How does Vaisala HUMICAP® 180R relative humidity sensor cope with chemical interference?

The new Vaisala HUMICAP® humidity sensor has been tested both in laboratory conditions as well as in typical humidity sensor applications. The tests show that:

  • The sensor has an improved long-term stability for the relative humidity measurement.
  • The measurement error is significantly lower in most of the test environments when compared with the reference sensors.
  • The new structure and the new type of chemical resistant polymer make the sensor highly resistant to chemical interference.

As in other chemical exposure tests, the new sensor showed less drift than the references in MEK at 900ppm chemical concentration level, see below:


Sensor drift in Methyl ethyl ketone

A heating step simulating a chemical purge was done at the end of the test to see if the sensors would recover from the chemical exposure. Both the reference and the new sensor showed signs of recovery.


More information

Read the whole study Chemical interference test results of a novel humidity sensor (pdf).

Read the related Vaisala News Article Coping even with chemical interference (pdf).