CTT is a Swedish public company with 110 employees, located in Nyköping about 100km south of Stockholm. CTT Systems AB provides moisture control systems to the aerospace Industry to combat the two main moisture-related problems in modern aircraft.
The first issue is the dry cabin air during long-haul flights, and the second is the fuselage condensation issue. An aircraft cabin is an extremely dry environment: in fact it is more dehydrating than any other place on Earth.
The relative humidity in an aircraft is determined by the number of passengers and the re-circulation rate of the cabin airflow. The air ventilation system in an aircraft is divided into zones or cabin sections, which results in different humidities across the seating zones. In other words, the fewer people seated in a cabin section, the lower the relative humidity. The driest section in an aircraft is accordingly in first class, with 5-8 % relative humidity (RH). A business-class cabin typically has 7-10%, while the higher passenger density in economy class gives 10-15% RH.
The CTT humidifier uses evaporative cooling to significantly increase the moisture content in cabin air, utilising evaporation from free water surfaces i.e. the same principle as in nature whereby water evaporates from lakes and streams. The CTT Inflight Humidification (IFH) system is designed to add moisture content (humidity) via the aircraft ventilation system. The IFH uses water from the aircraft's potable water supply to evaporate air through the humidifier pad, in line with the Environmental Control System (ECS). The evaporation cooling principle is a well-proven technology, in use for more than 50 years in all kinds of industries worldwide where humidity control is required, including operating theatres in hospitals.
It is well known that dry cabin air has a negative impact on passenger comfort, wellbeing and health. Dry cabin air dehydrates people. Discomforts caused by dry cabin air include fatigue, jet lag, red eyes, dry skin, spread of virus diseases, etc. Using humidifiers makes passengers feel better, sleep better, taste more flavours and recover more quickly after arrival. CTTs cabin, flight deck and crew humidifiers can be installed on the production line by OEMs, and retrofitted by airlines and completion centres for VIP/business jet aircraft.
