Check-list For Installing A Steam Humidifier

Choosing A New Steam Humidifier:  12 Point Check-list 

1. You are going to need to know the geographical area of where the unit is to be installed, mainly because different areas of the UK specifically have different average temperatures and levels of relative humidity in the atmosphere.  So, installation of a steam humidifier in London compared to Leeds will have different implications and may need a larger more powerful unit to supply the right level of steam.
2. You will also need to know the level of humidity required for the room that is to be humidified - this will differ from application to application - for example, a food ripening facility will need a different level of humidity to a proofing workshop.
3. Make sure there is ample power supply to power the unit as some of the CAREL steam humidifiers we supply can draw up to 40, 50 or even 90kW of power on full steam.
4. Is there three phase or single phase power available?  Check with your facilicites manager or local electrician if you are unsure, and ask for the available power. This wil save a lot of headaches wen it comes to running the steam humidifier and will help to avoid overloading the power board.
5. Is the steam humidifier going to be mounted on the wall?  If so, where will it be mounted and can it be mounted so that it is out of reach of the general  public? other factory machinery? but accessable enough for workers to operate and make changes to the settings?
6. Will the steam need to be directed in to the room or into a duct?  If the intenton is to add humiditty directly in to the room in question, you will need to select a fan distribution unit that will sit on the top of the steam humidifier or moutned above the humidfier with steam hose connecting the fan distibutor to the top of the humidifier cylinder.
7. If the steam is to be directed into the air handling unit, as part of the air conditioning system, you will need to know air flow speeds and volumes so that a calculation can be made as to how much humity needs to be produced to achieve the required humidity level.
8. In terms of kg/h how much humidity losses (absorbtion) is there likely to be.  For example, if the humidity is being applied to an office there will be carpet, people, plants etc that will absorb some humidity from the atmosphere. If however, the humidity is being applied to a warehouse with hard surfaces, no boxes, and minimal levels of absorbent surfaces , there will be very little in terms of humidity losses.
9. Whilst on the subject on of humidity losses, we calcuilate that the average number of air changes (total volume of air changing in the room from outside to inside) is 3 times per hour.  So, if you have an area that is susceptable to high levels of infiltration (such as windows open all day, or poor insulation) you may have to double the number of air changes to allow for the amount of extra humidity that needs to be suppllied in to the room.  
10. Then we move on to the type of controls that you will need.  Would you like the unit to operate on a simple on/off mode so that when the level of relative humdirty readhces the set point, it ill turn off.  When the relative humidty then drops to say 5% below the set point, it will fire back up, boil the water and produce enough steam to add humidity to the room to bring it back up to the oringinal set-point of, for example, 60%.  Or, you can select a control package that will modulate the power of the humdifier to obtain a more accurate control over the relative humidity in the room.  For example, you can set the CAREL humidifier controls so that the humidifier is always running at a lower level, producing low levels of steam on a more constant basis.  The advantage of using this type of system is that less energy is used to heat the water back up and to produce enough steam to maintain the relative humidity in the room, plus it means the electrodes are placed under less stress meaning less maintenance costs.
11. In terms of servicing and spares, it is best practice to check the humidifier at least once a year using a qualified engineer or air conditioning contractor, asking him to perform electrical connections test, to clean the unit and service it to mainatin the smooth running of the unit, and to avoid any serious technical issues.
12. Typically, the humidifier cylinders will need repacing on a regular basis - after a while limescale will build up on the electrodes and while they can be cleaned, you may find that they have worn down after hours of usage and need replacing completely.  The cylinders are easy to replace, just remove the old bottle, pop in the new humidifiier bottle, reconnect, and start the humidifeir running again.

Euro Controls UK Ltd supply the latest in steam humidifier technology.  Contact us for a quotation.

www.humidifiers-uk.com 

How does steam humidification work?

Steam humidifiers have been in use for decades and steam humidification can be likened to boiling a kettle and directing the flow of the steam that comes out of the bottle, via a special pipe network in to the room or into the duct - whichever has been specified.

The electrodes that sit within the humidifier cylinder are powered by the mains electricity supply, and depending on the type of humidifier (there are two different types - electrode steam and resistive steam)  will either heat the water or will cause the ions within the water to perform a dance between the electrodes and ultimately heat the water to provide the needed amount of steam.

The steam is delivered into the space using a steam hose - a specially manufactured type of spring loaded hose pipe that is heat resistant and flexible to allow for proper insertion into the the duct or to the room.  When mounting the hose, it is important to angle the hose at least 5 degrees to allow for any condensate build up to drop back down into the humidifier and to stop the hose from blocking up the steam hose.

Naturally, when there is a build up of condensate in the hose, it can cause a blockage for the steam to travel up and out of the hose and will eventually lead to problems with controlling the humidity being released, and may make the humidifier work harder than it needs to - wasting energy in the process.  Secondary to this of course is the problems with stagnant water building up as a result of the condensate resting in once place (inside the hose) - this is not good from a health and safety perspective.

CAREL Fan Distributor

When installing the steam humidifier, most installers will use a 'fan distributor' of some sort that comes built with small electric fans to blow the steam out in to the room, helping to gain as much coverage of the space as possible.  Occasionally, the fans need to be replaced, and also a little tweaking of the angle of the fan distributor is need to avoid the spitting of large droplets of water.  The water droplets will naturally be hot, so to be aware of this is necessary when installing the fan distributor.

CAREL Steam Lance

The alternative is to use a sparge pipe that will go directly in to the air handling unit to supply the humidified air into the air conditioning system.







Typically the humidifier will come with a controller that, using a humidity probe will measure the room relative humidity, and can moderate the humidification process within the humidifier to produce enough steam for the room.  As an example, a food ripening processing room will require set temperatures and humidity levels in order to produce the most effective conditions for the ripening.  When setting up the steam humidifier, the installer can set the parameters to read the temperature and relative humidity within the room and adjust the humidifier accordingly.  The electronic control board of the humidifier wil use a  number of processes to control the level of humidity being produced and will provide a live read out of the current state of the room in question.

We use CAREL selection software to determine the size of the humidifier needed for a particular application.  All a customer needs to do is supply us with the size of the room, type of room, temperature, desired humidity level, and moisture losses and various other measurements and we will work out the best type of steam humidifier to be used in the room.

CAREL heaterSteam

We consider CAREL humidifiers the best in the market for four main reasons:

• Ease of use
• Cost effective
• Accurate control of relative humidity
• Reliable

We have partnered with CAREL for many years, and so we have extensive experience n installing steam humidifiers into commercial, domestic and industrial environments.  


Projects include print houses, food ripening plants, museums, factories, offices, manufacturing plants, luxury houses and many more. 

CAREL humiSonic humidifier - product launch

CAREL have released another high quality humidifier, that uses the piezoelectric process of humidification to produce microscopic droplets of water without having to use heating elements.  The humidifier has been designed to fit within fan coils, and will tuck neatly into fan coil heaters without having to buy a whole new fan coil unit.

The humiSonic is perfect for fan coil manufacturers looking for that extra specification, who want to add humidification control within the fan coil, increasing market price of the fan coil and thus increasing profits, and value to the customer.

This really is exciting news for fan coil manufacturers, and Euro Controls UK Ltd are once again proud to be a part of the ongoing innovation from CAREL.

Contact us for more information, or request a brochure and manual on the CAREL humiSonic humidifier.