Re: What is the best solution for microscopy room cooling?

Posted by Wolfgang Staroske on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/What-is-the-best-solution-for-microscopy-room-cooling-tp7582697p7582708.html

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Dear Oliver,

I would first consider the amount of heat you dissipate. Do you really
will have three confocals in each room ? This doesn't sound reasonable
to me. You will probably also have some WF and other systems with much
smaller heat generation. A clever combination of these systems should be
considered to get it at least down to 8kW. This still need a lot of air
ventilated through the room. We have usually one confocal and one other
system in 13sqm room.

From our experience a standard confocal (without two-photon) also
doesn't require a very precise temperature control.

We also considered your version 2) for our new building, because we had
very good experience with that in our EM facility. There the textile
tubes are along the side walls, close to the ground. Of course you loose
some room, but you get a very gentle air stream of cold air close to the
ground.

We were not allowed to use this solution for our LM facility due to
biological safety regulations. There is no way to disinfect a textile
tube, if somebody spills stuff over.

So our final solution: We have 1m high quarter cylinders in 2 or all 4
room corners, as cool air outlets. They are made from powder-coated steel.

One very important point to consider is a very good isolation of all
tubes/channels with cool water and air. Otherwise you will run into
serious problems with condensing water on humid summer days. Which will
drip onto your very precious instruments.

Bye Wolfgang




Am 01.10.2014 um 18:03 schrieb Oliver Biehlmaier:

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> *****
>
> Dear all,
>
> Around the end of 2018 our light microscopy facility will move into a new building. Even though the date of the move is still quite far in the future, I have to provide the planners with numbers. Whereas the number of electronic and internet plugs as well as IT connection speed etc is no problem, it seems to be quite difficult to find an adequate solution for room cooling / air conditioning.
> I searched the list for the topic and only found a thread from 2009. As this is a quite important issue for any microscopy facility, I’d like to take the opportunity to ask for some feedback and if possible images of your solutions. All comments on what to do and what definitely not to do are very welcome!
>
> The new Biozentrum building will be a low-energy-consumption building (Minergie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minergie) which means that there will only be a minimal exchange of air in the rooms.
> The new rooms will be approx. 20sqm large (215 square foot) and I am planning to put 3 systems max. into each room. A confocal with an argon laser generates approx. 4kW, so in a worst case scenario we will have to be able to cope with 12kW/room. Referring to this calculation, I told the planners that we will need 15kW of cooling capacity per microscope room.
>
> So far the planners offered 2 solutions for cooling:
>
> 1) the conventional convection cooling solution:  3 big boxes at the ceiling, each with a center inlet and 4 surrounding lamellar outlets
> =very loud, cool air “falling down”, difficult to reach homogeneous temperature distribution.
>
> 2) a more sophisticated version: based on roller-type fans with long textile tube outlets
> This solution can be combined with a diffusor covering the entire room ceiling thereby providing a more homogeneous air distribution and less noise.
> However, to accomplish this, we will have to agree to a room height of 230cm (7.55ft). Except for our 2PH system this should not be a problem.
> I think that solution 2) could be a reasonable solution.
>
> Please let me know how you solved your room cooling, especially in relation to low-energy-consumption buildings with little air volume exchange.
>
> Cheers,
> Oliver
>
>
> Oliver Biehlmaier, PhD | Head of Imaging Core Facility  | Biozentrum, University of Basel | Klingelbergstrasse 50/70 | CH-4056 Basel
> Phone: [phone] | Email: [hidden email] | www.biozentrum.unibas.ch | www.microscopynetwork.unibas.ch
>

--
Dr. Wolfgang Staroske

Single Molecule Specialist
Light Microscopy Facility

Technische Universität Dresden
Biotechnology Center
Tatzberg 47/49
01307 Dresden, Germany

Tel.: [phone]
Fax.: [phone]
E-Mail: [hidden email]
Webpage: www.biotec.tu-dresden.de