Sensible Heat Ratio (SHR) is the ratio of sensible heat transfer to what?

• A. Total heat transfer (sensible + latent).
• B. Latent heat transfer.
• C. Temperature change.
• D. Mass flow rate.

Answer: (A)

SHR measures how much of the energy transferred to air goes into raising its temperature versus changing its moisture content. It is the ratio of sensible heat transfer to the total heat transfer, where total heat transfer includes both sensible and latent components (SHR = Qs / (Qs + Ql)). This reflects that some energy heats the air (sensible) while some adds or removes moisture without changing temperature (latent). If there’s no moisture change, latent heat is zero and SHR approaches 1. If moisture changes dominate, SHR is smaller. It’s not the latent heat alone, not just a temperature change, and not related to mass flow rate.