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Montreal, May 1, 2007 - Dectron Internationale (TSX: DTL):, a leader in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, indoor air security and water generation markets, is pleased to announce its financial results for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2007 (in thousands of Canadian dollars) ...
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| Dectron DRY-O-TRON |
October 26, 2001 |
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New Correctional Facility's IAQ Goes High Tech With State-of-the Art HVAC System.
Mechanical contractor installs escape-proof duct work.
Bainbridge, Ga.- Correctional facilities have a public perception of being sultry buildings in summer months, but the state of Georgia is setting new standards in indoor air quality (IAQ) with its current new construction program.
The new 14,000-square-foot Bainbridge Probation Substance Abuse Treatment Center, a Georgia Department of Corrections (GDOC) minimum security operation in Bainbridge, Ga., has successfully tested an efficient HVAC design under the guidance of GDOC's Danny Brown, director of engineering and construction, with James (Bill) Knox, project manager. The GDOC now plans to use it for other new and retrofitted facilities. Bainbridge is part of the GDOC Commissioner James Wetherington's ongoing quest of upgrading the state's correctional facility system.
Instead of using conventional DX rooftop air conditioners, the innovative design by mechanical/electrical/plumbing consulting engineer firm, Jordan & Skala Engineers Inc., Norcross, Ga. uses packaged outdoor air dehumidifiers by Dectron Internationale, Roswell, Ga. to supply cooled or heated dehumidified air. The four Dry-O-TronÒ DK-30 units and accompanying outdoor condensers satisfy outdoor air requirements by efficiently dehumidifying southeast Georgia's notoriously hot and humid air and using compressor hot gas for reheat when desired.
Current American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards of 20 cfm/person of outdoor air at correctional facilities have made cooling public buildings problematic for consulting engineers especially in highly humid regions. Relying solely on traditional split systems or rooftop units to reduce humidity is both inefficient and sometimes unattainable on hot and humid summer days. The sensible heat ratio of a conventional air conditioning system is at best 0.70 versus the 0.48 required to deliver the ideal conditions of this project.
The human element and the building envelope design add to the moisture load as well. Each of the four 2,500-square-foot barrack-style day rooms at Bainbridge, which can house up to 25 inmates, have few windows for security reasons. "Because correctional facilities have so few windows, there's no solar effect, which would normally increase the room sensible heat ratio," said Craig Gradick, P.E., project engineer, Jordan & Skala Engineers, a firm that has designed systems for more than 25 correctional facilities. "When you combine outdoor humidity with the indoor moisture produced by inmates 24-hours per day in a single room with few windows, controlling humidity can be a prominent problem. Conventional air conditioning will satisfy temperature set points (sensible load) prematurely without running long enough to bring humidity (latent load) to comfortable levels.
In order to supply 20 cfm/person of outdoor air, Gradick's air distribution design of 1,850 cfm per day room draws 52 percent outdoor air and 48 percent return air. This results in 3.8 air changes per hour. Each unit is controlled by a room thermostat and humidistat by Honeywell Inc., Golden Valley, Minn.
While the mechanical contracting portion of the project was routine, Dodge Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., Eastman, Ga., did have to fabricate "escape-proof" ductwork. The 30-year old firm welded steel bars in ducts to block an inmate's passage. An extra measure of security involved one-way screws in the supply registers that can only be removed by cutting them out, according to Deborah Davis, Dodge's manager of plan and specifications.
Gradick's specification of hot gas reheat option on each Dectron unit will save the GDOC operating expenses. Each unit's hot gas reheat coil uses energy from the refrigeration cycle and does not rely on an added heat source for reheat when in the dehumidification mode. Each unit cools the air to a very dry 48°F dew point and then uses hot gas reheat to warm the supply air to room set point of 75°F and 38-percent relative humidity. Hot gas bypass provides cooling capacity reduction on off-peak design days.
Gradick maintains a neutral building pressure by relieving the outdoor air through fans in each day room's bathroom, which is sized for 2 cfm/sq. ft.
Bainbridge also has 2,500 square feet of offices and a guard tower that are supplied by conventional air conditioning units manufactured by Carrier Corp., Syracuse, N.Y.
By specifying split-system packaged make-up air dehumidifiers, architect firm, Ingram Parris Group, Valdosta, Ga., received an aesthetic benefit from the standpoint that the roof's sight lines remain clear of equipment clutter. Instead, the equipment is hidden away in a 1,000-square-foot mechanical room that also has a Bryan Steam Corp., Peru, Ind., 450,000-BTU flex-tube boiler and two Taco, Cranston, R.I., ¾-hp. pumps. The boiler and pump combination supply hot water to factory-installed coils in the Dry-O-Tron units when heat is needed in winter months.
Bainbridge's HVAC is serving as a state-of-the-art example that the GDOC hopes to use in future buildings. Already, the Whitworth Probation Detention Center, now under construction in Whitworth, Ga., is employing a similar make-up air dehumidifier-based design as its source HVAC system.
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