Application of the Dew Point Potentiameter (WP4)

A WP4 dew point potentiameter (Decagon services, USA), as depicted in Fig. 3.2(a) has been
used to measure total soil suction,. The instrument works on the principle of chilled-mirror dew
point technique (Leong et al. 2003; WP4 Manual Decagon 2002). It essentially consists of a
sealed block chamber in which the soil sample can be placed in a 15 cc Polyurethane sampling
cup. The relationship between the total suction,, and the vapour pressure of air in the headspace
of the block chamber can be expressed with the help of Kelvin’s equation (ASTM D 6836-02
2003):
RT p
ψ ln (3.5)
χ p0

where R is the universal gas constant (=8.31 J/mol.oK), T is the temperature of the sample in K,
 is the molecular mass of water (=18), p is the vapour pressure of air and p0 is the saturation
vapour pressure.

O M OS
L B: Block chamber
D: Drawer
B T F: Chamber fan
F L: LCD panel
S M: Mirror
O: Operating switch
OS: Optical sensor
D S: Sample holder
(b) T: Thermopile
(a)

Fig. 3.2 Details of (a) the WP4 and (b) the block chamber

The block chamber depicted in Fig. 3.2(b) consists of a mirror, dew point sensor, which is a
photoelectric cell, a temperature sensor, which is a thermocouple, an infrared thermometer
(optical sensor) and a fan. The dew point sensor detects the dew formation on the mirror, the
temperature sensor measures the dew point temperature of the air and the infrared thermometer
measures the temperature of the sample. The soil specimen placed in the PVC cup is equilibrated
with the air in the headspace of the sealed block chamber for its relative humidity. At
equilibrium, the water potential of air in the chamber is same as the water potential or suction of
the sample, which occurs within 5 to 15 min. The fan enables to speed up the equilibration of the
sample with the chamber environment. With the help of the built-in software, the suction of the
soil sample, in MPa and pF, is displayed on the LCD panel along with the temperature of the
sample.
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Theory
Water Potential
Water Potential is defined as the potential energy of water per unit mass of water in the system.
The total water potential of a sample is the sum of four component potentials: gravitational,
matric, osmotic, and pressure. Gravitational potential depends on the position of the water in a
gravitational field. Matric potential depends on the adsorptive forces binding water to a matrix.
Osmotic potential depends on the concentration of dissolved substance in the water. Pressure
potential depends on the hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure on the water.

The WP4 measures the sum of the osmotic and matric potentials in a sample. Often one or the
other of these potentials will be the dominant factor in determining the total potential. For
example, solutions like the KCl calibration standard have only an osmotic component. Soils bind
water mainly through matric forces, and therefore have mainly a matric component (though salt-
affected soils can have a significant osmotic component).

Measuring Water Potential

The water potential of a solid or liquid sample can be found by relating the sample water
potential reading to the vapor pressure of air in equilibrium with the sample. The relationship
between the sample’s water potential (Ψ) and the vapor pressure of the air can be expressed with
the help of Kelvin’s equation (ASTM D 6836-02 2003):

RT p
ψ ln
M p0
where p is the vapor pressure of the air, po is the saturation vapor pressure at sample temperature,
R is the gas constant (8.31 J/mol K), T is the Kelvin temperature of the sample, and M is the
molecular mass of water (=18). The vapor pressure of the air can be measured using a chilled
mirror, and po is computed from sample temperature.

The WP4 measures water potential by equilibrating the liquid phase water of the sample with the
vapour phase water in the headspace of a closed chamber, then measuring the vapor pressure of
that headspace. In the WP4, a sample is placed in a sample cup, which is sealed against a sensor
block. Inside the sensor block is a fan, a dew point sensor, a temperature sensor, and an infrared
thermometer. The dew point sensor measures the dew point temperature of the air, and the
infrared thermometer measures the sample temperature. The purpose of the fan is to speed
equilibrium and to control the boundary layer conductance of the dew point sensor.

From these measurements, the vapor pressure of the air in the headspace is computed as the
saturation vapor pressure at dewpoint temperature. When the water potential of the sample and
the headspace air are in equilibrium, the measurement of the headspace vapor pressure and
sample temperature (from which saturation vapor pressure is calculated) gives the water potential
of the sample.
In addition to equilibrium between the liquid phase water in the sample and the vapor phase, the
internal equilibrium of the sample itself is important. If a system is not at internal equilibrium,
one might measure a steady vapor pressure (over the period of measurement) which is not the
true water potential of the system.

