Products in Action

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Pipe insulation helps put plan into Acton

Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation has been installed as part of a communal heating network on an ambitious mixed-tenure regeneration scheme in Acton, west London, helping to minimise heat loss from pipework across the development.

Acton Gardens is an urban village in west London forming part of a long-term regeneration designed to reshape the lives of residents by providing 3,400 new homes and establishing a thriving community hub. A communal heat distribution network has been used instead of installing individual boilers within each property. To reduce heat distribution losses across this network, Mendick W aring Limited specified Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation for heating and water service pipework.

With an aged thermal conductivity as low as 0.025 W/m·K (at +10°C mean), Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation is one of the most thermally efficient pipe insulation products on the market. This excellent performance allowed pipework to be effectively insulated with a slimmer insulation thickness than would otherwise have been possible. The product was installed in a 50 mm thickness on the heat distribution pipework, allowing it to achieve a level of performance exceeding the requirements within current industry standards in the UK.

Minimising the risk of summer overheating was also seen as a priority across the development to ensure that homes are adapted to climate change and remain comfortable to occupy in the future. The specification of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation supported this approach. ONLINE ENQUIRY 103

Drives cut costs at AHU production line

Commercial HVAC product manufacturer, Air Handlers (Northern) has reduced the cost of assembling a fresh air supply unit and halved the overall footprint size of their units by installing ABB’s ACH580 variable speed drives’ (VSDs).

The drives’ integrated control functions remove the need for external components, which saves space and reduces installation time. They also improve the reliability and energy efficiency of the company’s equipment by providing the correct air flow via regulated fan motor speed. VSDs adapt their speed to the actual requirements of a motor at any given time. In this way, up to 50 per cent energy is expected to be saved.

“ABB explained that many of the control functions performed by our hardware, such as timers and lamps, could be performed by the drive. We needed to fully utilise what we already had,” said Mark Higgitt , commercial director at Air Handlers (Northern).

ABB optimised the engineering of the units removing a warning lamp, used to signal dirty or blocked filters or air duct blockages. This was achieved by transferring the wiring directly into the VSD’s I/O, ensuring that any warnings are now shown directly on the keypad. The VSD also features adaptive programming software.

ABB also re wired a frost thermostat into the VSD. If the external temperature falls below a predetermined level, the VSD’s PID function sends signals to slow down the fan motor, close the damper and open the heating valve. The VSD will only speed up the motor once a safe temperature is reached, thereby protecting the motor from frost damage. ONLINE ENQUIRY 106

Monitoring helps control church humidity

Continuous monitoring of temperature and humidity is helping to beat mould in a 500-year-old church in Switzerland. The church in Mönchaltdorf is heated on the day before mass. Before the service, the church opens its doors to visitors and cold air alike.

Although the worshippers warm up the church again quickly, their respiration, perspiration and wet clothes also introduce moisture into the room. This is not only a problem for the late Gothic ceiling carvings and paintings, but also for the wooden seating and the gallery including organ. To clarify the origin of the problem, the church turned to Rotronic, a company known for its measurement technology.

Four mini loggers were installed to continuously monitor temperature and humidity and to obtain up-to-date data to enable timely adjustments. The online humidity and temperature loggers were placed on the gallery and its ceiling, on the ceiling of the nave as well as at the pulpit in order to record room and ceiling measurements.

The data can be viewed at any time and from anywhere via the Internet. Should the values rise above pre-defined limits, the system triggers an alarm for the property manager who can then take measures to regulate the humidity.

It soon became clear that the humidity throughout the church rises well above 65 per cent or even up to 75 per cent in the summer. These high values promote the growth of mould. A measure was needed here to protect the valuable ceiling and gallery. The church has been ventilated optimally ever since the RMS monitoring system was installed. A dehumidification unit was also purchased. It starts work at a relative humidity of 65 per cent. ONLINE ENQUIRY 104

Hampshire hospital upgrades its A/C

Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton has upgraded its air conditioning and ventilation system with the installation of top-of-the-range ClimaCIAT Airtech Air Handling Units (AHUs).

Eight of the premium ClimaCIAT Airtech units were specified by consultant GLJ Design and installed by electrical and mechanical contracting firm Lowe & Oliver to provide high quality conditioned air to wards, clinical areas, the pharmacy and audiology department as part of a major refurbishment programme at the community hospital. Ageing CIAT Ozonair units were replaced, which had come to the end of their operational lives. Due to logistics challenges on site, some of the CIAT units were disassembled and supplied flat-packed, enabling CIAT’s on-site team to move individual components into position, before reassembling them into complete units for installation by the contractor.

To ensure conditioned air continued to flow to wards and operating theatres during the refit, a temporary rental AHU was stationed on site and connected to each circuit as individual AHUs were taken offline and replaced. Work was also carried out on weekends to meet the project’s strict timescale. ONLINE ENQUIRY 105