19-Munters Dehumidification Dehumidifier Design Services News 160508

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Dehumidification
Dehumidifier Design Services

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Munters Dehumidifiers Click With Kodak

Using Munters desiccant dehumidification technology enables Kodak, the world ’s largest photographic material manufacturer, to obtain accurate, consistent test results in the shortest time possible at the company ’s research facility in Harrow.

Here, tests are carried out as part of worldwide research and development. A scaled down version of the photographic film production line is used to simulate manufacturing conditions for new material and products, and to do pilot runs. The test facility has two stages.
Firstly, in a setting section the jelly-like emulsion which is spread on the film is set at temperatures approaching zero. Secondly, a drying track is used to dry the emulsion.

At both stages, dry air accelerates the process. Close control of dew point is essential for accurate test results. The dry air is supplied by a Munters desiccant dehumidifier which handles 16800m3/hr of air with a dew point sensor, linked to a computer to modulate dew point levels and accurately record the results.T he dew point is maintained at -6.5 ºC which is the temperature at which condensation occurs n the surfaces.

Because of the dry atmosphere and low dewpoint,moisture is dried efficiently from the emulsion. The tolerance is ºC.

Munters desiccant dehumidifiers are widely used by Kodak to increase production of film drying and maintain ideal conditions for quality control. In the test area, however, the company previously used a refrigerant dehumidification system which struggled to maintain conditions at very low dew points. The was scrapped in a move to eliminate all CFCs from the site and provide a more efficient drying system.

Kodak's design engineer explained “Apart from the fact that it had low installation and running costs, we found that the Munters machine gave us very close control and therefore the greatest versatility to run tests under varying dew point conditions. It is also easy to maintain and could befitted into the restricted space we had available”.

The Munters desiccant dehumidifier supplies 13,400m3 of dry air an hour to the drying and 3,400m3 to chill the room. It dries the air by passing it through a slowly revolving wheel packed with a honeycomb-like structure coated with a desiccant material. This gives a controllable, energy-efficient method of drying air without the use of CFCs or other ozone-depleting gases.

Cooling systems cannot always achieve the necessary dew-point without freezing the condensate, requiring de-frost/reheat and duplicate coils, and which would prove erratic and inefficient in operation.

Often, humidity levels are required well below those practically achievable by conventional cooling coils, and here the Munters dehumidifier is the perfect solution, and is capable of achieving low humidity air down to -50 ºC dew-point where necessary.

The benefits include:
• Temperature and humidity control achieved separately
• No need for over cooling to achieve required dew point
• Coil frosting/defrost eliminated
• Simple controls to water or varying demands
•Very low running costs versus electrical refrigeration/re-heat for dehumidification