Leading air distribution system provider TROX UK has invested over £100,000 in further extending its test facilities and purchase of specialist equipment.
As well as creating six separate test cells for comfort air conditioning and CO2 testing and product development, TROX has also invested in “state of the art” engineering fluid dynamics (EFD) equipment.
The EFD is used to obtain computer visualisations of air distribution in terms of products and can provide a wide range of data prior to any detailed testing being carried out.
For example, on a product such as the new high induction chilled beams there were literally millions of combinations of air nozzle diameter, spacing, angle of discharge, air velocities etc., that needed to be tested to improve the induction of the new beam engine. With EFD all of these variables could be visualised and more rapidly conclusions drawn as to the most likely high performance configuration.
Cliff Bailey, laboratory manager at TROX UK, said: “EFD gave us 6 months testing and results in little over 3 weeks. We were then able to take the recommended options from the EFD analysis and conduct detailed full scale actual testing with the beam engine.”
He went on to say: “We already have a comprehensive physical test facility in the form of our extended six laboratories but this leading edge EFD program will help us develop our products without having to make so many prototypes. It will enable us to validate models, perform prototyping within a controlled computer environment, and then validate another model in what is inevitably an iterative design process.
“This means we can fine-tune the systems we are proposing precisely matching the needs of our customers. And, because we do away with the need to manufacture a lot of prototypes, we save time and money for both our customers and for ourselves.”
Other features and benefits of this EFD package are its pinpoint accuracy and massive analytical power which means that TROX can precisely predict the behaviour of “real world” products. The program is also incredibly efficient so the simulation task can be performed speedily and can include “what-if” variations, increasing the confidence of TROX customers that the proposed installation will perform exactly as predicted.
Mr Bailey added: “Calculating air flow data has traditionally relied on our experience and experimentation which can be laborious and time consuming.
“The program is also excellent for displaying airflow characteristics for use in presentations, which makes it easy for our customers to see how the product will work in practice, and enables us to give everyone involved in the project a common basis for discussions and decision-making over complex technical issues.”
