Air conditioning system for microscope room containing 2-3 STORM scopes

[Seamus Holden-2]

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I need a good air con system for my new STORM & single molecule microscopy space.
I have observed that the cyclic oscillations of standard lab air con systems cause significant drift on my STORM microscope (beads image actually orbit in little 300 nm circles on the microscope!). Enclosing the main microscope body in a heating unit reduces these problems, but then requires heating above ambient, and the laser optics going into the system are still exposed to large temp oscillations.

We are moving to a new custom space for my microscopes, and I was hoping some listers might have good recommendations for STORM air con systems, either in terms of system requirements, or even brands or (UK) suppliers they may have had good experience with.
My initial thoughts on key requirements were:

-          Sufficient cooling. 6kW was a very rough estimate based on lasers, computers etc for three systems. But this was a very rough estimate.

-          Stable temperature. This bit puzzles me. Slow variations in temp to +/-1C are probably acceptable, what is problematic are the large, rapid cyclic variations often seen on standard air con systems. I guess the cyclic oscillations are caused by simple thermostatic (max/min) based temperature control. Are closed loop/ PID based air con systems commonly used? Has anyone had success with something like that in a microscopy environment?

-          Diffusers - some sort of duct sock type system.


Does anyone have any comments on these very rough requirements, or advice on achieving them?
Has anyone installed air con systems for SR which they have been pleased with?

Thanks
Seamus


Dr Seamus Holden
Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow
Newcastle University
Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology
NE2 4AX, United Kingdom

Phone: [phone]
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/seamusholden/

[Jeremy Adler-5]

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We looked into the general problem a while ago

J. Adler and S.N. Pagakis (2003)
Reducing Image Distortions Due To Temperature Related Microscope Stage Drift
J. Microscopy, 210, 131-137

An important suggestion was to move the heat generating components into another room or into a space/box that is separately air conditioned or ventilated.
People generate heat.

Another suggestion was to  use metals that have very low thermal expansion - as used in watches.

Finally put the important part of the microscope in a thermally insulated box with large thermal mass, which will protect it from the variations produced by the air conditioning.

It is probably better the minimize the problem rather than to correct it with air conditioning.

Jeremy Adler
Uppsala U


-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Seamus Holden
Sent: den 17 januari 2018 12:26
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Air conditioning system for microscope room containing 2-3 STORM scopes

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I need a good air con system for my new STORM & single molecule microscopy space.
I have observed that the cyclic oscillations of standard lab air con systems cause significant drift on my STORM microscope (beads image actually orbit in little 300 nm circles on the microscope!). Enclosing the main microscope body in a heating unit reduces these problems, but then requires heating above ambient, and the laser optics going into the system are still exposed to large temp oscillations.

We are moving to a new custom space for my microscopes, and I was hoping some listers might have good recommendations for STORM air con systems, either in terms of system requirements, or even brands or (UK) suppliers they may have had good experience with.
My initial thoughts on key requirements were:

-          Sufficient cooling. 6kW was a very rough estimate based on lasers, computers etc for three systems. But this was a very rough estimate.

-          Stable temperature. This bit puzzles me. Slow variations in temp to +/-1C are probably acceptable, what is problematic are the large, rapid cyclic variations often seen on standard air con systems. I guess the cyclic oscillations are caused by simple thermostatic (max/min) based temperature control. Are closed loop/ PID based air con systems commonly used? Has anyone had success with something like that in a microscopy environment?

-          Diffusers - some sort of duct sock type system.


Does anyone have any comments on these very rough requirements, or advice on achieving them?
Has anyone installed air con systems for SR which they have been pleased with?

Thanks
Seamus


Dr Seamus Holden
Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow
Newcastle University
Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology
NE2 4AX, United Kingdom

Phone: [phone]
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/seamusholden/

[Michelle Peckham]

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Dear Sean

We had to install a dedicated system for ours, where the cooling units are all mounted outside the room (in fact, outside the building)
Air comes in through ‘socks’ (diffusers) in the room to help avoid drafts,
+/- 1 deg control,
we also avoid being on a centralized university system (where they switch the air-con off at night, to save energy) – which really is a big issue for drift as you can imagine.
 It works well, and our drift is low.
It’s  a couple of years since it was all installed, so would have to look back to check the details, but you are welcome to visit and see what we have if it helps, as we’re not too far away!

Michelle


On 17/01/2018, 11:53, "Confocal Microscopy List on behalf of Seamus Holden" <[hidden email] on behalf of [hidden email]> wrote:

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    http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
    Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
    *****
   
    I need a good air con system for my new STORM & single molecule microscopy space.
    I have observed that the cyclic oscillations of standard lab air con systems cause significant drift on my STORM microscope (beads image actually orbit in little 300 nm circles on the microscope!). Enclosing the main microscope body in a heating unit reduces these problems, but then requires heating above ambient, and the laser optics going into the system are still exposed to large temp oscillations.
   
    We are moving to a new custom space for my microscopes, and I was hoping some listers might have good recommendations for STORM air con systems, either in terms of system requirements, or even brands or (UK) suppliers they may have had good experience with.
    My initial thoughts on key requirements were:
   
    -          Sufficient cooling. 6kW was a very rough estimate based on lasers, computers etc for three systems. But this was a very rough estimate.
   
