incoming air. This is one of the major functions of a winter ventilation system:
removal of moisture from the plant or animal environment.

The air surrounding us is a mixture of dry air and moisture and it contains a certain amount of
heat. We are used to dealing with air temperature, relative humidity and, oftentimes, the
dewpoint as weather conditions are discussed. All these properties and more are contained in
a psychrometric chart. Chart shape and complexity take some getting used to. Refer to
Figures 1 and 2. You will find that the upper curved boundary of the chart has one
temperature scale yet can represent three types of temperature: wet-bulb, dry-bulb, and
dewpoint. This upper curved boundary also represents 100 percent relative humidity or
saturated air.

Figure 4. Diagram of Example 2. Outdoor air at 40oF,80 percent relative humidity (point A is heated to 65oF (point B) for
use in ventilation. Exhaust air (point C) at 75oF and 70% relative humidity contains three times the moisture of the fresh air
(point A and B).

Example 3 Winter ventilation

Evaporative cooling uses heat contained in the air to evaporate water. Air temperature (dry-
bulb) drops while water content (humidity) rises to the saturation point. Evaporation is often
used in hot weather to cool ventilation air. The process moves upward along the line of
constant enthalpy or constant web-bulb temperature, for example, from point D to point E in

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Figure 5. Notice that hot dry air (points D to E with a 24oF temperature drop) has more
capacity for evaporative cooling than hot humid air (points F to G with only a 12oF
temperature decrese).

Figure 5. Diagram of Example 3. Evaporative cooling process with hot dry air from points D to E
and with hot humid air from points F to G. Notice greater evaporative cooling capacity with dry air.

Definitions
Dry-bulb temperature is the commonly measured temperature from a thermometer. It is
called "dry-bulb" since the sensing tip of the thermometer is dry (see "wet bulb temperature"
for comparison). Dry-bulb temperature is located on the horizontal, or x-axis, of the
psychrometric chart and lines of constant temperature are represented by vertical chart lines.
Since this temperature is so commonly used, it can be assumed that temperatures are dry-bulb
temperatures unless otherwise designated.

Relative humidity is a measure of the amount of water air can hold at a certain temperature. It
is "relative" with respect to the amount of water that air, at that same temperature, can hold at
100 percent humidity, or saturation. Air temperature (dry-bulb) is important because warmer
air can hold more moisture than cold air. Air at 60 percent relative humidity contains 60
percent of the water it could possibly hold (at that temperature). It could pick up 40 percent
more water to reach saturation. Lines of constant relative humidity are represented by the
curved lines running from the bottom left and sweeping up through to the top right of the
chart. The line for 100 percent relative humidity, or saturation, is the upper, left boundary of
the chart.

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Humidity ratio of moist air is the weight of the water contained in the air per unit of dry air.
This is often expressed as pounds of moisture per pound of dry air. Since the humidity ratio
of moist air is not dependent on temperature, as is relative humidity, it is easier to use in
calculations. Humidity ratio is found on the vertical, y-axis with lines of constant humidity
ratio running horizontally across the chart.

Dewpoint temperature indicates the temperature at which water will begin to condense out of
moist air. Given air at a certain dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity, if the temperature
is allowed to decrease, the air is no longer able to hold as much moisture. When air is cooled,
the relative humidity increases until saturation is reached and condensation occurs.
Condensation occurs on surfaces which are at or below the dewpoint temperature. Dewpoint
temperature is determined by moving from a state point horizontally to the left along lines of
constant humidity ratio until the upper, curved, saturation temperature boundary is reached.

Wet-bulb temperature is determined when air is circulated past a wetted sensor tip. It
represents the temperature at which water evaporates and brings the air to saturation. Inherent
in this definition is an assumption that no heat is lost or gained by the air. This is different
from dewpoint temperature where a decrease in temperature, or heat loss, decreases the
moisture holding capacity of the air, and hence, water condenses. Determination of wet-bulb
temperature on this psychrometric chart, follows lines of constant enthalpy but values are
read off the upper, curved, saturation temperature boundary.

Enthalpy is the heat energy content of moist air. It is expressed in Btu per pound of dry air
and represents the heat energy due to temperature and moisture in the air. Enthalpy is useful
in air heating and cooling applications. The enthalpy scale is located above the saturation,
upper boundary of the chart. Lines of constant enthalpy run diagonally downward from left to
right across the chart. Lines of constant enthalpy and constant wet-bulb are the same on this
chart but values are read off separate scales. More accurate psychrometric charts use slightly
different lines for wet-bulb temperature and enthalpy.

Specific volume indicates the space occupied by air. It is the increase of density and is
expressed as a volume per unit weight (density is weight per unit volume). Warm air is less
dense than cool air which causes warmed air to rise. This phenomena is known as thermal
buoyancy. By similar reasoning, warmer air has greater specific volume and is hence lighter
than cool air. On the psychrometric chart, lines of constant specific volume are almost
vertical lines with scale values written below the dry-bulb temperature scale and above the
upper boundary's saturation temperature scale. On this chart, values range from 12.5 to 15.0
cubic feet/ pound of dry air. Greater specific volume is associated with warmer temperatures
(dry-bulb).