Effect of Temperature on Water Potential

Temperature plays a critical role in water potential determinations. Most critical is the
measurement of the difference between sample and dew point temperature. If this temperature
difference were in error by 1°C, an error of 8 MPa would result. In order for water potential
measurements to be accurate to 0.1 MPa, temperature difference measurements need to be
accurate to 0.005°C.

WP4’s infrared thermometer measures the difference in temperature between the sample and the
block. It is carefully calibrated to minimize temperature errors, but achieving 0.005°C accuracy
is difficult when temperature differences are large. Best accuracy is therefore obtained when the
sample is near chamber temperature.

Another effect of temperature on water potential occurs with samples that are near saturation
(like many soil samples). A sample that is close to 0.00 MPa and is only slightly warmer than the
sensor block will condense water within the block. This will cause errors in the measurement,
and in subsequent measurements until the condensation disappears. The Ts-Tb function helps the
user ensure that the sample won’t condense on the sensor block.
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Leong E-C, Tripathy S, Rahardjo H (2003) Total suction measurement of unsaturated soils
with a device using the chilled-mirror dew-point technique, Geotechnique 53(2):173–182
(Email: cecleong@ntu.edu.sg)

ABSTRACT: The total suction of a soil consists of two components: matric suction and osmotic
suction. There are different techniques for measuring the total, matric and osmotic suction. The
total suction of the soil is related to the water vapour pressure in the air space of the soil, and can
be measured by devices capable of measuring relative humidity. A range of devices is available
to measure relative humidity. In this paper, a device using the chilled-mirror dew-point technique
with a selectable temperature environment was used to measure the relative humidity of a soil
sample. Two residual soils of Singapore were used in the evaluation of the device for total
suction measurement. The residual soils were compacted at various water contents and with three
compaction efforts to provide soil samples of various suction values. The total suction of the
compacted soil was measured and compared with its matric and osmotic suctions as
independently measured using the null-type axis-translation apparatus and the pore fluid
squeezer respectively. The time to equilibrium to obtain the total suction of the soil samples
varied between a couple of minutes to about 18 min. The test results show that total suctions
obtained using the device are always greater than the sum of the matric and osmotic suctions
measured independently. The discrepancy increases as suction increases and is attributed to the
limitations of the device for measuring the relative humidity of the soil samples accurately.
However, by accounting for the discrepancy, the device can be used as a rapid means of
determining the total suction of unsaturated soils.
Chilled Mirror Hygrometer

The Chilled-mirror hygrometer technique has been used in soil science to quantify water
potential of soils (Gee et al., 1992 and Brye, 2003). In geotechnical engineering applications, the
technique has been used for measuring total suction of soils (Leong et al., 2003; Albrecht et al.,
2003; and Schanz et al., 2004).

A chilled-mirror hygrometer uses the chilled mirror dew point technique to infer total suction
under isothermal conditions in a sealed container. Measurement of total suction with the chilled-
mirror hygrometer is based on equilibrating the liquid phase of the water in a soil sample with
the vapor phase of the water in the air space above the sample in a sealed chamber. The chilled-
mirror hygrometer measures dew point and temperature of the headspace above the specimen.
The specimen is contained in a special closed chamber to minimize drying of the specimen.
Water vapor from the soil specimen is allowed to condense on the mirror and a photoelectric cell
is used to detect the exact point at which condensation first appears on the mirror. The
temperature of specimen which is considered to be equal to the temperature of vapor space is
measured via an infrared thermocouple. The relative humidity or the water activity of the
specimen is computed from the measured dew point and temperature. A small fan is also
employed to circulate the air in the sensing chamber and speed up vapor equilibrium. The soil
samples and device were kept at the same location for at least several hours for temperature
equilibrium prior to the testing. The chilled mirror technique offers a fundamental
characterization of humidity in terms of the temperature at which vapor condenses. Temperature
control is very important. The measured difference between dew point and sample temperatures
must be kept small. It is important to avoid contamination of the instrument. Leong et al. (2003)
reported that the technique could be used to quantify total suction as low as about 150 kPa. The
value is considered small in the case of low total suction measurement where much larger error
can be expected. By considering the error of total suction measurement and the way of how the
isothermal equilibrium between the specimen and the vapour space is maintained, the technique
is considered to be the most accurate means for measuring total suction.

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