News
Energy savings for space facility
When new air handling units (AHUs) were required at the Ruag Space facility in Gothenburg, Sweden, four certified AHUs from IV Produkt were the star selection. The facility develops and manufactures space industry equipment and required a completely controlled indoor climate in clean rooms for the manufacturing for products and components such as electronics. As well as manufacturing areas, the ventilation system had to be customised for the customer’s varied operations, including office space and restaurant. It was therefore imperative that the AHUs had proven and reliable performance to meet all the clients’ requirements.
The products
In clean rooms, it is vital that manufacturing takes place with low amounts of environmental pollutants. IV Produkt installed four air handling units – two from the certified Flexomix range and two from the certified Envistar Flex range. One of the Flexomix units is a recirculation unit, which together with a humidification solution from the consultant firm on the project, Consat, achieves precisely the right temperature and humidity in the clean rooms. The second Flexomix air handling unit with plate heat exchanger recovers heat from the extract air and provides fresh air.
The Envistar Flex units with counter-flow heat exchangers are equipped with IV Produkt’s ODS patented defrosting technology and the heat recovery makes for a high annual energy efficiency. The AHUs ensure good indoor air in the lab environment, where the risk of contaminated air returning to the supply air must be eliminated.
The project
The project itself held two big challenges:
- Some of the air handing units had to be hand-carried in small sections and site-assembled in a tight space on the 2nd floor.
- One of Ruag Space’s requirements was that the production should not stop during the installation of the new air handling units. Installers had just an hour to shut down the old units and commission the new ones.
Careful and meticulous planning was therefore required leading up to the installation, resulting in an excellent outcome for end users and the facility’s sustainability goals.
In the clean rooms, the staff had previously experienced a draft from the ventilation system. This is no longer the case, as the new ventilation system can be better adapted and controlled than before. The system has resulted in a more stable humidity and particle level in the clean rooms - a crucial factor in manufacturing.
Additionally, the project has demonstrated significant energy savings. The average annual saving is 4.4 million kWh, which corresponds to a saving of 55 percent. Using €0.10/kWh as a calculation example, that equals an annual cost saving of €440.000!
Lars-Olof Lindehede, responsible project manager and systems technician at consultant firm Consat, believes Ruag Space is a world-class project from a savings and sustainability perspective. Lars-Olof commented, “The collaboration with IV Produkt is positive in every way, no matter where in Sweden we deal with them. They are in complete control, throughout the entire project. It feels safe and secure, and they contribute with a lot of knowledge in the projects.”
Proven performance
Being able to trust product performance, reliability and energy efficiency is vital in aerospace projects such as the Ruag Space facility. With highly controlled indoor environments required across clean rooms and manufacturing areas, and comfortable indoor environments required across office and restaurant space, the project placed varied and precise demands on the AHU systems.
This is where proven product performance is essential. For the HVAC and Refrigeration professional the added value of choosing a Eurovent certified product includes:
- Assurance that HVAC and Refrigeration systems will perform as expected.
- Free access to transparent, reliable and universally understood performance data, to search and compare products.
- The assurance that product data is accurate and has been independently tested by an expert, third-party.