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Air - Water Vapor Mixtures
a) Humidity and the Adiabatic Saturation Process
Atmospheric air includes dry air and water vapor. Recall that for an ideal gas,
enthalpy (h) is a function of temperature only (Δh = CP.ΔT). Notice also from the
h-s diagram for steam that at relatively low temperatures (<60°C) the water vapor
in the air has a constant enthalpy at constant temperature from saturated vapor
through the superheated region, thus can be treated as an ideal gas.

From Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures we have for a dry-air/water-vapor mixture

that the total pressure P is given by:

P = P a + Pv

where subscript a refers to the dry air, and v to the water vapor.

We find it convenient to sketch our processes for the water-vapor component on a

T-v diagram (which we prefer to the ubiquitous T-s diagram in common use, since
entropy is not considered in this Section)

Consider the water vapor shown at state (1) on the diagram. We will find it
convenient throughout this section to evaluate enthalpy with respect to T0 = 0°C,
since ultimately we only consider differences in enthalpy. From the above
diagram:

hv@T = hg@T

where g refers to the saturated vapor state.

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Note that hg@T can be obtained from the saturated vapor tables, or one can use
Izzi's method, which has a maximum error of 0.5% at 60°C:

We also evaluate the enthalpy of the dry air component with respect to T0 = 0°C,
thus:

since at the temperatures under consideration CP is approximately 1.00 [kJ/kg°C].

In order to evaluate the enthalpy of the atmospheric air we need to first find the
mass flow rates of both the dry air and the vapor. We always evaluate these with
respect to the mass flow rate of the dry air, and this in turn leads us to the
definition of Specific Humidity ω, as follows:

Note that other terms in common usage are humidity ratio or absolute humidity to
denote specific humidity. The specific humidity can be conveniently determined in
terms of the partial pressures Pa and Pv as follows:

Referring to the T-v diagram above, we now define Relative Humidity φ as

follows:

Furthermore, we can determine the specific humidity in terms of the relative

humidity, and vice versa, as follows:

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The Adiabatic Saturation Process
There is no direct method of measuring specific humidity ω or relative humidity φ
thus in this section we develop the Adiabatic Saturation Process leading to the
practical Wet & Dry Bulb Thermometer, or Sling Psychrometer. Consider the
channel below in which air of unknown humidity enters at station (1) and after
absorbing moisture from the liquid pool, exits at 100% relative humidity at station
(2). This process is shown on the T-v diagram below.

mass flow:

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energy:

Referring to the T-v diagram above, since φ2=100%, Pv2=Pg2, thus:

In order to determine T2 and T1 we use a wet & dry bulb thermometer (or sling
psychrometer), typically as in the following figure (refer: Sling Psychrometer
Demonstration). The wet bulb is wrapped in a cotton wick saturated with water,
and one swings the thermometer in the air until a steady temperature is attained.
The wet bulb temperature Twb is then very closely equal to the adiabatic saturation
temperature T2.

Note that the relative humidity is then determined by means of a slide-rule on the
handle of the sling-psychrometer, as shown in the above diagram.

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b) The Psychrometric Chart and Air-Conditioning
Processes
We notice from the development in Section a) that the equations relating relative and specific
humidity, temperature (wet and dry bulb), pressure (air, vapor) and enthalpy are quite tedious
and inconvenient. For this reason a Psychrometric Chart relating all the relevant variables
was developed which is extremely useful for designing and evaluating air-conditioning and
cooling tower systems.

At first appearence the psychrometric chart is quite confusing, however with some practice it
becomes an extremely useful tool for rapidly evaluating air-conditioning processes. The most
popular chart in common usage is that developed by ASHRAE (American Society of
Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers), however we feel that the
construction of a simplified version of the chart based on approximations of the various
equations can be a very useful tool for developing an understanding of it's usage. This
approach was suggested by Maged El-Shaarawi in his article "On the Psychrometric Chart"
published in the ASHRAE Transactions (Paper #3736, Vol 100, Part 1, 1994) and inspired us
to produce the following simplified psychrometric chart:

The basic information used to construct the chart is the water vapor saturation data (Tsat, Pg)
which is obtained from steam tables over the range from Tsat = 0.01°C through 50°C. The
specific humidity ω is then evaluated using the relative humidity φ as a parameter to produce
the various relative humidity curves (blue lines) as follows:

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where P is the standard atmospheric pressure 101.325 [kPa].

The saturation curve (100% relative humidity) also known as the dew point curve is drawn as
a red line. Notice that on the saturation curve the wet and dry bulb temperatures have the
same values.

