Thermodynamic study on the effect of foaming on the heat and moisture control ability of humidity control material

Abstract

This study mainly investigates the effects and evaluation method of foaming on the thermodynamic treatment capacity of moist air of the humidity control materials. Firstly, the experimental results show that the foaming can increase the maximum adsorption to 1.2 times, the moisture buffering to 1.39 times, the water vapor permeability to 1.09 times, and the thermal insulation to 1.48 times, which indicates that foaming can help the humidity control materials have a better ability to treat the moist air and response the change of environment. Secondly, correlation analysis results indicate that foaming can change the pore structure, such as the specific surface area and average pore diameter, which are closely related to each properties. And the porosity also is a key parameter that can reflect the characteristics of the foaming materials. Thirdly, due to the decline of mechanical performance always come up with foaming, this study proposes a new evaluation method that can be used to compare the comprehensive performance of the foaming humidity control materials, so that this kind of foaming process can be used in buildings with different purposes. The new evaluation method, i.e., the dimensionless comprehensive performance evaluation method, its reliability and effectiveness can be verified by sensitivity analysis. In general, this work shows that the reasonable use of the foaming can be an effective way to improve the adaptability of hygroscopic materials, which can effectively control the indoor environment and help to achieve the goal of building energy conservation, and this study also can give the guides for the material design and optimization.