Achieving Humidity with Dry Fog

Dozens of industries need to create very high humidity levels for production purposes — as has been the case for decades. Which humidification solution to choose depends on a number of factors:

• What level of humidity is needed? 
• How large is the area to be humidified? 
• Is moisture fallout a concern? 
• Are their specific on-site considerations that affect humidity control solutions?

Depending on the answers to these and other questions, it’s easy to choose the right humidification system.

In its simplest form, creating humidity is as easy as using a store-bought humidifier. These products are very inexpensive, and will provide a relatively low level of humidity — but can be useful only if the area in question is very small and requires very low humidity. For most industrial humidification applications, however, the area requiring increased humidity tends to be large, requiring more robust means of humidity control.

One common method that has been used for decades is steam. However, steam is expensive to produce, requires a lot of system maintenance, and introduces heat to the area, which may require the addition of a cooling system. Steam is only recommended when no other options are available. 

A simpler and somewhat newer approach to achieving humidity control is high-pressure fog systems. These systems do not have maintenance issues or latent heat issues. They are also less expensive to purchase and operate compared to other systems. However, they can be limited when it comes to droplet size and the ability to achieve 100% atomization as humidity levels increase. This can result in moisture buildup, affecting how well the system will work in very close quarters, areas with restricted space, and humidity levels above 70%.

Dry fog systems overcome all of these issues and ensure highly effective humidity control. A dry fog system is any system that can consistently produce droplets smaller than 5 microns.  Although all of the options listed above can achieve droplets in this range, they are a small percentage of the overall droplets produced.

The ideal dry fog system is an air injection system. An air injection system can achieve varying flows, can be used in very close quarters, can achieve humidity levels up to 99%, does not introduce heat, and is relatively inexpensive to buy and to maintain.

Fogco Air Injection Systems

After years of experimenting and working with various dealers with dry fog requirements, Fogco has developed a proprietary air injection system that can achieve all system requirements for humidity control. The system is all-inclusive and only requires the addition of a properly sized air compressor.

An air injection system uses a specially designed control box and air injection nozzles to produce micron-sized droplets. The specialized spray nozzle can accomplish this with low-pressure air and water supply (below 40 psi).    

The droplet size as well as the flow through the nozzle can be precisely controlled by varying water and air pressure feeding the individual nozzles. This is done by adjusting the pressure regulators that are included in the system control box. This adjustability makes the air injection system an extremely versatile humidification solution, and allows the system to be adapted to any environment. 

The control box is the heart of the air injection system. It includes the regulators, pressures gauges, electric solenoid valves, and the FogController II humidistat. Once the controller is programmed, the system is completely automated and will cycle on and off as needed based on the programmed settings in the controller. The result is an automated and integrated humidification system that creates droplets as small as 1 micron, with flow rates from a few pounds per hour to several hundred pounds per hour. 

FogCo Drip-Free nozzles have spring-loaded check valves in each nozzle that prevent dripping when the system is turned off. They also prevent the system from operating if there is a loss of air pressure. The nozzles are mounted on a magnetic base for easy installation, and are directionally adjustable to further enhance performance.

There are other humidification systems that can provide for increased humidity levels within a given facility, but air injection systems are the most versatile and the most effective at providing increased humidity for greenhouses, clean rooms, printing facilities, or any other application where specific humidity levels need to be maintained.

The Fogco air injection system is completely automated and easily adjusts system output by varying air and water pressure. The control box includes all necessary electronics, air and water lines, and adjustable pressure regulating with instant feedback gauges — all neatly assembled in a small plastic NEMA 4X enclosure.

Our air injection system was specifically designed for simple and effective performance in all dry fog applications. The directionally adjustable nozzles ensure fog is oriented where it is needed, while two adjustable regulators ensure the proper amount of moisture is introduced to achieve perfect humidification.

Contact Fogco online or call us at 800-607-6478 for more details or to inquire about demonstration opportunities.