Characteristics and enhancement of a disk type humidifier with hydrophilic rough surface

• Published in: ASHRAE transactions Vol. 120; no. 1; p. 326
• Main Authors: Yun, Seongjin, Seo, Youngjin, Min, Byungryul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Atlanta American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) 01.01.2014; American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc
• Subjects: ABS; ABS resins; Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene; Blades; Disks; Equipment and supplies; Humidification; Humidifiers; Humidity; Indoor air quality; Outdoor air quality; Performance enhancement; Polypropylenes; Properties; Sand; Sand & gravel; South Korea
• ISSN: 0001-2505

The performance of portable disk humidifiers relies on water vaporized into dry air. Among various kinds of humidifiers, a disk humidifier comprises of disks as a water vaporizing means. An experimental study was conducted to improve humidifier performance using three kinds of polymer disks: polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and compounded PP. The hydrophilicities of PP, ABS, and compounded PP were 86°, 90°, and 55°, respectively. We tested the humidification rates of humidifiers with disks roughened by 24, 30, and 40 µm (9.45 x [10.sup.-4], 1.18 x [10.sup.-3], and 1.57 x [10.sup.-3] in.) of fine sand using a sandblasting process for three kinds of disks. The compounded PP humidifier vaporized about 1.3 1.4 times more moisture than the other types. The 24 µm (9.45 x [10.sup.-4] in.) sand treated disk humidifier showed the bestresults, humidifying 1.57-1.7 times more than the original disk humidifier. These results suggest that humidifier performance could be enhanced with the use of hydrophilic rough disks without requiring any additional electrical energy.