CA1100808A - Sterile air recycling apparatus - Google Patents
Sterile air recycling apparatusInfo
- Publication number
- CA1100808A CA1100808A CA317,335A CA317335A CA1100808A CA 1100808 A CA1100808 A CA 1100808A CA 317335 A CA317335 A CA 317335A CA 1100808 A CA1100808 A CA 1100808A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- air
- housing
- room
- inlet
- blower
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Landscapes
- Ventilation (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A sterile air recycling module is mounted to a wall of a room and includes a housing having an outlet for discharging sterile or clean air into the room, opposed grilled inlets for controlling the volume of air drawn into the interior of the housing from the room, and an inlet for fresh air or plant conditioned air, a supply pressure plenum chamber within the housing for discharging air through a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter which is in fluid communication with the housing outlet, and a blower within the housing for withdrawing air from a negative pres-sure plenum within the housing and an outlet in fluid com-munication with the supply pressure plenum, the housing in-lets being in fluid communication with the negative pressure plenum.
A sterile air recycling module is mounted to a wall of a room and includes a housing having an outlet for discharging sterile or clean air into the room, opposed grilled inlets for controlling the volume of air drawn into the interior of the housing from the room, and an inlet for fresh air or plant conditioned air, a supply pressure plenum chamber within the housing for discharging air through a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter which is in fluid communication with the housing outlet, and a blower within the housing for withdrawing air from a negative pres-sure plenum within the housing and an outlet in fluid com-munication with the supply pressure plenum, the housing in-lets being in fluid communication with the negative pressure plenum.
Description
~l~U8~08 This invention relates to a sterile air module that includes a high efficiency particule air filter and a blower for discharging air under pressure through the blower. More particularly this invention relates to a sterile air room module for a clean room that has a fresh air inlet, room air inlets, a filtered air outlet, a high efficiency particulate air filter in the outlet and a blower for drawing air through the inlets and discharging air to pass through the filter and the outlet.
In the prior art it is old to provide a filter sys-tem for a clean room that includes a housing having a single air inlet, and an outlet, a high efficiency particulate air filter in the outlet, and a blower in the housing for draw-ing air in through the inlet and discharging air through the filter to pass through the outlet; for example see my U.S.
Patent, Patent No. 3,828,530. Further it is old to provide clean rooms, free from particulate matter and suitable for medical research, surgery theaters, patient care rooms, and sophisticated industrial processes by circulating HEPA fil-tered air downwardly from ceiling to floor or across from wall to wall, in each case carrying return room air through ducts external to ~e room back to blowers and HEPA filters for recyling. However, such prior art filter systems do not provide for both recirculating room air and discharging fresh air into the room. In order to provide a sterile air module that filters both recycled room air and fresh air, this in-vention has been made.
An object of this invention is to provide new and novel means for recycling room air and fresh air and filter ~ Ut~
the air before discharge into the room to result in an air quality that meets Federal Standard 209b. Another object of this invention is to provide new and novel means for selectively controlling the amount of fresh makeup air dis-charged into a room and independently selectively control-ling the rate of recycling air in the room with both the fresh air and recycled air being HEPA filtered before being discharged into the room.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a somewhat schematic showing of the apparatus of this invention mounted in a room for recycling room air and discharging fresh air into the room;
Figure 2 is a horizontal cross sectional view of the sterile air recycling module of this invention, said view being generally taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of Figure 3:
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical cross sectional view generally taken along the line and in the direction of arrows 3-3 of Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the wall of the module that has the fresh air opening therein.
Referring now to the drawings, there is schemati-cally shown a room having a ceiling 10, a floor 12 and side walls 11 and 13. The sterile air recycling module of this invention, generally designated 15, is mounted by the ceiling to extend therethrough, the module including opposite side walls 16 and 17, opposite end walls 18, a front or bottom wall 1~0~8~)8 l9, and a top or rear wall2~. The bottom wall l9 includes a perimetric flange portion l9d that defines an opening l9b in which an air diffuser panel l9a is mounted. The panel l9a has a plurality of air diffuser passageways l9c extend-ing therethrough for discharging air vertically downwardly into the room interior.
