Humid Air and the Ideal Gas Law

In a perfect or ideal gas the correlations between pressure, volume, temperature and quantity of gas can be expressed by the Ideal Gas Law.

The Universal Gas Constant,_Ru is independent of the particular gas and is the same for all "perfect" gases, and is included in of The Ideal Gas Law:

p V = n R_u T              (1)

where

p = absolute pressure (N/m², lb/ft²)

V = volume (m^3, ft³)

n = is the number of moles of the gas present

R_u = universal gas constant (J/mol K, lb_f ft/(lb mol^oR) = 8.3145 J/mol K = 0.08206 L atm/mol K  = 62.37 torr /mol K

T = absolute temperature (K, ^oR)

For a given quantity of gas, both n and R_u are constant, and Equation (1) can be modified to

p₁ V₁ / T₁ = p₂V₂ / T₂                         (2)

expressing the relationship between different states for the given quantity of the gas.

Equation (1)  can also be expressed as

p V = N k T                         (3)

N =number of molecules

k = Boltzmann constant = 1.38066×10^-23 J/K = 8.617385×10^-5 eV/K

• One mole of an ideal gas at STP occupies 22.4 liters.

The Ideal Gas Law express the relation between pressure, temperature and volume in an ideal or perfect gas.

The Ideal Gas Law expessed by the Induvidual Gas Constant

The Ideal Gas Law can be expressed with the Individual Gas Constant as

p V = m R T                                       (4)

where

p = absolute pressure (N/m², lb/ft²)

V = volume of gas (m^3, ft³)

m = mass of gas (kg, slugs)

R = individual gas constant (J/kg K, ft lb/slugs^oR)

T = absolute temperature (K,^oR)

Density can be expressed as

ρ = m / V                                     (4b)

where

ρ = density (kg/m³, slugs/ft³)

and equation (4) can be modified to

p = ρ R T                                   (4c)

The Individual and Universal Gas Constant

The Individual Gas Constant can be expressed with the Universal Gas Constant and the molecular weight of a gas like

R = R_u / M_gas                             (5)

where

M_gas = molecular weight of the gas

R_u = universal gas constant ( 8314.47 J/(kmol K))

The Molecular weight and the Individual Gas Constants for air and water vapor are listed below:

Air Pressure

Daltons Law states that

• the total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is the sum of the partial pressures of the individual gases

The total pressure in moist air can therefore be expressed as

p_t = p_a + p_w                        (6)

where

p_t = total pressure (kPa)

p_a = partial pressure dry air (kPa)

p_w = partial pressure water vapor (kPa)

Dry Air Partial Pressure

Dry air partial pressure can be expressed as

p_a = ρ_a (286.9 J/kg K) T                      (7)

Water Vapor Partial Pressure

The water vapor partial pressure can be expressed as

p_w = ρ_w (461.5 J/kg K) T                      (7b)

Unlike other gases in air, water vapor may condense under common conditions. Since the boiling point of water at normal atmospheric pressure (101.3 kPa) is 100 ^oC, the vapor partial pressure of water is low compared to dry air partial pressure in moist air. Common values for vapor pressure in moist air are in the range 0.5 to 3.0 kPa .

Maximum vapor pressure before water vapor start to condense at an actual temperature is called saturation pressure - p_ws .