TROX PIONEERS WITH NEW FCU TEST CHAMBER
30/01/2006
Leading air distribution equipment manufacturer, Trox (UK), has invested £40,000 in a new dedicated facility to test fan coil units at its Thetford, Norfolk factory.
Trox is the only manufacturer with a test chamber that meets the strict demands of BS4856 Part 1 1972: Methods for Testing and Rating Fan Coil Units, Unit Heaters and Unit Coolers, and Eurovent 6/3 –1996: Thermal Test Method for Fan Coil Units.
Ian Sams, marketing manager of Trox UK, said: “The industry is very sceptical of performance claims made by some fan coil unit manufacturers, which are seen as over optimistic. This has been confirmed in a recent article by BSRIA stating that, in their experience, measured fan coil performance can be up to 30% below some manufacturers catalogue data. However, accurate fan coil unit testing can demonstrate that equipment will do exactly what is claimed for it, minimising risks on projects and offering peace of mind to the client, which is why we believe it is essential to offer our clients the ability to easily test our products.”
The Trox chamber can test the thermal output and air volume performance of four-pipe fan coil units, with cooling and heating capacities of up to 6kW and airflow rates between 50 and 500l/s. Both horizontal and vertical units (with or without ducting) can be tested.
For the cooling test, the chamber is heated and humidified. For the heating capacity test it is cooled. Heating and cooling are achieved using a purpose-built air handling unit, sized to produce twice the airflow rate of the largest fan coil to be tested – 1,000l/s (3,600m³/h). This ensures a very even temperature in the test chamber.
The test chamber contains a range of high-precision instrumentation from leading manufacturers, including water and air temperature probes, digital micro-manometers, digital barometers, humidity probes and balances.
An electromagnetic flow meter with an accuracy of better than +/-0.5% is used to measure the water flow, while airflow measurements are made using a nozzle box with AMCA pattern nozzles. Power consumption of the fan coil is measured using a single-phase digital multi-function power meter with a digital output.
This latest addition to Trox’s extensive range of test facilities joins three test laboratory rooms: two at 5.5m by 5.5m by 5m high, and one at 9m by 6m by 3.65m high. These rooms offer the ability to build a mock-up of air distribution scenarios incorporating project-specific chilled beams or fan coil units, grilles, ductwork and ceilings. Tests are then carried out on the whole system for noise and thermal capacity, i.e. heating and cooling, and air distribution - in other words looking at the whole ‘comfort envelope’. The rooms enable Trox to test virtually all room dimension requirements and accurately mimic actual on-site conditions. These real room tests prove the whole system rather than individual products.
Further, to keep itself at the forefront of new product development, the company has a test chamber made from a coldroom-insulated walling system. It is effectively a ‘room within a room’ and is used for cutting-edge research and development work.
