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Figure 6.3 Comparison of exhaled air re-inhalation between nasal mask and full-face mask when<br />

there is reverse flow influence<br />

6.3 Thermodynamics<br />

Several terms need to be defined before the discussion. The average specific humidity,<br />

evaporation rate and condensation rate are all considered as the average value over a<br />

breath cycle’s period. In the thermodynamic discussion, the comparison is limited only<br />

between normal breathing and 2 times normal breathing. The term deep breathing will<br />

be used to stand for the 2 times normal breathing.<br />

As shown and validated in chapter 5, when airflow is steady, the evaporation is mainly<br />

influenced by the heating element temperature setting and CPAP pressure setting. The<br />

factors influencing the condensation in HADT are listed in Table 5.6. Beside these,<br />

when breathing is added in, the fluctuation introduces several other factors influencing<br />

the evaporation and condensation which are explained and defined below.<br />

1. When the pressure drop along a conduit fluctuates, the average of the fluctuating<br />

flow velocity is smaller than the steady state flow velocity. This is because the<br />

flow velocity is proportional to the square root of the pressure drop which makes<br />

the pressure-velocity curve concave. This makes the total amount of the<br />

fluctuating flow within a breath cycle also smaller than that of the steady flow<br />

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