Capillary volume and evaporation of textile materials

Abstract

The objectives of the paper were to show that the evaporation intensity of water can be increased by the application of appropriate textile materials. The purpose was to determine the dependence of the evaporation intensity on the textile characteristics and the influence weather conditions on the evaporation intensity of different textiles. Five different textile strips of different widths and of single- and multi-layer were tested in definite experimental pots under open air conditions. The results of the experiments showed the total evaporation surface of the textiles depended on the texture material and the capillary volume of the textiles and the capillary volume had a limit at approximately Vc = 1000–1200 cm3/m2. Another important result was that the relative air humidity is a main factor of the weather conditions that has principal influence on the evaporation intensity. However, the other parameters — such as temperature, solar radiation and wind speed — have only a secondary effect on the evaporation intensity of textiles.