Industries apply humidity chambers to test different products’ performance in extreme humid conditions. Majority of users almost ignore the quality of water used in the humidity system. Humidity chamber manufacturers would like to dig in quality issues arise when water quality is compromised in the chambers.
You hardly bother about the water used by the humidity chamber. You don’t even check the source of water that may contain several impurities, such as-
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Sodium
• Chloride
• Potassium
• Nitrates
• Copper
• Iron
The contaminated water includes these impurities and when you use this water in the chamber, it may put devastating effects. It can lead to heater failure, poor humidity control, scaling in vapour generator, etc.
Humidity chambers require water to generate humid environment. So, to avoid any issue, it is necessary to use purified water in the system. If you ignore the water quality, it may damage the humidity heater, the boiler system and the interior of the chamber. However, 100% pure water or distilled water usage is not recommended for humidity chambers. When you do it, you won’t get the accurate test results and may have a damaged product at the end of the testing.
Working of Humidity Chamber
Humidity chamber is a device used for testing the humidity effect on different components. This testing is done to fix the quality parameters. The chamber is not just a part of industry application, but also used by plastic and rubber industries, pharma sector for quality assurance purposes.
Humidity testing chambers are applied to check the behavior of several components in severe environmental conditions that include fluctuating environment, different relative humidity, and high temperature. The tests are performed with default temperature and humidity settings in a static state. The same tests can also be done with dynamic state in which moisture is applied to evaluate the material quality.
How humidity is generated inside the chamber?
There are many ways to generate moisture inside the chamber fo controlling humidity level. Let’s learn the ways of generating humidity-
– Steam generator
The design of steam generator has immersion heaters. This is a tank type machine in which the water within the chamber gets heated to create steam. As the steam is lighter in weight, it floats up to the top of the chamber. The top has cooling coils and heaters installed. The machine works on the output of the heaters and requirement of humidity.
Steam generator easily create moisture in high volume in big chambers. Also, the quality of water vapour remains unchanged.
– Water bath
Water bath systems also work fine as steam generators; however their working model is different from steam generator. There is a small water bath fitted in the mixing assembly. The same mixing assembly is equipped with heaters and cooling coils. When air is drawn inside the mixing assembly, it travels through the bath and soak the vapour. There are benefits of using water bath in chambers, such as –
• Great responsiveness
• No boiling of water is required for generating moisture
• Less mineral deposits due to lack of boiling requirement
• Easy to clean and maintain
The water used inside the humidity chamber must have resistivity in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 Mega Ohms. When the water purity crosses 2.0 Ohms, it will lead to wrong results delivery, and damage to elements, boiler, and the system. It will affect the lifespan of the humidity chamber. When the water is distilled, it acts like a solvent and detroits metal. You should not use city water either because it will contain excessive minerals which will yield deposits and scaling and may block the pipes.
Is there any way to purify water before using it in humidity chamber?
Yes, there are options to purify water and make it fit for humidity chamber use. Many humidity chamber manufacturers are providing demineralizer cartridges that are helpful in extending the life of humidity chambers. These filters are intended with the technology in which they change colour to notify that replacement time is approaching.
Some users are applying the following methods to purify water-
– Distillation
– De-ionization
– Reverse Osmosis
– UV sterilization
– Mechanical filtration
Water purity is critical aspect of using humidity system. If you fail to maintain the quality of water which is used by humidity chamber for generating humid environment, it will ultimately affect the results and damage the entire system.
