Abstract. We describe the model and construction of a two-flow (or
divided-flow) humidity generator, developed at LNE-Cnam, that uses mass flow
controllers to mix a stream of dry gas with a stream of humid gas saturated
at 28 ∘C. It can generate a wide range of humidity, with mole
fractions in the range of 0.7×10-6<x<9000×10-6, without using low temperature or high pressure.
This range is suitable for calibrating balloon-borne instruments that
measure humidity in the stratosphere, where x∼5×10-6. The generator's novel feature is a saturator that comprises 5 m
of silicone tubing immersed in water. Water enters the humid gas stream by
diffusing through the wall of the tubing until the gas stream flowing
through the tubing is saturated. This design provides a simple, low-cost
humidity generator with an accuracy that is acceptable for many
applications. The key requirement is that the tubing be long enough to
ensure saturation so that the saturator's output is independent of the
dimensions and permeability of the tube. A length of only a few meters was
sufficient because the tube was made of silicone; other common polymers have
permeabilities that are 1000 times smaller. We verified the model of the
transition from unsaturated flow to saturated flow by measuring the humidity
while using three tube lengths, two of which were too short for saturation.
As a more complete test, we used the generator as a primary device after
correcting the calibrations of the mass flow controllers that determined the
mixing ratio. At mole fractions of 50×10-6<x<5000×10-6, the generator's output mole fraction xgen
agreed to within 1 % with the value xcm measured by a calibrated
chilled-mirror hygrometer; in other words, their ratio fell in the range
xgen/xcm=1.00±0.01. At smaller mole fractions, their
differences fell in the range of xgen-xcm=±1×10-6.