The major simplifying assumption in the construction of the chart is that the enthalpy of the
mixture is assumed to be constant throughout the adiabatic saturation process (described in
Section a). This implies that the evaporating liquid added does not significantly affect the
enthalpy of the air-vapor mixture, leading to the constant slope wet bulb temperature /
enthalpy (red) lines defined by:

Note that on the ω = 0 axis (dry air) h = T [°C]

Finally, the specific volume of the air-vapor mixture (green lines) is determined from the
ideal gas relation as

where the gas constant Rair = 0.287 [kJ/kg.K]

It is normal practice to separate out the overlapping enthalpy / wet bulb temperature lines
allowing them to be separately evaluated. Thus, we introduce an oblique enthalpy axis and
enthalpy (black) lines as follows:

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The four equations highlighted above were programmed in MATLAB and used to plot the
simplified psychrometric charts shown above. Refer to the link:
MATLAB program for plotting a Simplified Psychrometric Chart

[Refer next page]

An excellent NebGuide (University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Publication) on How to

use a Simplified Psychrometric Chart has been provided by David Shelton, and is also
available as a pdf file (968k). This guide reduces the confusion by separately explaining 4 of
the 6 sets of curves which make up a psychrometric chart. Definitely read this guide before
continuing.

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c) MATLAB program for plotting a Simplified
Psychrometric Chart

The MATLAB program (psychro.m) (shown below) is used to plot the Simplified
Psychrometric Chart shown above. Data is read from 2 datafiles containing water saturation
temperature/pressure data, file t_pg over 1°C intervals for plotting the saturation and constant
relative humidity curves, and file t_pg1 over 5°C intervals for plotting the wet-bulb
temperature and enthalpy lines. The source of the data: NIST Chemistry WebBook -
accessed Feb 2008

The following four equations (refer back to Part 1 and Part 2) are evaluated in the program:

specific humidity: (sometimes known as: humidity ratio or absolute humidity):

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Notice in the psychrometric chart that the oblique enthalpy axis is given by = T+5, for T
varying between 0°C to 25°C. Substituting this value of in the enthalpy equation (above)
leads to the intercept of the enthalpy line with the enthalpy axis as follows:

h = T + 2.5 (T + 5)
or finally: T = (h - 12.5)/3.5

Thus the enthalpy lines can be plotted parallel to, but independant of the wet bulb
temperature lines.

The complete MATLAB program follows. Note that it is the convention in programming that
all variable names begin with lower case letters. Thus t represents temperature [°C], p
represents pressure [kPa], w (in place of ) represents specific humidity [grams / kg dry air]
(aka: absolute humidity, humidity ratio), h represents enthalpy (kJ/kg dry air) and the suffix g
represents the saturated vapor state (following the convention used in steam tables).

% Plotting the Simplified Psychrometric Chart

% Izzi Urieli 2/27/2008
tpg = dlmread('t_pg','\t'); % saturation temp/pressure
t = tpg(:,1); % temperature (C)
pg = tpg(:,2); % saturation vapor pressure (kPa)
patm = 101.325; % standard atmosphere (kPa)
rair = 0.287; % gas constant of air (kJ/kg.K)
wg = 622*pg./(patm-pg); % saturation specific humidity
plot(t,wg,'r-')
hold
grid
for phi = 0.1:0.1:0.4, % phi = relative humidity 10% - 40%
w = 622*phi*pg./(patm-phi*pg);
plot(t,w)
end
for phi = 0.6:0.2:0.8, % phi = 60%, 80%
w = 622*phi*pg./(patm-phi*pg);
plot(t,w)
end
% specific volume and enthalpy/wet-bulb-temp
tpg1 = dlmread('t_pg1','\t');

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t1 = tpg1(:,1); % saturation temperature (C)
pg1 = tpg1(:,2); % saturation pressure (kPa)
wg1 = 622*pg1./(patm-pg1); % saturation specific humidity
% specific volume of dry air (cubic m/kg dry air) (green)
vol = rair.*(t1+273)./(patm-pg1) % specific vol at saturation
tv0 = patm*vol/rair-273; % air temperature at zero humidity
for i = 1:7,
plot([t1(i),tv0(i)],[wg1(i),0],'g-')
end
% wet bulb temperature (also enthalpy) lines (red)
h = t1 + 2.5*wg1 % enthalpy (kJ/kg-dry-air) (displayed)
t0 = h; % temperature at zero humidity for enthalpy h
for i = 1:6,
plot([t1(i),t0(i)],[wg1(i),0],'r-')
end
% enthalpy axis and enthalpy lines (black)
for h = 10:10:110, % enthalpy (kJ/kg-dry-air)
t0 = h; % temperature at zero humidity
t1 = (h - 12.5)/3.5; % temperature on the enthalpy axis
w1 = t1 + 5; % specific humidity on the enthalpy axis
plot([t0,t1],[0,w1],'k-')
end
plot([0,25],[5,30],'k-') % the oblique enthalpy axis
axis([0,50,0,30]) % limit the range of the chart
title('Simplified Psychrometric Chart')
xlabel('Dry Bulb Temperature (deg C)')
ylabel('Specific Humidity (gm vap/kg dry air)')

Notice in the program that both the specific volume (vol) and the enthalpy values (h) are
displayed (no semicolon) thus they can be subsequently added to the plot together with the
relevant saturation/wet bulb temperatures. relative humidity values and enthalpy values on
the enthalpy axis.

Compiled by: BK Kakati, DoE, TU Page 26 of 26