Aircuity’s airflow optimization platform provides deep energy savings while providing improved Indoor Air Quality and better safety records by combing several patented hardware and control applications along with providing intelligent data to EH&S, animal care and infectious control personnel. Below we will examine the features that allow Aircuity’s solution to provide these benefits for most lab applications.
- MicroDuct: Aircuity’s patented MicroDuct Tubing is one of our most important technological innovations. The MicroDuct is used to transport air sample packets from test area locations back to the Sensor Suit with a pure air sample each time. The patented MicroDuct has properties similar and even better than stainless steel in that it doesn’t allow absorption or desorption of chemicals, similar to stainless, but also doesn’t allow a static charge to build up. It was engineered and tested over many years to ensure common lab IAQ parameters, like TVOCs and particles, can be accurately sampled continuously over time with repeatable accuracy. This is impossible with regular poly tubing as it will foul quickly and build a static charge where particles stick to the sides yielding contaminated samples and inaccurate readings.
- Dedicated Pumps: Aircuity’s design uses a High Flow Vacuum Pump which provides a continuous and dedicated vacuum. The use of chemicals and experiments being conducted in a lab necessitate demand control ventilation systems use such a design to guarantee the amount of vacuum required, quantify the volume of the air sample taken and purge past samples. A system without this design feature has an inherent risk of inaccurate samples from carry over, lack of purging and variable air volumes.
- MOS & PID Sensors: TVOCs are a critical parameter to measure in labs which requires the use of both a Metal Oxide (MOS) and a Photoionization detector (PID). MOS are a very high level and broad range of only a small portion of TVOC’s. It is more important to deploy a 10.6 PID sensor as this is what all lab EH&S professionals rely on for determining lab IAQ. Aircuity implements both the MOS and PID sensors for all lab projects as it provides the only accurate representation of TVOC events. Metal Oxide sensors have more drift and inaccuracies than calibrated PID’s and will miss a large percentage of TVOC’s when utilized in a lab DCV application.
- In demand based control of exhaust fans Aircuity uses specialized TVOC sensors which are required for accurate measurement of more highly toxic chemicals found in the fume hood exhaust applications. This sensor is also used in our vivarium application which requires the measurement of ammonia – also a more specialized measurement application. Combining MOS and our exhaust fan PID for control in this application, again creates the only way to ensure safe turndown.
- Note: When deploying exhaust fan control, Aircuity supports the review from wind tunnel consultants to approve the control design and product being deployed. Without such approval, building operators are at risk for future liabilities.
- Differential Measurement: Aircuity holds a patent on its use of differential measurement to control lab room’s airflow. This is critical to measure the difference between the supply air and what is being generated in the room, as you would not want to increase airflow readings from absolute measurements – doing so could make matters significantly worse. In addition, Aircuity measures the supply air and the room air with the same sensor, thus canceling sensor stacking errors. Trying to manually calculate the difference between two discrete sensors will quickly be wrong as they drift in different amounts and/or directions, not to mention the risk and variability of this control programming being left to BAS technicians in the field.
- Aircuity’s Calibration Laboratory: Aircuity provides fresh sensors calibrated to NIST traceable standards from the calibration laboratory two times a year which are installed by trained technicians. This ensures a safe lab environment and sustained energy savings. Aircuity’s calibration lab now sees close to 10,000 sensors annually and has been doing this for 15 years, making continual enhancements and improvements to each of the sensors deployed.
- Proven Technology: Aircuity has been in operation for 23 years with 1,000 leading institutions & corporate clients around the world. The platform has proven to be reliable and robust which are required for deployment in buildings that will often have a life cycle of over 50 years. Aircuity also has the approval of EH&S professionals who rely on the technology and patents described above for safe lab DCV.