DK178436B1 - Fire Insulation Cabinet for Air Handling Units - Google Patents

Abstract

A fire insulation cabinet configured to provide fire and condense insulation for a single ventilation air handling unit includes multiple panels fixedly attached to each other to define a generally cuboidal/rectangular frame. Each panel assembly includes an inner panel layer, an outer panel layer, and an insulation member sandwiched between the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer, where the insulation member prevents fire and heat transfer from the inner panel layer to the outer panel layer and from the outer panel layer to the inner panel layer. The inner panel layer and the outer panel layer is made of steel. The insulation member is formed of mineral wool. The insulation member is sandwiched between the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer by riveting, where the riveting is done via one or more corner brackets and side brackets.

Description

FIRE INSULATION CABINET FOR AIR HANDLING UNITS BACKGROUND

As the construction of buildings are getting more tightly packed, the air within buildings will become stale from moisture, odors, and other pollutants that penetrate the buildings, or are generated internally by human activity and from diffusion from building materials and furnishings. To reduce these health risks, many countries, for example, Denmark, has implemented the demand in their building regulations, that a balanced air ventilation system with heat recovery has to be installed in the new builds as well as renovated buildings.

The balance air ventilation system with heat recovery is a complete system, consisting of a complete ducting system together with an air handling unit (AHU), whereby a supply air fan supplies a constant flow of fresh filtrated air to the indoor environment, while the polluted stall air is extracted by the exhaust air fan in the AHU. To make sure that the air flows is separated from each other, and no contamination will appear, the fans, and heat exchangers is build into separate chambers in the AHU cabinet. Furthermore the cabinet and inside chambers are insulated so condensate won’t appear and damage the chamber walls.

Incase of fire starting in the building or as a fire triggered by an electronic malfunction inside the AHU. The risk of fire spreading trough out the building by the ducting system, is today eliminated, by building a complete fire compartment surrounding the AHU and supplying the ducting system with fire and smoke dampers.

As disclosed in one of the prior art patents, for example, patent number CN 203595239U which teaches an insulation cabinet configured to provide fire insulation, and suitable for condensate insulation of a ventilation air handling unit. Here, the cabinet comprises a plurality of panel assemblies fixedly attached to each other to define a frame, where each panel comprises an inner metal sheet, an outer metal sheet and an insulation member of mineral wool sandwiched between the two sheets. However, the prior art patent does not disclose a way to prevent leakage of heat from the insulation cabinet. So there is a need for a system or apparatus that prevents leakage of heat from the insulation cabinet.

Today the cabinet of the AHU cannot effectively act as a fire compartment and must be supplemented by a separated fire resistance construction. To simplify the AHU installation on building site, and minimize the use of the expensive and complicated constructions of a fire resistance constructions. There is a long felt, but unresolved need for an AHU that combines condensate insulation and fire insulation in a single AHU, and prevents leakage of heat from the insulation cabinet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The insulation cabinet disclosed herein addresses the above stated need for providing fire and condensate insulation in a single ventilation air handling unit (AHU). The insulation cabinet is configured to provide fire and condensate insulation for a single ventilation air handling unit and comprises multiple panels fixedly attached to each other to define a generally cuboidal frame. Each panel assembly comprises an inner panel layer, an outer panel layer, and an insulation member sandwiched between the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer, the insulation member reduce heat spread and seal the AHU from flame and smoke, and there by prevents fire spread to the adjacent buildings and fire compartments, or in other words, the insulation member prevents fire and smoke spread throughout the single ventilation air handling unit and connected duct systems.

The insulation cabinet consist of a top panel, a bottom panel, a left connector panel, a right connector panel, a front panel, and a rear panel. In an embodiment, the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer is made of steel. Each panel is made by three layers, the insulation member is made by of mineral wool, sandwiched between the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer. The panels, that is, the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer is kept or held together by riveting, where the riveting is done by one or more corner brackets and side brackets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a front perspective view, showing a partial cutaway view of the insulation cabinet.

FIG. 2A exemplarily illustrates front perspective view an internal view of the insulation cabinet, showing the single ventilation air handling unit positioned within the insulation cabinet.

FIG. 2B exemplarily illustrates an external view of the insulation cabinet which positions the single ventilation air handling unit within.

DETAIFED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a front perspective view, showing a partial cutaway view of the insulation cabinet 100. The insulation cabinet 100 configured to provide fire and condensate insulation for a single ventilation air handling unit 200 shown in FIG. 2A, comprises multiple panel assemblies 101 fixedly attached to each other to define a generally cuboidal frame 102. Each panel assembly 101 comprises an inner panel layer 103, an outer panel layer 104, and an insulation member 105 sandwiched between the inner panel layer 103 and the outer panel layer 104, where the insulation member 105 reduces the heat spread at the inner panel layer 103 from transferring to the outer panel layer 104, or the insulation member 105 prevents fire and smoke spread throughout the single ventilation air handling unit 200 and connected duct systems.