Mounted in the housing interior is a high effici-ency particulate air (HEPA) filter F that includes a filter frame 21 and filter material 22. The filter F has at least a 75 percent efficiency for the removal of 0.3 micron par-ticles as determined by the standard D.O.P. Test of the Army Chemical Corps and preferably provides 99.9 percent removal of all aerosol particulate contaminants 0.3 microns or larger, as defined by government specifications TID-7023, High Effi-ciency Particulate Air Filter Units.
Plenum chamber side walls 25, end walls 26, and top wall 27 are joined together to in conjunction with the filter F define an air tight supply pressure plenum chamber 24 in fluid communication with the filter material 22. The plenum chamber top wall 27 is provided with an inlet opening 28, a flexible duct 29 being connected to the plenum chamber top wall for placing the inlet opening 28 in fluid communication with the outlet 30 of the blower B. The blower is mounted within the housing by a suitable blower mount 32 which may be mounted by one of end walls 18. The blower has an inlet 31 that opens within the housing and preferably is of an adjustable speed type for selectively varying the volume of air discharged thereby per unit of time.
The filter F, the supply pressure plenum 25-27, the duct 29, and the blower B are connected to one another 8~3 and mounted in the housing to in conjunction with the hous-ing walls defining a negative pressure plenum chamber 47 to which the blower inlet 31 opens. Thus, when the blower is operating, air in the negative pressure plenum chamber 47 is drawn through the inlet 31 to flow through the duct 29 and the supply pressure plenum chamber 24 to the filter F
and then therethrough to be discharged through the diffuser panel openings l9C. Accordingly, when the blower is oper-ating, the air that is discharged through the diffuser panel openings (both room air and fresh air) first flows through the filter to be filtered thereby.
For supplying fresh air to the negative pressure plenum 47, the housing top wall 20 is provided with an inlet opening 34, a duct 35 that provides fresh air to the inlet 34 being connected to a suitable conditioned air source 50, for example, rough filtered, heated or cooled, humidified or dehumidified air system that is usually installed in a build-ing or plant for air ventilation purposes and usuallyp~o-vides air under pressure. The air flow from source 50 to the negative pressure plenum chamber 47 is controlled by a suitable valving component, for example a damper 36 mounted in the duct 35 (or may be a damper, not shown, mounted by wall 20 for partially or completely closing opening 34).
Each of the side walls 16 and 17 is provided with a plurality of grill inlet openings 41 that open to the room interior. Mounted within each grill opening is a grill frame 43 on which there is provided a movable grill 42 for adjustably controlling the volume of the air flow through the grill opening. The grill members 42, 43 may be of any suitable conventional construction. For example, each grill 42 may be provided with a knob 56 for moving grill 42 be-tween a position to partially close the opening defined by grill frame 43 and a closed position to prevent air inflow through the respective opening 41. The grill openings open to the negative pressure plenum 47 and are located more re-mote from the housing top wall 20 than the flanges 45 that are joined to the walls 16-18 for mounting the module on the ceiling.
A suitable door (not shown) may be provided in one of the housing walls 16, 17, 18, 20 or the diffuser panel mounted in a manner to permit changing the filter F and do-ing maintenance work on the blower.
A conventional room outflow grill 60, preferably ad-justable, is provided in one of the room walls. The outflow grill 60 is in fluid communication with an exhaust duct 61 that discharges the exhaust air at a suitable location. The grill 60 permits an outflow of air from the room R that is equal to the inflow of fresh air from duct 35.
In using the apparatus of this invention, the damper 36 is adjusted so that the fresh air inflow is compatible with the number of people in the room and the heating or cooling load. The fresh air inflow results in air in the room exhausting through exhaust duct 61 whereby there is a reduction in objectionable odors in the room. The recycled air flow CFM is selected to provide a room air change rate that removes contaminants to meet the air quality cleanness desired. The recycled room air, for example 15 air filtered room air changes per hour, is controlled by the inflow grill members 42, 43 while the total air flow (discharged through the diffuser panel) is controlled by adjusting the blower speed. Accordingly, with the blower operating, air from the room interior is drawn through the grilled openings 41 into the plenum chamber 47 while air from duct 35 passes through the inlet 34 into said plenum chamber 47. Air in the p'enum chamber 47 is drawn into the blower inlet 31 ~d discharged under pressure through duct 29 to the pressure plenum 24 whereupon it passes through the filter F and thence through the diffuser panel to flow downwardly generally as indicated by arrows 52. Assuming the unit 15 is generally in the cen~
tral part ~ the room and there is only one such unit in the room, as the air flows downwardly it will diffuse and spread out as indicated by arrows 53, 54 toward the vertical room walls and thence upwardly and inwardly toward the grilled openings 41 such as indicated in Figure 1.
