Humidity Control

Lightning Source Printing Company

Ingram Content Group’s global headquarters is located in LaVergne, TN, just outside of Nashville. Renovations at Ingram’s Lightning Source printing facility, also located in LaVergne, increased humidity demand and the existing Condair (Nortec) MLP RO system’s capacity fell short.

Lightning Source Printing Company

Importance of Precise Humidity Control in Printing Facilities

Location: LaVergne, TN

Precise humidification control is a must to maintain printing paper integrity for an efficient printing operation. Sheet and web roll paper are typically wrapped to stay in equilibrium with air at a 50% relative humidity level. If this humidity level is not maintained, the shape, dimensions, and physical properties of the paper could change and adversely affect the printing process. Printing industry presses must feed paper evenly at high speeds. If the facility’s relative humidity level drops below 40%, the movement of paper on paper and other surfaces (printing equipment) will generate electrostatic charges causing the surfaces to stick together and the paper to feed unevenly which could eventually lead to a jam in the printing press.

Renovations to the print floor at Lightning Source, including the addition of new printers and the expansion of the printing area real estate, increased the facility’s humidity demand. The calculated load demand could not be achieved by the existing Condair MLP RO humidification system.

Tom Barrow Company proposed the following two options to Lightning Source:

1) Max out the existing Condair MLP RO system’s capacity and fall short of the calculated humidity requirement.

OR

2) Install a new Condair MLP RO system with enough capacity to support the required additional load demand plus spare capacity for future renovations.

Lightning Source chose option two knowing the importance of maintaining an efficient environment.

Condair’s MLP RO system utilizes RO water and a high-pressure pump with several components pre-assembled at the factory on a metal skid for easy shipment and install. RO water is a key hygienic component of the system. The Condair MLP RO system includes:

• Loose - carbon filter, twin alternating water softener, brine tank
• Factory mounted on skid - 5 micron filter, UV light, RO membrane, high pressure pump, control interface

The above water treatment components, in sequential order, are used to pretreat city water prior to misting discharge. Condair’s MLP RO system’s high-pressure pump delivers RO water through Condair’s ML Flex lines to several microscopic orifices – referred to as advanced atomized nozzles – which generate extremely fine spray of water droplets to ensure efficient evaporation and thus hygienic humidification production and free evaporative cooling. Humidity is delivered on demand based on a humidity sensor signal located in the center of the new zone.

During the initial walk through at Lightning Source, it was determined that we could use the natural draft of the new zone to our advantage by locating nozzles upstream from return air openings and allowing the draft to pull humidity across the space. The install took one week, and field labor included:

1. Customer provided 208 VAC disconnect switch

2. Condair expert piping city water - carbon filter - water softener - 5-micron filter on the skid assembly

3. Condair expert running nozzle lines throughout facility, close to the 33 ft. ceiling height, by use of a scissor lift

4. Condair expert mounting humidity sensor in the middle of the new zone and control wiring termination to control interface on skid assembly

5. Condair expert control calibration and system startup

Needless to say, the MLP RO skid assembly minimized field labor and Lightning Source was appreciative of the Condair turn-key solution.

The University of Memphis Music Building

Facilities that store a large number of musical instruments need precise humidity control. Many instruments, including string instruments, are made of thin wood which are easily affected by temperature and humidity. This can be a challenge when retrofitting older air handling units that, in many cases, are using outdated technology that is neither precise nor energy efficient.

Location: Memphis, TN

Owner: The University of Memphis

Mechanical Engineer: Haltom Engineering, LLC

Mechanical Contractor: Damon Marcus

Manufacturers: Temtrol Custom Air Handling Units, Condair (Nortec) Humidifiers

The University of Memphis found themselves in this situation when looking to retrofit and replace the existing AHU in the basement of their Music building. The scope of the project included the replacement of six units and the addition of one new unit, but with the strict requirement that the replacement units would fit on the existing equipment pads and match up to existing duct and piping arrangements. To accomplish this was a challenge due to the fact that the existing units were older multizone units that did not have an effective humidification system. The University also wanted to save energy by eliminating any steam generating humidifiers. They requested an atomizing humidifier, which while typically requiring less energy to run, would require a much longer AHU footprint than what the existing equipment pad could fit. One last challenge was the access to the basement, as some of the units needed to access the area through a standard door into the mechanical room from a hallway.

Temtrol’s custom AHUs provided the best solution. Their ability to provide a completely custom footprint so as to match the equipment pads, while also allowing custom openings to match the existing supply air zone duct, was a huge labor savings for the contractor. The coil sections also came with custom dimensions to match the existing connections, and by using FANWALL Technology, the unit could be sized to include more components in the air stream without sacrificing the unit footprint. Some of the AHUs shipped as “Rapid Knock Down,” assembled at the contractor’s shop with minimal screws and without sealant. The contractor marked the units based on their scheme, disassembled each section to manageable-sized components, and reassembled the units in the basement. Each fan included its own VFD, wired back to a custom panel for single point control.

When looking at the need for state-of-the-art precision humidification without using steam, the Condair (Nortec) DL system with custom RO skid was a perfect fit. The DL system is a hybrid atomizing/media style humidifier which relies exclusively on the advantages of both humidification methods of atomization and evaporation. This humidification system was therefore the first choice in terms of hygiene, energy efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. The atomizer nozzles’ low-pressure mode of operation translates into significant energy savings due to the lesser compression work, and the evaporator unit uses a patented ceramic evaporator which allows economical use of valuable humidifying water, ensuring hygienic operation. Because of the full-surface layout of the evaporation ceramics and the spray cone of the molecular atomizer nozzles, the overall Installed depth of the Condair (Nortec) DL inside the AHU cabinet could be reduced to up to 23.5 inches (600 mm), resulting in material savings on the AHU length when compared to some other atomizing/media technologies. The units required RO water, and Condair (Nortec) customized a skid-mounted unit using pumps, membranes, a storage tank, dechlorinator, and water softener for a complete system that also provided conductivity monitoring with BMS interface.

Tom Barrow Company was able to couple the two products together in a way that met the needs of both the University and the engineer on a project with challenges not unique to owners looking to update older equipment with state-of-the-art energy saving custom equipment.