Mark Vender
Humidity control specialist Condair is launching the Condair MC, a new in-duct evaporative humidifier and cooler. According to the company, a single unit is capable of supplying up to 360kg/h of humidity and around 245kW of adiabatic cooling to an air handling unit (AHU) from less than 0.15kW of electrical energy.
The Condair MC consists of an evaporative module and hydraulic unit, which sits inside the AHU, and a control panel located outside. The evaporative module is a wall of corrugated glass fibre media cassettes, with stainless steel frames, through which the air flows. The hydraulic unit pumps water to the top of the evaporative module to wet the glass fibre media and humidify the air flowing through it.
“We are delighted to be adding the Condair MC to our evaporative humidifier range,” says Condair Australia Managing Director Ian Eitzen, Affil.AIRAH.
“With every kilogram of humidity provided by an evaporative humidifier around 0.68kW of adiabatic cooling is also achieved. This sustainable cooling technology presents great potential to reduce the carbon footprint of our built environment.
“We are seeing more and more air handling unit manufacturers and M&E consultants incorporating direct and indirect evaporative cooling strategies into their AHU designs. The new Condair MC incorporates many innovative hygiene, installation and operational features, making it an ideal solution for evaporative cooling or adiabatic humidification.”
Condair notes that evaporative humidifiers can provide humidification during the winter to raise an indoor humidity level, as well as offer adiabatic cooling during the summer to economically cool an internal environment. It says the main advantage over other in-duct spray humidifiers is that evaporative units can operate on mains water, without the need for a filtered RO water supply, greatly improving the water efficiency of the system. The benefit over in-duct electrical steam humidifiers is a reduction in energy cost. The energy required to evaporate the water can be taken from the airstream, if excess heat is available, or from cheaper gas-fired pre-heating.
The Condair MC incorporates glass-fibre evaporative media, which the company says has a long operational lifetime and is impregnated with antimicrobial additives for hygienic operation. The evaporative media has been independently tested and found to be non-particle releasing, and Euro Class A2-S2-D0 (UL 900) flammability rated.
The Condair MC has automated flush and drain cycles to ensure the water in the system is fresh and hygienic. Any sustained period of non-operation will initiate a drain of the system to ensure water cannot stagnate. An optional submerged UV sterilisation system is available to kill micro-organisms in the water and further enhance hygienic operation.
The hydraulic module can incorporate up to three low energy, long-life pumps, with frictionless magnetic impellors that Condair says are almost silent in operation. The pumps provide water to the evaporative module in stages in order to provide more accurate control over humidification than single-stage systems. As the humidifier has multiple pumps, its energy consumption is proportionate to output. According to the company, electrical consumption ranges from 74W, with only one pump operating, to 145W with three.
The Condair MC’s control panel provides PCB controlled operation of the humidifier, BMS connectivity via Modbus, as well as LED indication of operational status and fault diagnostics.
Read the company profile of Condair in HVAC&R Search.
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