Hi Jonathan,
Interesting stuff. If I ever get that obs built, moisture control is something I need to consider.
Just ran some 'back of the spreadsheet' calculations (attached as zip because xls is an invalid file type to upload). I guessed the minimum internal dimensions of a C-14 and took the formula for the max carrying capacity of air at temp 0-40C from
here. My calcs show that the scope could hold, as vapour, less than half of the water you recovered. I can hazard three guesses as to why.
1) My calcs are wrong. Please, could someone competent check these?
2) The OTA isn't air tight and so you are attempting to dry the whole room.
3) There was some liquid water in the OTA which has since evaporated and been absorbed by the gel.
Whatever the reason it's worth investigating further. I'd be interested to know the max capacity of the gel. (BTW you did weigh the dry gel pack didn't you - not just assume it was exactly 50g?)
cheers,
David
r (m) h (m) vol (m^3) Temp (Cel) sat vap density (g/m^3) Max content (g)
0.18 0.76 0.0774 15 12.76 0.987
0.18 0.76 0.0774 20 17.25 1.334
0.18 0.76 0.0774 25 23.08 1.786
0.18 0.76 0.0774 30 30.50 2.359
0.18 0.76 0.0774 35 39.72 3.073
0.18 0.76 0.0774 40 51.00 3.945