Condair Mk5 - Functional Description

9
3.5 Functional description
TheCondairMk5steamhumidierisanunpressurizedsteamgenerator.Itoperatesontheresistance
heatingprincipleandisdesignedfordirect(withfanunit)andindirect(withsteamdistributionpipe)
roomairhumidicationinventilatingandair-conditioningsystems.Inconjunctionwitha“Process”steam
distributionpipetheunitmaybeusedforhumidicationinlaboratoryandprocessapplications.
Water supply
Thewateristakenviaaltervalve(accessory“Z261”)tothesteamhumidier.Itreachesthesteam
cylinderviatheinletvalve(levelcontrolled)andtheopenwatercup.
Level regulation
Thewaterlevelinthesteamcylinderiscontinuouslymonitoredwiththelevelunit.Ifthewaterlevel
reachesapresetlevel(owingtotheevaporationprocess)thelevelunitsuppliesasignaltothecon-
troller.Thisopenstheinletvalveandthesteamcylinderislledup.Whenthepresetoperatinglevelis
reached, the level unit supplies another signal to the controller to close the inlet valve.
Thepressureequalizingpipebetweenthesteamconnectionandthelevelunitensuresthatthewater
levels are the same in the steam cylinder and the level unit.
Steam generation regulation
Thesteamisproducedinthesteamcylinderbyseveralresistanceheatingelements.Anexternalor
the internal regulator for connection as required control the steam production fully variably from 0 to
100 %.
Flushing
Theevaporationprocessincreasestheconcentrationofmineralsinthewaterofthesteamcylinder.A
suitablevolumeofwatermustbeushedthroughthesteamcylinderfromtimetotimeandreplaced
byfreshwatertoensurethatthisconcentrationdoesnotexceedaspecicvalueunsuitableforopera-
tion.
TheMk5steamhumidierperformsanauto-adaptiveushing.Thisconsistsofthefollowingtwoforms
ofushing:
– Automatic ushing takesplaceassoonasthewaterinthesteamcylinderexceedstheupper
operatinglevel(e.g.byfoamingofthewater).
– Flushing dependent on time performstheushingprocessatpreselectedtimeintervals(seesec-
tion6.1“Adjustments”).
Automaticortime-dependentushingtakesplacedependingonthewaterqualityandtheoperating
data.Ifthelowestoperatinglevelisreachedduringtheushingprocess,theinletvalveremainsopen
untilthewaterlevelinthesteamcylinderhasreachedthenormalworkinglevelagain.Ifthelowest
operating level is not reached, the inlet valve is closed.
Lime collector tank
The minerals precipitated by the evaporation process accumulate at the bottom of the steam cylinder.
Unitsdesignedforoperationwithuntreateddrinkingwaterareequippedwithanadditionallimecol-
lectortanklocateddirectlyunderneaththesteamcylinder.Thiswaythemineralsdonotaccumulate
inthesteamcylinderbutmainlyinthecollectortankthusextendingtheserviceintervalsandreducing
the maintenance costs.
Unitsdesignedforoperationwithfullydemineralizedwaterdonothavealimecollectortankasfully
demineralizedwatercontainsonlysmallamountsofminerals.