If a fire is ignited within the insulation cabinet 100 due to a malfunction of the single ventilation air handling unit 200, the multilayered panel assemblies 101 of the insulation cabinet 100 contain the fire/heat within the insulation cabinet 100 and prevents the fire from spreading to the outside of the cabinet 100. The insulation member 105 reduces the heat spread at the outer panel layer 104 from transferring to the inner panel layer 103. If a fire is ignited and surrounding the outside of the single ventilation air handling unit 200, the multilayered panel assemblies 101 of the insulation cabinet 100 prevent the fire or heat from spreading to the inside of the insulation cabinet 100

The panel assemblies 101 comprises a top panel 101a, a bottom panel 101b, a left connector panel 101c, a right connector panel lOld, a front panel lOle, and a rear panel lOlf. Here, the panels lOle, and lOlf also functions to allow service from both sides, for example, the right side and the left side during a maintenance operation.

The inner panel layer 103 and the outer panel layer 104 is made of, for example, steel. The insulation member 105 is formed of, for example, mineral wool such as Rockwool . The insulation member 105 is sandwiched between the inner panel layer 103 and the outer panel layer 104 via riveting, where the riveting is done via one or more corner brackets 106 and side brackets 107.

FIG. 2A illustrates front perspective view an internal view of the insulation cabinet 100, showing the single ventilation air handling unit 200 positioned within the insulation cabinet 100, and FIG. 2B illustrates an external view of the insulation cabinet 100 which positions the single ventilation air handling unit 200 within. The insulation cabinet 100 is designed as a EI60 A2S1, DO sandwich construction in which the outer and inner steel plate are separated by, for example, a 60 millimeter (mm) duct stone wool supplied by Rockwool , and is held by the mounting brackets 106 and 107 for the panel assemblies 101 or the service panels. The construction is made such that the outside and inside of the insulation cabinet 100, each of which is a self-supporting construction is only separated by the mineral wool insulation member 105 and the mounting brackets 106 and 107 for mounting the panel assemblies 101.

In an example, in order to ensure against leakage under fire and thereby heat expansion, the panel assemblies 101 and chassis are bolted together, for example, via fasteners of Ml0-70 mm sizing and sealed or separated by two types of packing tape, a ceramic outer band 108, for example, about 2 mm thick and 15 mm wide, and inside a heat-expanding graphite ribbon 109, for example, about 2 mm thick and 30 mm wide. As shown in FIG. 2B, the fire single ventilation air handling unit 200 within the insulation cabinet 100 is constructed as a unit and consists structurally of a Fire EI60 cabinet. The single ventilation air handling unit 200, shall during installation, insulate 201 from the connectors to the single ventilation air handling unit 200 with a Fire EI60 insulation material. In an example, with the introduction of the heat-expanding graphite ribbon 109, the insulation cabinet 100 solves the significant issue of heat leakage in prior art systems which make cabinets with inner sheet and outer sheet with wool sandwiched between them.

The outer and inner surface of the panels 101a, 101b, 101c, lOld, lOle, and lOlf is constructed of, for example, a 0.7 mm steel sheet plate, and with a mineral wool-type insulation core of about 60 mm duct Rockwool. The steel plates with insulation core between are rivet together with, for example, about 8 pieces of corner brackets 106 and about 10 pieces of side brackets 107 as shown in FIG. 1. In order to secure the assembly comprising a single ventilation air handling unit 200 within the insulation cabinet 100 against leakage during normal operation and during fire, the panels 101a, 101b, 101c, lOld, lOle, and lOlf are installed with, for example, mounted 2 kind of packing sealing tape, a highly heat-resistant White Kerafix 2000 and inside a heatexpanding type tape Roku Strip LI 10, therefore ensuring that the single ventilation air handling units 200 fire insulated by the insulation cabinet 100 can be placed in structures or buildings, without any additional fire compartments surrounding the single ventilation air handling units 200.

The foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present concept disclosed herein. While the concept has been described with reference to various embodiments, it is understood that the words, which have been used herein, are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Further, although the concept has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials, and embodiments, the concept is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the concept extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of this specification, may affect numerous modifications thereto and changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the concept in its aspects.

Claims (5)

An insulation cabinet configured to provide fire and condensation insulation for a simple ventilation air treatment unit, comprising: a plurality of panel assemblies attached to each other defining a generally cubic frame in which each panel assembly consists of; an inner panel layer; an outer panel layer; an insulation component set between the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer, wherein the insulation component prevents fire and smoke from spreading through the individual ventilation air treatment unit; and a ceramic outer band taped to the outer surface of the panel assemblies, and a heat-expanding graphite strip inwardly connected to the panel assemblies to prevent the release of heat from the cubic frame defining the insulation cabinet. The insulation cabinet of claim 1, wherein the panel assemblies consist of: a top panel; a bottom panel; a left-hand connection panel; a right-hand connection panel; a front panel; and a rear panel. The insulation housing of claim 1, wherein the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer are made of steel. The insulation cabinet of claim 1, wherein the insulation component is formed of mineral wool assembled between the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer. The insulation cabinet of claim 1, wherein the inner panel layer and the outer panel layer are secured together by riveting, wherein the riveting is done via one or more corner brackets and side brackets.