    -          Stable temperature. This bit puzzles me. Slow variations in temp to +/-1C are probably acceptable, what is problematic are the large, rapid cyclic variations often seen on standard air con systems. I guess the cyclic oscillations are caused by simple thermostatic (max/min) based temperature control. Are closed loop/ PID based air con systems commonly used? Has anyone had success with something like that in a microscopy environment?
   
    -          Diffusers - some sort of duct sock type system.
   
   
    Does anyone have any comments on these very rough requirements, or advice on achieving them?
    Has anyone installed air con systems for SR which they have been pleased with?
   
    Thanks
    Seamus
   
   
    Dr Seamus Holden
    Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow
    Newcastle University
    Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology
    NE2 4AX, United Kingdom
   
    Phone: [phone]
    https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/seamusholden/
   

[Guy Hagen]

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I would try to ensure that you have control over the system if at all
possible. This way you can make it a little warmer, a little cooler, and
turn it on and off as you want. We used to sometimes turn the AC off during
STORM acquisitions to make sure there were no air currents. We also would
use an objective heater to keep the objective at 25 deg. C. This helped
with drift.
good luck!
Guy Hagen

On Wed, Jan 17, 2018 at 4:25 AM, Seamus Holden <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> I need a good air con system for my new STORM & single molecule microscopy
> space.
> I have observed that the cyclic oscillations of standard lab air con
> systems cause significant drift on my STORM microscope (beads image
> actually orbit in little 300 nm circles on the microscope!). Enclosing the
> main microscope body in a heating unit reduces these problems, but then
> requires heating above ambient, and the laser optics going into the system
> are still exposed to large temp oscillations.
>
> We are moving to a new custom space for my microscopes, and I was hoping
> some listers might have good recommendations for STORM air con systems,
> either in terms of system requirements, or even brands or (UK) suppliers
> they may have had good experience with.
> My initial thoughts on key requirements were:
>
> -          Sufficient cooling. 6kW was a very rough estimate based on
> lasers, computers etc for three systems. But this was a very rough estimate.
>
> -          Stable temperature. This bit puzzles me. Slow variations in
> temp to +/-1C are probably acceptable, what is problematic are the large,
> rapid cyclic variations often seen on standard air con systems. I guess the
> cyclic oscillations are caused by simple thermostatic (max/min) based
> temperature control. Are closed loop/ PID based air con systems commonly
> used? Has anyone had success with something like that in a microscopy
> environment?
>
> -          Diffusers - some sort of duct sock type system.
>
>
> Does anyone have any comments on these very rough requirements, or advice
> on achieving them?
> Has anyone installed air con systems for SR which they have been pleased
> with?
>
> Thanks
> Seamus
>
>
> Dr Seamus Holden
> Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow
> Newcastle University
> Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology
> NE2 4AX, United Kingdom
>
> Phone: [phone]
> https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/seamusholden/
>

[Stanislav Vitha-2]

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A good way to deal with cooling is to use radiant cooling panels. Thin metal sandwich panels hanging along the walls, you pump chilled water through the panels to cool the room. This is often used in rooms housing high resolution electron microscopes to control the temperature within a very narrow range and eliminate air currents. For the chilled water, one could use something like a Haskirs chiller sitting in a utility room nearby (a familiar piece of equipment for EM facility).
It is somewhat costly, but gives you extremely stable temperature and you can reduce the air flow in the room to a minimum, since you do not need the air for cooling any more. You just need to satisfy the lab safety requirement for a number of air exchanges  per hour  - check with our health and safety people, I believe the absolute minimum may be around 4 air exchanges per hour, but more commonly it is around 7 or 8.

So you may be OK with either no A/C (just a supply and exhaust blower) or just a small A/C unit to give you a bit extra cooling if needed on occasion. The unit can sit in adjacent room and is ducted, using a diffuser sock to minimize air currents).

We are in a process of remodeling one of our TEM rooms and picked Kigo panels for cooling.
 
For 6 kW heat load you are probably looking at about 30 m2 area of panels, so all or most of your walls would be covered.
Moving some of the heat sources outside the room would be very helpful in terms of cost reduction and easier installation.

If you picked this solution, you are probably looking at $20k to $40k cost, depending how many panels you need, which also dictates what size water chiller you need.
 
I can provide more info and contacts to Kigo representative off the list.

Some references:
1. Muller, D.A., E.J. Kirkland, M.G. Thomas, J.L. Grazul, L. Fitting, and M. Weyland, Room design for high-performance electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy, 2006. 106(11-12): p. 1033-40.
2. Xin, Y., J. Kynoch, K. Han, Z. Liang, P.J. Lee, D.C. Larbalestier, Y.F. Su, K. Nagahata, T. Aoki, and P. Longo, Facility implementation and comparative performance evaluation of probe-corrected TEM/STEM with Schottky and cold field emission illumination. Microsc Microanal, 2013. 19(2): p. 487-95.


Stan Vitha
Microscopy and Imaging Center
Texas A&M University