When specifying an AHU, the first consideration that needs to be made is whether the project needs you to take the bespoke design route, or opt for a more standard offering. While a bespoke AHU is capable of delivering results tailored to site-specific circumstances, standard units can offer a number of benefits. Here are just a few:

1. A Swift Solution
Due to having a fixed set of features, standard AHUs can be produced for significantly shorter lead times for customers. The length of a project, from design to completion, will determine whether a standard product initially specified is still suitable and compliant, or if it needs changing to another size or to a completely bespoke solution. For a quick turnaround of your mechanical AHU project with general comfort ventilation requirements, the standard PURA units are a perfect fit.

2. Spec, Build, Repeat
Opting for a standard solution essentially means that one product ordered today will be the same as one ordered tomorrow. The combination of features, performance and footprint are fixed for each size of the product range, which makes them ideally suited for projects which require equipment of the same specification, such as schools or office blocks. Nevertheless, ‘standard’ doesn’t equate to average, as the PURA units are built to high standards of quality and airtightness, fitted with the latest technology that promotes good IAQ and maximises energy efficiency.

3. Simple Specification
With a standard solution, you are presented with a set of features which meet with general requirements for mechanical ventilation, well ahead of a project taking place. Performance, footprint and pricing information can be easily obtained from a manufacturer’s product brochure ahead of specification, and standard products such as the PURA range are supported by BIM models, making the specification process even simpler.

4. Stay in Control

What’s great is that the use of advanced controls has been streamlined for the PURA units without compromising on its future operation and capabilities. The Kinairtico Controller in Air Design’s PURA range is an IAQ and energy recovery management device, offering various modes of operation according to pre-set parameters. These can be set and re-set for standalone, scheduled operation, or fully interfaced with a building’s Building Management System (BMS). Its sensors are able to detect alterations in occupancy levels, and adjust the ventilation of the occupied space accordingly. Its intuitive design, including a built-in screen, ensures it is easy to operate.

Whether a bespoke or a standard offering is more suitable depends on the project itself, and it’s important to be aware that what may start as a standard solution may become bespoke should circumstances dictate it. To discuss which solution is appropriate for you, please visit:
https://air-design.com/product/pura/

The ‘Africa Mercy’ operates in hot and humid climates in Africa making it challenging to keep the medical spaces cool, this is particularly difficult in the CAT scanner room. Adding to this problem, in 2013 Mercy Ships installed a new CT scanner which produces a lot more heat than the older model. To adequately remove the heat build up and bring in cooled air, a more powerful fan was required.

Sales Engineers at Elta produced three viable options and presented them to Mercy Ships’ procurement manager, Steve Cook. Mr Cook and his engineering team decided on Elta’s Viper, inline centrifugal fan SCC350-1AC. After learning more about the charitable work Mercy Ships does throughout the world, as well as the time and services given up by the medical professionals, Elta decided to donate all of the equipment free of charge to help further support the charity’s operations. The ‘Africa Mercy’, operated by Mercy Ships is the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, providing free healthcare services to those living in developing countries, where the services of professional medical staff are needed most.

The ship is currently docked in Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries, with only two physicians and three hospital beds available for every 10,000 people. To many thousands of people, Mercy Ships represents the difference between life and death. The ‘Africa Mercy’ started life as a Danish rail ferry and was subsequently converted into a hospital ship with six operating theatres and recovery rooms.

The crew are all volunteers bringing their expertise as surgeons, doctors, nurses, dentists, engineers, caterers and cleaners. Not only do they volunteer, they also have to raise their own funds through sponsorship in order to serve. Commenting on the contribution from Elta, Steve Cook said “With this great donation we can ensure that the environment for the medical staff and patients will be more pleasant. It will also add to the longevity of this critical piece of medical equipment for the service it provides.”

The fans were supplied by Elta to Mercedes Benz energy partner Ista Energy Solutions for siting and installation in order to destratify the air in the facilities. This will have the effect of reducing energy costs; greatly improving the overall working environment and making the plant more energy efficient. The fans were also ideally suited to the nature of the operations undertaken in the Mercedes Benz facility; a point made by Matthew Murphy, Head of CRC and Energy Efficiency at Ista – “In considering the options available to us, the Elta ZOO fans allowed us to use the destratification principle which proved a particular advantage in the dusty environment of the vehicle body repair and paint shop.”

Most large buildings are designed to receive most of their clean, outside air through a relatively small number of intakes in their ventilation system. Indeed, in many office blocks, it is often impossible to open windows, because glazing systems are sealed to preserve air-pressure within the building to maintain the balance of the ventilation system. When systems within these airtight buildings are operated with the singular view of saving energy, it can lead to a small exchange of internal air with clean, outside air, which in turn can lead to the build-up of indoor air pollutants. For air within any occupied building to be clean to breathe, it should be replaced with fresh air every two hours.

Heat recovery is the process of continuously preheating incoming cool supply air by warming it with the outgoing exhaust air. Elta’s Komfovent range of heat recovery units has quiet operation levels and is designed to change the air every two hours, continually replacing stale damp air with fresh, warmed, clean and filtered air. The highly efficient units can be installed to create healthier indoor air conditions and comfort in hotels, schools, colleges, libraries, nurseries, offices, conference halls and other premises. Easy to mount and maintain, casings are of compact design, allowing for easy fitting in confined spaces.

