How To Select Humidity Sensors

Article Written By: Adriana Noton

Very few people realize that humidity is important to scientists and engineers in many different ways. Weather reporters, scientists and engineers all need some way to measure humidity. Humidity is the measure of water vapor suspended is air or other gas. Water vapor is invisible when suspended in a gas. Fog, steam, rain, clouds or other precipitation are water condensing out of suspension and becoming visible (and wet). Scientists have different methods to measure humidity in terms directly related to the way the measurements are used. Some humidity measurements can be mathematically converted to other measurement scales (within certain limits).

Three often used measurement terms are relative humidity, dew point and absolute humidity. Each of these is measured differently and used differently in process controls or data recording applications. Humidity measurement methods have evolved tremendously over the decades.

Early scientists realized human hair changed when water content in the surrounding air changed. This led to mechanical devices that indicated humidity by the changes in a strand of hair. Both human hair and horse hair were used to power indicators or chart recorders. Materials technology provided nylon and other synthetic fibers that were more predictable and easily calibrated. Today, the relative humidity sensor is a solid-state electronic devices with lower cost and greater robustness.

The temperature at which water vapor begins to condense out of a gas at a specified pressure is called the dew point. It is a common weather report term. It is also important in scientific calculations and is used in manufacturing situations or processes. The first dew point instruments used a chilled mirror to determine the temperature of condensation. These sensors were expensive and difficult to keep calibrated. Electronic technology used in modern dew point sensors can make measurements at temperatures as cold as -40degrees F.

Absolute humidity is the precise measurement or calculation of the mass of water vapor in a given volume of air or other gas. (Expressed as grams per cubic meter or grains per cubic foot) This is the most useful measurement for a variety of applications. One interesting application is in drag racing. The grains [of water in the ambient air] number is used by all race teams in setting up their racing engines. Modern electronics can measure absolute humidity at temperatures greater than 200 degrees C in almost any environment.

In manufacturing, changes in humidity can impact the stability of processes. This is particularly true with painting. Constant real-time monitoring of humidity allows automatic adjustments to the process to compensate for changes. Research results can be skewed by changes in humidity so recording humidity during the research is important. Modern sensor manufacturers have products to cover almost any application.

Some internet research can find humidity sensors to meet almost any requirement. Today's sensors are accurate, tiny, relatively inexpensive and much more durable than the early horse-hair based indicators. And you will not need to rely on a weatherman.

About the Author

Canadian industry of measuring and controlling instruments, our qualified technicians have over 30 years of experience in providing instrument calibration services and full service repair. Our wide range innovative technical solutions include data loggers, humidity sensor, and pressure transducer.

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