Research PaperCellulose/PET humidifying elements having horizontal air and vertical water channels

•New material and shape of the humidifying element were developed.•The new material consists of 50% cellulose and 50% PET.•The parallel channel configuration was devised to reduce excessive pressure loss.•The new element outperforms the widely-used glasswool element.

New material and shape of a humidifying element were developed, which outperformed the widely- used criss-cross glasswool element. The new material consists of 50% cellulose and 50% PET. A parallel channel configuration was devised to reduce excessive pressure loss caused by the decreased height (5.0 mm) from that (7.0 mm) of the criss-cross configuration. For the same criss-cross configuration, the humidification efficiency of the cellulose/PET element was 26% higher than that of the glasswool element. For the same cellulose/PET material, humidification efficiency of the parallel channel configuration was 14% higher than that of the criss-cross configuration. As for the pressure drops, those of the glasswool element were 2-52% higher than those of the cellulose/PET element. For the same cellulose/PET material, the pressure drop of the parallel channel configuration was 14% higher than that of the criss-cross configuration. Data were compared with the predictions by existing correlations and those by the proposed model.