Aerotech Fans
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Technical answers to common questions about air cooling units.
The Approach Temperature is the difference between the cold air leaving the air washer and the ambient wet-bulb temperature. A highly efficient air washer with dense atomization can achieve an approach of 2°F to 3°F, meaning it has evaporated the maximum physical amount of water into the airstream.
Two-Stage Indirect/Direct Evaporative Cooling (IDEC) uses a sensible heat exchanger in the first stage to drastically cool the recirculated air without adding any moisture. The direct evaporative stage only engages outside the data center envelope, preventing internal humidity spikes.
The cooling capacity of an industrial air washer is mathematically limited by the ambient wet-bulb depression (the difference between the dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures). The system can cool the air close to the wet-bulb temperature, but it can never physically drop below it.
PVC eliminator plates in an Air Washer should be pressure-washed quarterly. If biological slime (algae) or mineral scaling builds up on the zig-zag profiles, it drastically increases static pressure drop and allows nuisance water droplets to carry over into the supply ductwork.
An IDEC unit consumes approximately 1.5 to 2.0 gallons of water per hour for every 1,000 CFM of airflow, depending on the ambient wet-bulb depression. While they consume water, the immense savings in mechanical refrigeration electricity (PUE reduction) makes them highly cost-effective.
No, adiabatic air washers rely entirely on the wet-bulb depression to function. In tropical or highly humid coastal climates where the ambient air is already near 100% relative humidity, water cannot evaporate into the airstream, rendering direct evaporative cooling completely ineffective.
