Patent ID: 6816812
Filing Date: 2004-11-09
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method of predicting moisture absorption rate in hygroscopic materials, the method comprising the steps of:i) drying a hygroscopic material for a time sufficient to remove residual moisture; ii) weighing said hygroscopic material; iii) placing said hygroscopic material within a substantially air tight chamber having a controllable atmosphere; iv) exposing said hygroscopic material to an environment of known controlled relative humidity in an inert gaseous atmosphere and controlled temperature; v) collecting data of moisture absorption over time and using a curve fitting technique to fit the data to a curve using the equation Y=aXb â€ƒwhere: a is a constant ranging from about 0.001 to about 1.0; b is a constant ranging from about 0.01 to about 10.0; Y is the mass increase in grams H20 per 100 grams of material; and X is humidification time in hours; finding said constants a and b at said known controlled relative humidity and said controlled temperature for said hygroscopic material, assuming constant b is a constant value for said hygroscopic material, and constant a is a variable that is directly proportional to the relative humidity in an inert gaseous atmosphere; and modifying the variable a and holding the variable b constant to generate an expected moisture absorption mass gain versus time curve for a different specific relative humidity value.