The company’s SREGO unit, one of two models within the range, incorporates a rotary heat exchanger that recovers up to 90% of heat. A rotating aluminum rotor absorbs heat from the exhausted air and warms the incoming air-supply. The unit is available with either EC or AC external rotor motor powered versions, which contain sealed for life bearings, fitted as standard.

The SRECU model, incorporates a plate heat exchanger that recovers up to 65% of heat; the heat of the exhausted air is transferred to incoming air through the aluminum plates of a heat exchanger. Design of the unit prevents cross-contamination of the fresh, incoming air by the stale exhaust air, as the two separate streams flow across either side of the heat exchanger. Units are equipped with compact, high quality air filters and filter monitoring to alert users of service periods for filters. They are suitable for 220-240V 1-Phase operation or 380-440V 3-Phase dependent on model. All the AC motor specified units operate only on 50Hz whilst all EC motor specified units can operate on 50Hz or 60Hz.

The heat recovery units have a 12-month warranty and are available for horizontal and vertical mounting in 10 different sizes from the Elta Select range. An even wider range of sizes are also available from Elta to meet your application requirements. Units incorporate an integrated control system that ensures safe operation of the unit, controls preset ventilation parameters and optimises unit-operating costs. All models are designed and manufactured to procedures as defined in BSEN ISO 9001:2008.

For more information please visit http://www.eltaselect.com/ or contact our team on 01384 275800.

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

The Linwood Toyota dealership, located on the Phoenix Retail Park in Linwood, is part of the Arnold Clark Group, Europe’s largest independently-owned, family-run car company. The Sales Manager at the branch is Jim McGregor who recognised that the heating within the showroom was resulting in hot and cold spots, a not uncommon occurrence, particularly in buildings characterised by large open spaces. He approached Kevan McKenna at Keets, based in a Glasgow, who recommended the new ZOO range recently launched by manufacturer Elta.

The ZOO or ‘Zone of Occupancy‘ destratification fans have been developed to address the problem of heat rising which can result in the upper area of a given space being warmer than the lower area where it is actually needed. With the ever increasing focus on energy costs, the wasted energy from overheating a space to achieve the desired temperature in the occupied area is becoming more of an issue. By installing two fans in the roof space of the Toyota showroom, columns of air gently force the warmer air down to floor level, ensuring a much more even distribution of the heat and therefore significantly improving the environment for the Arnold Clark customers.

The ZOO approach is designed to prevent the need to overheat an entire space to achieve comfortable temperatures at floor level. The fact that heat rises results in thermal stratification, meaning that the upper areas of a space are typically warmer than the lower areas where it is actually needed i.e. the ‘Zone of Occupancy‘.

Overheating results in significant increases in energy consumption, particularly in buildings with high ceilings where the temperature differential between floor and ceiling is greater. This is also true in the months when cooling of the building is required. Again, thermal stratification causes variations in temperature which can often result in the over-cooling of an area to achieve the required temperature at floor level.

Elta’s new ZOO fans are designed to distribute the heating or cooling evenly throughout the occupied zone, generating columns of air which gently force the stratified air down to the Zone of Occupancy, therefore removing the need for physical ductwork. In cooling situations, the fans can be used in closer proximity to operate as spot coolers, taking advantage of the evaporative cooling sensation.

The fans feature the latest in impeller technology: the FE2owlet sickle bladed aerofoil profile axial impeller powered by the fully speed-controllable Ziehl-Abegg external rotor motor. To reduce noise, the blade has been designed with serrations on the trailing edge of the wing, like the owl, hence the name. These serrations serve to muffle sound, with further noise reduction achieved by the incorporation of winglets, as seen on jet aircraft, on each blade. On an aircraft, the winglets are designed to smooth the airflow across the wing near the tip and reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices. The reduced vortices at the tip of the impeller blade lessen the turbulence and noise generated, as well as easing the path of the following blade, thereby improving efficiency and performance.

With the focus in HVAC increasingly on energy efficiency, the ZOO fan is specifically designed to address this. Not only can it significantly reduce a building’s energy consumption, but the fan itself is energy efficient and quiet in operation. It is fully speed-controllable, allowing the fan speed to be reduced to the minimum necessary to maintain the required temperature differential. De-stratifying an air mass consumes more energy than simply maintaining equilibrium. Once the air is de-stratified, the fan speed can be turned down typically by 30 to 60 percent, providing a major reduction in fan absorbed power.

Alan Macklin, Group Technical Manager at the Elta Group, comments: “The projected energy savings for space heating range from 10 to as much as 40 percent by reducing the energy required to condition the air in an occupied space. Of the estimated 40 percent of the world’s energy that is consumed by buildings, some 85 percent is used for room heating and cooling. It is therefore readily apparent that this is an area where any contribution to improving energy management can have a significant impact. Destratification of occupied areas using ZOO fans will result in energy efficient ventilation and lower the operational costs of the building while maintaining good indoor air quality.”

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.