Concept: Humidification from Steam System?

BobL

This may be a poor idea, but the only dumb question is the one you don't ask .. In theory, could you just "donate" steam from the system somehow to achieve humidification?



With a steam system (single-pipe in my case), the steam's already in every room.  Once the system heats, would it not be possible to have a humistatically-controlled opening in each room donate a bit of steam to the room as a source of humidification?  In essence, are not all of our steam systems already geared to serve as whole-hose humidification with the right enhancement?



So theory to practice, does anyone know of such a humistatically-controled valve that could serve this purpose?  Ideally, it would be timed to humidify only after the home has been brought up to an adequate heating level.



One issue I see is if additives are used in your steam circuit .. probably don't want to breathe those boiled off.  Any eco-safe additives or MSDS info we could refer to in choosing the best additives compatible with this concept?



What other pros/cons can you see of this concept?  Is boiler-generated steam less cost effective for humidification somehow?



Has this been done before?  Any references or experiences with this approach?



Thanks,

BobL

Dave in QCA

Not a New Concept

Dri-Steam and Armstrong have been producing such products for commercial / institutional application for many years.  Here are 2 links.  http://www.dristeem.com/products_boilerSteam.jsp   

http://www.armstronginternational.com/humidification-conditioned-steam



These systems are intended for boiler applications where there is a maintained boiler pressure at all times.

In such commercial systems there are many considerations that must be dealt with that make the concept completely innapropriate for residential and small commercial application.

If you lose either condensate or steam from a system, it must be replaced by makeup water.  This will cause the total dissolved solids (hardness) and the chloride levels of the boiler water to increase.  The levels of these two items must be very carefully regulated, through the use of controlled skimming and blowdown.  Daily chemical analysis of the boiler water is critical to keeping a boiler operating in this manner within the proper parameters. 

The bottom line is, while your theory is correct, you do already have steam, and steam can be used to humidfy living spaces.......   DON'T DO IT! 

Rod

Low Tech Steam Humidifier

Hi- Not sure if this was just an engineering question or whether you were looking for a solution to low humidity. Here's a low tech solution:  http://kilian.stores.yahoo.net/radhum.html

If you have kids, I'd tape the edges as they can be a bit on the sharp side.

- Rod