With the apparatus of this invention, the air flow can be controlled so as to provide the desired amount of .
fresh make-up air flowing into the room with independent control of the recirculated air within the room, via room air change rate. Further, if necessary more than one of the modules 15 may be mounted in, for example, in the ceil-ing of a large room and connected to the source 50 in a manner previously indicated if one such module does not have the capacity to maintain an air quality of a desired cleanliness.
Even though the invention has been described with reference to the unit 15 being mounted in the ceiling, it is to be understood that it may be mounted in one of the 8~8 vertical walls of the room to discharge toward the opposite vertical wall. For example wall lO could be considered one side wall and wall 12 an opposite side wall while wall 20 of the housing would be a vertical rear wall rather than the top wall thereof.
In the prior art it is old to provide a filter sys-tem for a clean room that includes a housing having a single air inlet, and an outlet, a high efficiency particulate air filter in the outlet, and a blower in the housing for draw-ing air in through the inlet and discharging air through the filter to pass through the outlet; for example see my U.S.
Patent, Patent No. 3,828,530. Further it is old to provide clean rooms, free from particulate matter and suitable for medical research, surgery theaters, patient care rooms, and sophisticated industrial processes by circulating HEPA fil-tered air downwardly from ceiling to floor or across from wall to wall, in each case carrying return room air through ducts external to ~e room back to blowers and HEPA filters for recyling. However, such prior art filter systems do not provide for both recirculating room air and discharging fresh air into the room. In order to provide a sterile air module that filters both recycled room air and fresh air, this in-vention has been made.
An object of this invention is to provide new and novel means for recycling room air and fresh air and filter ~ Ut~
the air before discharge into the room to result in an air quality that meets Federal Standard 209b. Another object of this invention is to provide new and novel means for selectively controlling the amount of fresh makeup air dis-charged into a room and independently selectively control-ling the rate of recycling air in the room with both the fresh air and recycled air being HEPA filtered before being discharged into the room.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a somewhat schematic showing of the apparatus of this invention mounted in a room for recycling room air and discharging fresh air into the room;
Figure 2 is a horizontal cross sectional view of the sterile air recycling module of this invention, said view being generally taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of Figure 3:
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical cross sectional view generally taken along the line and in the direction of arrows 3-3 of Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the wall of the module that has the fresh air opening therein.
Referring now to the drawings, there is schemati-cally shown a room having a ceiling 10, a floor 12 and side walls 11 and 13. The sterile air recycling module of this invention, generally designated 15, is mounted by the ceiling to extend therethrough, the module including opposite side walls 16 and 17, opposite end walls 18, a front or bottom wall 1~0~8~)8 l9, and a top or rear wall2~. The bottom wall l9 includes a perimetric flange portion l9d that defines an opening l9b in which an air diffuser panel l9a is mounted. The panel l9a has a plurality of air diffuser passageways l9c extend-ing therethrough for discharging air vertically downwardly into the room interior.
Mounted in the housing interior is a high effici-ency particulate air (HEPA) filter F that includes a filter frame 21 and filter material 22. The filter F has at least a 75 percent efficiency for the removal of 0.3 micron par-ticles as determined by the standard D.O.P. Test of the Army Chemical Corps and preferably provides 99.9 percent removal of all aerosol particulate contaminants 0.3 microns or larger, as defined by government specifications TID-7023, High Effi-ciency Particulate Air Filter Units.
Plenum chamber side walls 25, end walls 26, and top wall 27 are joined together to in conjunction with the filter F define an air tight supply pressure plenum chamber 24 in fluid communication with the filter material 22. The plenum chamber top wall 27 is provided with an inlet opening 28, a flexible duct 29 being connected to the plenum chamber top wall for placing the inlet opening 28 in fluid communication with the outlet 30 of the blower B. The blower is mounted within the housing by a suitable blower mount 32 which may be mounted by one of end walls 18. The blower has an inlet 31 that opens within the housing and preferably is of an adjustable speed type for selectively varying the volume of air discharged thereby per unit of time.
