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Re: A success story

Posted by Cue Miller on December 20, 2001 at 10:01:28:

In Reply to: Re: A success story posted by ChuckS on December 20, 2001 at 09:13:43:

Warming the air increases its ability to hold water, so warm air can be more humid. Cooling the air decreases it. The reason we warm the water in a CPAP humidifier is to turn it into water vapor so it will "float" in the air and be able to go up the hose. This is the same reason we heat the air in an electric or gas clothes dryer -- to turn the liquid water in the clothes into water vapor so it will be able to exit via the vent. Warming the water and air inside the dryer does not drop the humidity, it increases it, as you would see if you put your hand over the vent in a clothes dryer. However, it does dry the clothing by turning the water into vapor and blowing it out of the vent.

In human breathing, the air is indeed warmed in the lungs and airway which increases its ability to hold water. When we breathe against a cold window, the window fogs up from the warm air condensing against the cold glass -- the warm water vapor hits the glass and turns back into liquid droplets because its temperature drops. This is the same thing that happens inside a cool hose with warm water vapor from the humidifier.

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