Temperature and Humidity testing within enclosures using probes and excel
Humidity Testing
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Equipment:
Absorbent Materials:
✴- Temperature and Humidity Sensor ■- Arduino Demonolive ◉- Scales ➢- Enclosure Simulator ∞- Material Holder ◀- Misting Bottle
✴- Silica Crystals (kittie litter) ■- Rice (long grain) ◉- Cooking Salt ➢- Bi-Carb Soda
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Humidity Testing
Method 1 - 3ml of Mist in Room
Method 2 - Humid Bathroom
1) Attach sensor to inside of container 2) Measure 50 grams of Material and place inside container( simulated enclosure). 3) Spray 3ml (3 sprays from misting bottle) of hot water into container and quickly close. 4) Let container sit in place for 15 minutes. Data is recorded every 20 seconds and collated in laptop. 5) Data is analysed and converted into graph form.
1) Make bathroom hot and humid - leave hot water running for 5 minutes at beggining of experiment, with heater on for full duration on experiment. 2) Attach sensor to inside of container 3) Measure 50 grams of Material and place inside container( simulated enclosure). 4) Let container sit in place for 15 minutes. Data is recorded every 20 seconds and collated in laptop. 5) Data is analysed and converted into graph form.
Humidity Testing
Control - Humid Bathroom
Control - 3ml Mist in Room
100
18.95
18.4
18.9 90
18.85
70
18.7 18.65
60
18.6 18.55
50
18 17.8
80 Humidity %
18.75
Temperature 째C
18.8
80 Humidity %
18.2 90
17.6 70
17.4 17.2
60
17 16.8
50
18.5 40 0
200
400
600
800
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
1000
18.45 1200
16.6 40 0
200
400
600
800
1000
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
1200
1400
16.4 1600
Temperature 째C
100
Humidity Testing
Bi-Carb - 3ml Mist in Room 100
18.4 18.3
90
Humidity %
80
18.1 18
70 17.9 17.8
60
Temperature 째C
18.2
17.7 50 17.6 40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
17.5 1000
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
Bi-Carb - Humid Bathroom 100
significant overall however.
21.5 21
90
20.5
Humidity %
80
20 70 19.5 60
19
50
18.5
40
18 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
700
800
900
Temperature 째C
Comments: Bi-Carb Soda showed positive results in the bathroom test. These were not
Humidity Testing
Rice - 3ml Mist in Room 100
18.45 18.4
90
18.35
Humidity %
18.25 18.2
70
18.15 60
Temperature 째C
18.3
80
18.1 18.05
50
18 40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
17.95 1000
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
Rice - Humid Bathroom Comments: Rice was surprisingly effective. I am not sure if it is the actual rice which is
100
enabling the absorption or the starch which surrounds the rice. Further testing with washed rice and isolated starch needs to be performed to confirm the active absorptive material.
23.4 23.2
90
23
Humidity %
22.6 70
22.4 22.2
60
22 21.8
50
21.6 40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time in Seconds Series1
Series2
700
800
900
21.4 1000
Temperature 째C
22.8
80
Humidity Testing
Silica - 3ml Mist in Room 19.2
100
19
90
Humid %
18.6 70 18.4 60
Temperature 째C
18.8
80
18.2
50
18
40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
17.8 1000
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
Silica - Humid Bathroom Comments: Silica has easily outperformed all other dehumidifying materials. This materi-
25.4
100
als can also be reused by simply applying heat and evaporating the absorbed moisture. It is also relatively cheap with 1.75kg costing 7.95 at a local petstore. The absorbance is also increased if you spread the material out rather than having it bunched together.
25.3
90
Humidity %
25.1
70
25 24.9
60
24.8 50
24.7
40 0
200
400
600
800
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
1000
24.6 1200
Temperature 째C
25.2 80
Humidity Testing
Salt - 3ml Mist in Room 18.4 90
18.3
Humidity %
18.1 18
70
17.9 60
17.8
Temperature 째C
18.2
80
17.7
50
17.6 17.5
40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
Salt - Humid Bathroom Comments: Salt did work as an absorbent, however the rate at which absorption occurred
25.2
100
was to low for it be useful to protect electronics. One benefit of using this material would be how easily it is sourced and the cost, both making it highly accessible.
25 90
24.6
Humidity %
80
24.4 70 24.2 24
60
23.8 50 23.6 40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
700
800
900
23.4 1000
Temperature 째C
24.8
Temperature Testing
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Probe in Hot Environment
Insulating Enclosures: 35
100
30
90
20 70 15 60
10
50
5
40
0 0
100
200
300
400
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
500
600
700
Temperature °C
25
80 Humidity %
✴ Metal Ammunition Container ■- Styrofoam Container ◉- Plastic Storage Container ➢- Clear Plastic Bag (air acts as insulator) Method 1) Place probe within container and seal shut. 2) Place container in front of heater within sealed room. 3) Leave in place for 15 minutes, collecting data every 20 seconds 4) Colate and graph data collected with probe
Temperature Testing
Plastic Container in Hot Environment
Metal Container in Hot Environment 26
100
25.5
90
30
90
25
80
20
70
15
60
10
50
5
24 60
23.5
50
23
40
22.5
30
22 0
100
200
300
400
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
500
600
700
40 0
200
400
600 Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
800
1000
0 1200
Temperature 째C
70
Humidity %
24.5
Temperature 째C
25
80 Humidity %
100
Temperature Testing
Clear Bag in Hot Environment
Styrofoam in Hot Environment 100
34
28.5 90
27.5
26.5
70
26 25.5
60
Humidity %
27
30
80 Temperature 째C
Humidity %
80
32
90
28
28 70 26 60
24
25 24.5
50
50
22
24 40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
700
800
900
23.5 1000
40 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time in Seconds Humidity
Temperature
700
800
900
20 1000
Temperature 째C
29
100
Results: Temperature Testing
Plastic insulated the most The clear plastic container gave the best insulating results. This could partly have to do with how the actual container was also sealed, using two side latches and rubber lining. It could also have to do with the form of the object. However it is clear that the material itself also has an effect as the form of the styrofoam and metal container was quite similar however gave varied results The metal container used a similar design with latches and rubber lining, however this did not improve insulation as much. These results were very surprising to me. I hypothesised that the metal container would be the best at insulating purely because it was equipment from the army to hold ammunition and therefore should be temperature stable. It was surprising to see how much it heated up compared to the other containers. The plastic bag, which was essentially going to work by having such a large space of air to maintain its temperature also showed bad results for insulation. One way to improve this test would be to have 4 simultaneous probes running in the same environment. This way it would be definite that there are no variances which are leading to differences in the data. This will be improved in future testing using two separate probes.
Results: Humidity Testing
Silica is most absorbent Silica has clearly come out on top as the most absorbent in the quickest amount of time. It has the highest rate of absorption. The rate of absorption appeared to increase as the silica was spread out, increasing its surface area. Perhaps some sort of padding could be made out of the silica which could line the inside of the enclosure, creating a highly absorptive surface as well protection in terms of insulation and padding for the bot. I believe the first set of data is not as valid as the second data collected inside a very humid environment, the bathroom. The bathroom had water droplets forming on the walls and tiles so i believe the readings which range in the 90% area are quite accurate. I believe the method of creating humidity with a spray bottle in the first experiment did not properly simulate humidity immediately. Rather it created an environment within the enclosure which was wet and gradually became more humid, giving results where humidity constantly rose. I decided to include both sets of data to show that still in both the experiments silica showed the best results.