The filter F, the supply pressure plenum 25-27, the duct 29, and the blower B are connected to one another 8~3 and mounted in the housing to in conjunction with the hous-ing walls defining a negative pressure plenum chamber 47 to which the blower inlet 31 opens. Thus, when the blower is operating, air in the negative pressure plenum chamber 47 is drawn through the inlet 31 to flow through the duct 29 and the supply pressure plenum chamber 24 to the filter F
and then therethrough to be discharged through the diffuser panel openings l9C. Accordingly, when the blower is oper-ating, the air that is discharged through the diffuser panel openings (both room air and fresh air) first flows through the filter to be filtered thereby.
For supplying fresh air to the negative pressure plenum 47, the housing top wall 20 is provided with an inlet opening 34, a duct 35 that provides fresh air to the inlet 34 being connected to a suitable conditioned air source 50, for example, rough filtered, heated or cooled, humidified or dehumidified air system that is usually installed in a build-ing or plant for air ventilation purposes and usuallyp~o-vides air under pressure. The air flow from source 50 to the negative pressure plenum chamber 47 is controlled by a suitable valving component, for example a damper 36 mounted in the duct 35 (or may be a damper, not shown, mounted by wall 20 for partially or completely closing opening 34).
Each of the side walls 16 and 17 is provided with a plurality of grill inlet openings 41 that open to the room interior. Mounted within each grill opening is a grill frame 43 on which there is provided a movable grill 42 for adjustably controlling the volume of the air flow through the grill opening. The grill members 42, 43 may be of any suitable conventional construction. For example, each grill 42 may be provided with a knob 56 for moving grill 42 be-tween a position to partially close the opening defined by grill frame 43 and a closed position to prevent air inflow through the respective opening 41. The grill openings open to the negative pressure plenum 47 and are located more re-mote from the housing top wall 20 than the flanges 45 that are joined to the walls 16-18 for mounting the module on the ceiling.
A suitable door (not shown) may be provided in one of the housing walls 16, 17, 18, 20 or the diffuser panel mounted in a manner to permit changing the filter F and do-ing maintenance work on the blower.
A conventional room outflow grill 60, preferably ad-justable, is provided in one of the room walls. The outflow grill 60 is in fluid communication with an exhaust duct 61 that discharges the exhaust air at a suitable location. The grill 60 permits an outflow of air from the room R that is equal to the inflow of fresh air from duct 35.
In using the apparatus of this invention, the damper 36 is adjusted so that the fresh air inflow is compatible with the number of people in the room and the heating or cooling load. The fresh air inflow results in air in the room exhausting through exhaust duct 61 whereby there is a reduction in objectionable odors in the room. The recycled air flow CFM is selected to provide a room air change rate that removes contaminants to meet the air quality cleanness desired. The recycled room air, for example 15 air filtered room air changes per hour, is controlled by the inflow grill members 42, 43 while the total air flow (discharged through the diffuser panel) is controlled by adjusting the blower speed. Accordingly, with the blower operating, air from the room interior is drawn through the grilled openings 41 into the plenum chamber 47 while air from duct 35 passes through the inlet 34 into said plenum chamber 47. Air in the p'enum chamber 47 is drawn into the blower inlet 31 ~d discharged under pressure through duct 29 to the pressure plenum 24 whereupon it passes through the filter F and thence through the diffuser panel to flow downwardly generally as indicated by arrows 52. Assuming the unit 15 is generally in the cen~
tral part ~ the room and there is only one such unit in the room, as the air flows downwardly it will diffuse and spread out as indicated by arrows 53, 54 toward the vertical room walls and thence upwardly and inwardly toward the grilled openings 41 such as indicated in Figure 1.
With the apparatus of this invention, the air flow can be controlled so as to provide the desired amount of .
fresh make-up air flowing into the room with independent control of the recirculated air within the room, via room air change rate. Further, if necessary more than one of the modules 15 may be mounted in, for example, in the ceil-ing of a large room and connected to the source 50 in a manner previously indicated if one such module does not have the capacity to maintain an air quality of a desired cleanliness.
