Air humidification. Air humidifiers

What is humidification? What is needed for humidification of the air

Too low humidity in the room, as too high is harmful to human health and for many technological processes, can lead to drying out of furniture, parquet, joinery, various materials, raw materials and products. Dry air has a negative effect on human skin, irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes, nasal and oral cavity respiratory tract, causes various types of allergies. Sanitary rules and regulations define humidity as acceptable in the room within 30-70%, optimal - 45-60%. If in the summer, as a rule, there are no problems, then in winter the humidity in the premises is very low. This is due to the fact that the relative humidity of the outside air at negative temperatures is mostly either normal or low, and when such air enters the heated room at a much higher temperature, its relative humidity decreases at times (warm air is known to accommodate to yourself more steam than cold). Therefore, in winter, in all heated rooms, whether housing, office, or any public institution, it is advisable to increase the moisture content of the air, in other words, to humidify the air to the optimum level. . To determine the amount of moisture required for a particular room, specific conditions, you need to calculate the moisture performance for it.

Methods of humidifying the air

Air humidification is a complex physical process, but without going into the scientific details, let's try to popularly discover the most common methods of moisturizing.
The importance of the right level of humidity in the room, people have long understood and always tried to use the simplest ways of moisturizing. For example, special vessels for radiators appeared immediately after the appearance of water heating systems. Placed directly on the radiators, the water evaporates from the vessel, thereby increasing the relative humidity in the room. Simple and reliable, the only thing to watch for is the presence of water in the vessel. However, the relative humidity is difficult to control. In a similar way, you can raise the humidity indoors by simply placing the water tank in a warm city, doing periodic wet cleaning, or hanging a damp cloth on the radiators. Nowadays, such simple but somewhat primitive methods of humidification are still used, but they are being replaced by more modern methods of humidification.

All modern methods of humidifying the air, as well as the traditional ones mentioned above, are based on the principle of evaporation of water. Today's climate control equipment uses three basic methods of humidification: the so-called cold steam and ultrasonic. Each of these moisturizing methods has its advantages and disadvantages. It's easier to understand all of these methods of humidification by considering the principle of equipment called air humidifiers.

Air humidifiers

Air humidifiers are cold, steam and ultrasonic depending on the method of humidification. The main characteristic of all humidifiers is the amount of moisture they can release per unit time (g/h or l/h).

Cold humidifiers, or as they are called, wash air with a fan and chase air through a special cartridge, which is a humidified filter . The air passing through the cartridge, depending on the current humidity, absorbs a certain amount of moisture from the filter and is further purified, which is a significant advantage of cold air humidifiers. The humidification process in this case is self-regulating, since as the relative humidity in the room increases, it absorbs less moisture by passing through the filter. In addition, the air, when saturated with moisture, is somewhat cooled, which is why it is called cold humidity. Cold humidifiers are low noise, consume little electricity, are safe in operation. The disadvantages are certain requirements for water quality, the need to replace the cartridge periodically (on average every 3 months) and limit the maximum relative humidity to 60%.

Steam humidifiers are similar to electric kettles - during their operation a steam jet is present, they heat the water to the evaporation temperature, consuming a considerable amount of electricity. This is also a prerequisite for their work is the presence of hygrostat, whether room or built-in, and is their main disadvantages. However, steam humidifiers also have their advantages - they can be equipped with special inhalation nozzles, are not demanding for water quality, and do not require other consumables. Steam Moisture allows you to maintain a relative humidity above 60%, which is a prerequisite for some processes.

The most promising nowadays are ultrasonic humidifiers . Ultrasonic humidification is the result that ultrasonic vibrations occur on the surface of the piezoelectric crystal immersed in the water, resulting in fine droplets of water being blown by the fan into the air. Ultrasonic humidifiers are compact, low noise, low energy consuming, and with high humidity performance, can be equipped with ionizers and air purifiers. However, ultrasonic humidifiers also have drawbacks. This is the need for periodic (every 2-3 months) replacement of the filter, certain requirements for water quality.

According to the purpose and method of use, air humidifiers are domestic and industrial. Household humidifiers of any type are standard household appliances designed for use in an apartment, home or office. Household humidifiers are compact, operate from a 220V network, with a current acceptable for household networks, allow them to be installed anywhere, low noise in operation, have minimal protection against a fool, indication of water level, humidity. Their maintenance is only to maintain the water level or to replace the cartridges.

Industrial humidifiers can have far greater performance than household humidifiers. Industrial humidifiers are used to maintain humidity at large commercial and industrial sites, warehouses, and public buildings. Air humidification can be done by a variety of methods, directly in the premises itself and can be combined with supply and exhaust ventilation , being part of a complete air conditioning systems. In this case, industrial channel humidifiers of various types are used. Steam or fine droplets of water that create duct humidifiers are fed directly to ventilation systems. It is worth noting that in the industry widely used industrial humidifiers spray type, the so-called atomizers. These humidifiers use a mechanical spray method. Atomizers have a fairly high humidification capacity - up to 250 l/h.