Assessing the moisture buffering performance of hygroscopic material by using experimental method

It is widely known that the problem of low or high indoor humidity environment has various adverse effects on occupant’s health, durability of the building envelope and energy consumption. In order to create comfortable and healthy indoor environment, it is necessary to maintain the indoor humidity steady in a correct level. Hygroscopic interior material can adsorb and desorb moisture from surrounding air, adopting this material is an energy-efficient way to moderate indoor humidity variations and thus it has been applied as finishing materials in some buildings. However, there is no criterion to evaluate the moisture buffering effect of applying hygroscopic material. In this research investigation, a series of experiments with different applying parameters were designed and carried out in a climate-controlled test chamber. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the moisture buffering effect by applying hygroscopic material, as well as to understand the humidity distribution of a hygroscopic material furnished room. Experimental results showed that the effects of moisture adsorption/desorption decreased exponentially when the ambient air change rate per unit area of hygroscopic material increased.