Even though the invention has been described with reference to the unit 15 being mounted in the ceiling, it is to be understood that it may be mounted in one of the 8~8 vertical walls of the room to discharge toward the opposite vertical wall. For example wall lO could be considered one side wall and wall 12 an opposite side wall while wall 20 of the housing would be a vertical rear wall rather than the top wall thereof.
Claims (5)
1. Sterile air recycling apparatus mountable on a wall of a room for discharging air into the room interior comprising a housing having walls joined together to form a generally rec-tangular box shaped enclosure, the housing walls including a front wall, a rear wall and opposite side walls, said front wall having an outlet opening, high efficiency filter means mounted in the housing and in fluid communication with the front wall opening for filtering air and discharging filtered air through the front wall opening, the filter means including a HEPA filter, plenum chamber walls within the housing that are joined together to in conjunction with the filter means define a pressure plenum chamber in fluid communication with the HEPA
filter, one of the plenum chamber walls having an inlet opening, a blower mounted within and to the housing and having an inlet opening within the housing exterior to the pressure plenum cham-ber and an outlet and means connecting the blower outlet to the inlet of the plenum chamber wall for placing the last mentioned inlet in fluid communication with the blower outlet, the oppo-site side walls each having a room air inlet opening into the housing exterior of the pressure plenum chamber and in air flow communication with the blower inlet for having air drawn there-through by the blower, the housing having a fresh air inlet opening thereinto exterior of the pressure plenam chamber and remote from the side walls to have fresh air flow therethrough to the blower inlet
filter, one of the plenum chamber walls having an inlet opening, a blower mounted within and to the housing and having an inlet opening within the housing exterior to the pressure plenum cham-ber and an outlet and means connecting the blower outlet to the inlet of the plenum chamber wall for placing the last mentioned inlet in fluid communication with the blower outlet, the oppo-site side walls each having a room air inlet opening into the housing exterior of the pressure plenum chamber and in air flow communication with the blower inlet for having air drawn there-through by the blower, the housing having a fresh air inlet opening thereinto exterior of the pressure plenam chamber and remote from the side walls to have fresh air flow therethrough to the blower inlet
2. The apparatus of claim 1 further characterized in that there is provided means in the housing side wall inlets for controlling the volume of air flowing therethrough.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, or claim 2, further char-acterized in that there is provided means connected to the housing for supplying fresh air from exterior of the room to the fresh air inlet, the last mentioned means including means for controlling the volume of fresh air flowing to the fresh air inlet.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 further characterized in that there is provided mounting flanges joined to the housing side walls, the side wall inlets being located more remote from the housing rear wall than the mounting flanges.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 further characterized that the rear wall has the fresh air inlet and that the housing in-cludes a diffuser panel in the housing front wall outlet that has air passages therethrough for flow of air from the filter means to the room interior.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US83691177A | 1977-12-23 | 1977-12-23 | |
| US836,911 | 1992-02-19 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1100808A true CA1100808A (en) | 1981-05-12 |
Family
ID=25273036
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA317,335A Expired CA1100808A (en) | 1977-12-23 | 1978-12-04 | Sterile air recycling apparatus |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1100808A (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN107990516A (en) * | 2017-12-21 | 2018-05-04 | 河北工业职业技术学院 | The aspiration of negative pressure equipment |
| CN110278920A (en) * | 2019-04-22 | 2019-09-27 | 嵊州陌桑高科股份有限公司 | A kind of formula supply air system from inside to outside being assemblied in industrial aquaculture room |
-
1978
- 1978-12-04 CA CA317,335A patent/CA1100808A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN107990516A (en) * | 2017-12-21 | 2018-05-04 | 河北工业职业技术学院 | The aspiration of negative pressure equipment |
| CN110278920A (en) * | 2019-04-22 | 2019-09-27 | 嵊州陌桑高科股份有限公司 | A kind of formula supply air system from inside to outside being assemblied in industrial aquaculture room |
| CN110278920B (en) * | 2019-04-22 | 2022-03-15 | 嵊州陌桑高科股份有限公司 | From inside to outside formula air supply system of assembling in batch production breed room |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |