applications

Historical documents such as documentary archives, photographs and films are hygroscopic, and often made from organic materials.

When humidity is absorbed, microorganisms multiply and can cause serious damage.

Dehumidifiers are employed to create environments with low relative humidity levels to prevent attacks from microbes and avoid a need for heating, since they are only sensitive to the humidity content of the air.

A few references:

FNMT      Ajuntament Barcelona     Iron Mountain

Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Companies specialized in industrial painting processes applied to the automotive sector, aeronautics and other demanding fields, have placed their trust in FISAIR as the designer and manufacturer of units for controlling the humidity of the air during these processes.

More and more companies are opting for water-based painting, which requires high quality humidity controls for impregnation and drying.

A few references:

         Renault       Nissan       Dacia       Firestone 

    Continental      Volkswagen       General Motors

     Volvo    Rolls Royce     Mercedes-Benz     Man

    Bridgestone         Magna       Taiki-Sha         Dürr

    Hella

Li battery production

Lithium battery production is done in small laboratories in general. These laboratories must be designed as “dry rooms” by low dew point dehumidification.

As Fisair, we are having a very sensible approach to this kind of processes.

The production room which includes lithium and its compounds has to be maintained at very low dew points. The main goal on low dew point dehumidification is to prevent the lithium from absorbing the humidity from air. And for this, moisture coming from the people inside must be prevented.

The production of beer involves the growth of yeast in an environment suited to microbes that are harmful to the process.

Air dehumidifiers prevent product contamination.

Bridges are always one of the largest investments for countries. And it is prior to maximize the lifetime of this investments to get maximum efficiency.

Desiccant dehumidifiers system must be used for maximizing the lifetime of the bridges.

By controlling the relative humidity of the air, it is possible to remove the effects of corrosion on both anchor chambers and cables.

Advantages of the system

• Increases the lifetime of bridge structure with low energy consumption
• Cables remain strong for a long time.
• Corrosion protection paint is not necessary anymore.
• Easier maintenance possibility due to corrosion prevented structure.

Chemical industry requests many different and complex processes in which air humidity control is crucial. Low temperature drying, hygroscopic material processing, etc.

Fisair has the expertise of co-operating with many important firms of this sector.

A few references:

Yara       Sipcam Inagra     Solvay

 Bayer       Fertiberia       Ercros

Humidity control is especially important in cold storage chambers. The temperatures in these spaces can be as low as -30ºC.

Chambers are often covered by a large quantity of frost, which reduces the quality of the process and increases energy consumption.

Our desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers are designed to solve this problem. For milder temperatures in smaller rooms, adiabatic humidification is usually the solution required to prevent weight loss in the stored products.

A few references:

H. Seabra       STEF       Clauger       GEA       ENGIE

       Johnson controls         Philip Dennis  

Ramón Vizcaíno                Lidl logistics center

Relative humidity values for the air of between 40% and 60% are recommended in commercial and cultural buildings (cinemas, theatres, etc.), hotels, schools and colleges, and offices, etc.

A large number of studies have recommended these limits in the interests of the health and comfort of users, to avoid static electricity and to increase the durability of the buildings.

A few references:

Another sort of building typically requiring air humidity controls is ice-skating rinks.

The use of desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers in this kind of building prevents problematic mists and condensations from forming. These can turn into a kind of light drizzle falling on audiences, a consequence of the temperature of the ice being lower than the dew point of the ventilation air.

The units also play an important role in preventing the corrosion of the building and reduce the energy consumption of the facilities.

A great many products derived from agriculture are also stored in unrefrigerated areas that do require humidity controls to prevent weight loss and a fall in quality resulting from very humid or very dry environments. Foodstuffs commonly stored with controlled humidity are coffee, dried fruits and nuts, drinks in hygroscopic wooden barrels, etc.

A specific example of these uses is the tobacco industry, in which the goal is for this hygroscopic material not to lose its aroma by keeping it in a dry environment throughout the production and storage process. A medium humidity also prevents it from losing its elasticity during production.

Many different crops are grown in controlled humidity environments.

Examples of crops grown with controlled humidity are flowers, mushrooms, and certain types of fruits and vegetables grown in greenhouses.

A few references:

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - CSIC

Data processing centers must maintain controlled ambient humidity levels to prevent electrostatic shocks and the deterioration of components. High humidity levels result in layers of corrosion building up on the surfaces of the circuits, increase electrical resistance, and reduce capacity. What is more, these centers require a large amount of interior heat dissipation, which in dry climates can often be achieved by means of the use of direct evaporative coolers.

FISAIR’s hygienic evaporative humidifiers have been employed to this end in several state-of-the-art facilities of this kind.

A few references:

HP       Oracle       Telefónica

BBVA       Maphre       Banco Popular

Delicate foodstuffs are very sensitive to heat and must be dried at low temperatures to prevent the growth of bacteria and the breaking down of proteins.

Desiccant dehumidifiers are used to dry ham, fish, cheese, and dried meat products in general. Low temperature drying times would otherwise be too long to be economically viable.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning the drying out of building processes.

Desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers that can be transported easily from one room to another, can be used to speed up concrete and paint drying processes and thereby increase the productivity of processes, and in many cases reduce the end cost of buildings.

A few references:

De Beer       Grupo Domingui

Many factors affect the air conditions of the film archive air humidity content: Length of the storage time, type of the films, type of image and their value. An excess of humidity could damage the film and their base in both black and white or color images. The film manufacturing process is also very demanding in air humidity conditions.

A few references:

Filmoteca nacional española

Fototeca Pedro Guerra, U. Autónoma Yucatán (México)

The humidity content of the air must be controlled in the food industry for refrigeration, curing and fermentation processes, etc.

The objective is to lengthen the life of food items, to conserve their quality and aroma, and to prevent weight loss and decomposition.

A few references:

Navidul       Argal       El Pozo       LDC Groupe

Campofrío         Maitre Le Coq       Bigard

Transport and storage of hygroscopic granulated material could be a serious problem if air humidity is not controlled. Either in the compressed air /  worm gears or in silos, the air desiccant rotor dehumidifiers mean a standard for many companies specialized on advanced technology for solids transport.

A few references:

Solvay    Bayer    Galletas Guyol

  Coca-cola    Segura Viudas    Refresco Iberia

Hospitals are a special case. These buildings have their own specific standards to ensure the quality of the HVAC systems.

FISAIR designs high quality units for large quantities of steam and for the generation of clean steam.

A few references:

Big industrial buildings mean a big volume for the air conditioning system. Traditional system of chillers combined with air handling units usually have a big installation cost plus important operative costs. HEF5 systems are able to cool down these buildings by using water instead of compressors. Nice working temperatures and more healthful atmosphere are created in an economical way through the evaporative cooling.

Combining these evaporative systems with our DVP displacement ventilation panels create an even better environment. The laminar air flow takes out dirty air and reduce the air volume needed to be handled to only the first two meters height. These combined systems minimize the investment and operative cost.

A few references:

Airbus    PSA    3M    Uniarte

Riyadh Airport       Metro de Madrid

Ejército de Tierra

Life on a modern ship requires HVAC suited to the levels of comfort required by the people aboard, the products stored, and the ship’s own complex machinery and facilities.

FISAIR designs and supplies units for controlling humidity for ships of all sizes with a wide range of different needs.

The manufacture of this kind of glass benefits greatly from the use of desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers.

There is a film of highly hygroscopic transparent plastic, which works as an adhesive, between each layer of glass.

In humid environments, the film can boil during the process and create steam bubbles which are trapped inside the laminated glass.

A few references:

Guardian         AGP          Essilor AB

The leather goods industry is another example of where hygroscopic products benefit by maintaining productivity and quality (preventing wrinkling, changes of state, size variations), and preventing electrostatic shock.

Several coats of paint must be applied to exterior steel to protect it from corrosion in the naval industry and in large storage tanks for chemical products.

To apply the paint to the most vulnerable parts without leaving any kind of corrosion, the painting process requires the prior elimination of corrosion and cleaning, which makes the metal very vulnerable to corrosion until the protective paint is applied.

The humidity of the air surrounding the steel at this point must be controlled to ensure the manufacturer responsible for the coating can guarantee its useful life. FISAIR has developed its DFRC series for these processes, which it has supplied to large shipyards and prestigious firms working in this field.

A few references:

Dragados Off-Shore         Navantia         DCNS       

Astilleros de Pasajes     CNN    Ulstein verft as  

Kleven verft as     Havyard group       Simek A/S

Bergen group asa       Fiskerstrand verft as      Skarvik as 

Vaagland båtbyggeri as         Fitjar mekaniske verksted as

                                               Turku Meyer

The manufacture of microcircuits is another sector that requires the use of precision clean rooms. Light sensitive resins are employed to conceal circuit lines and protect them from chemical attack. These polymers are hygroscopic. If they absorb humidity, the microscopic lines of the circuits can be cut or bridged, causing short circuits.

The use of desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers in these processes increases the quality of products and the efficiency of the process.

A few references:

Eika       Lab World

Vertex Antennentechnik La Reunion

Optoskand AB

Worthy of special mention as places in which people work and circulate in large numbers, are museums, galleries and exhibition centres, which exhibit works of art. These works are commonly made of organic materials.

Without quality humidity control, highly valued works of art can become cracked or fade. Wooden parts of works can, in extreme cases, break as a result of contraction caused by the differences between the humidity of the place in which they are made and the humidity where they are exhibited.

A few references:

       Museo del Prado, Madrid

Museo Picasso, Barcelona

Nouveu Musee National, Mónaco

Museo Diocesano Bisbat, Lleida

Museo Frederic Marès, Barcelona

Museo Bellas Artes, Murcia

Projekthalle henning Ingoldstadt                 Lappeenranta City, Photos Museum

Humidity controls are also required in the paper and printing industries, to prevent breakages and wrinkles in the paper, as well as electrostatic shocks.

Humidified environments enable quality levels to be kept constant and increase production speeds.

Precise humidity control is essential in the pharmaceutical industry, with highly hygroscopic components in the form of powder. Some production processes need the air to be thoroughly dried with specific units. Humidity control must be precise to prevent a loss in quality and durability of the products.

For more than fifteen years, FISAIR has been supplying and installing tailor-made units in the most prestigious firms to ensure environmental humidity controls in production, storage and transport processes.

A few references:

GSK       Rottapharm-Madaus       Merck

Alter       Sigma-Tau    Salvat     Roche

       Bayer    Lindopharm   Ely Lilly     Sanofi

Pfizer       Teva      CERN      Catalent

Pisa     MSD

Stockholms Universitet Institutionen

The plastics industry requires dry environments to prevent product imperfections making them unusable at humid times of year. Injection moulds commonly contain cooled water circuits to speed up the cooling of the pieces of plastic. If humidity condenses on the mould, the plastic pieces are not acceptable and the surface of the mould can suffer thermal shocks.

FISAIR has worked with the most demanding industrial companies in the field of plastics to supply dry air over the surface of moulds. The mould temperature is therefore reduced and the productivity of the bottling industry or plastic pieces manufacturer is increased.

A few references:

Valeo       Faurecia       Jovi

APPE       Solan de Cabras      La Casera

       Aguas de Mondariz        Coca-Cola

The humidity is controlled on poultry farms in order to cool the air and increase productivity, because when the conditions are right, chickens and other kinds of poultry lay more eggs and fewer embryos are lost.

Hard sweets contain hygroscopic components that turn the product sticky in the presence of high humidity levels. This change can slow up the industrial process and cause hygiene problems.

Desiccant rotor dehumidifiers are able to create controlled environments that increase productivity.

The productivity of the process of producing coated sweets is increased in a controlled dry environment.

High quality coated sweets and chocolates with a shiny finish are nearly always produced in this way.

A few references:

Haribo       Cadbury       Nestlé       Damel       Arcor

       Super de Alimentos         Chupa-chups  

Mars        Hispania        Hermanos Juan López

                                                      Ferrero

Pyrotechnic materials made in different factories and stored in a variety of locations must be kept at specific relative humidity levels to prevent product faults.

FISAIR has supplied companies specialised in this sector for decades.

Spray tower drying technology is used extensively in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Companies employing this technology prefer dry winter climates to humid summer climates because production and quality improves in winter.

In winter, the water content of the air is very low and this creates optimum operating conditions. In summer, humid conditions have a major impact on production quality, drying times, and the overall efficiency of operations.

Moreover, constant variations in the humidity levels of the exterior air during production can have a negative impact on product quality. During the atomization process, it is necessary to stabilize all the operating parameters in order to optimise production and improve efficiency. The use of desiccant dehumidifiers makes this possible.

Main advantages:

• Consistent production all year round. Unaffected by exterior air conditions. Summer stoppages are avoided, and the need for frequent adjustments is eliminated.
• Constant incoming air quality means constant production quality.
• Reduction in cleaning operations. Less product stuck to the walls of the tower.

A few references:

Conesa

     Nestlé                Spomlek

The security and armed forces of the country undertake tasks requiring complex equipment and ammunitions ready for use at any moment.

Desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers guarantee the usability of this material and the correct storage of the ammunition used by the equipment. It also serves to prevent corrosion in the equipment and reduces electronic faults in control systems.

Chemical reactions that could have harmful effects are also prevented in the ammunition.

A few references:

Ertzaintza       Guardia Civil       Belgium Air Force

Spanish Army       New Zealand Royal Army

       Irak Army        Finnish Army

Seeds are one of the organic materials most sensitive to microbial attack. When humidity levels are high, microbes multiply and destroy important nutrients contained in the seeds.

Desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers can be used in research laboratories and for commercial uses, to greatly increase crop performance.

A few references:

Hy Seeds       Monsanto

INIA - UPM Madrid University

Humidity control in the textile industry prevents weight and quality loss, the breakage of threads and errors in production processes, as well as frequent electrostatic shocks typical of fibres in dry environments.

During thermal power station stoppages due to excess energy supply, or compulsory servicing, desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers can be installed to guarantee the protection of turbines and other parts of the circuit. This is an alternative to the method involving the flooding of the circuit with protective liquid containing corrosion inhibitors.

The dry method means the power station can be rebooted quicker than with the wet method. The current situation of excess supply from renewable energies and combined-cycle plants tends to make the dry air method more successful in terms of cost savings and ease of use by the maintenance team of the power station.

A few references:

Alstom       General Electric       Endesa

Iberdrola       Foster Wheeler      Enel

       Endel       Vantaa       Rolls Royce

From the saw mills located in forests, through processes involving the construction of houses, furniture and doors in all kinds of different factories, to the storage of wooden items in warehouses.

Wood is a hygroscopic material that absorbs and emits humidity in accordance with the humidity of the surrounding environment. To prevent expansion and contraction, and structural damage, it is advisable to treat the ambient air with specifically-designed humidity control units.

These units help conserve the exterior humidity of the wood to prevent weight loss, surface imperfections and even cracking. A particular type of humidification also makes it possible to prevent sawdust accumulation, which can in certain environments be extremely problematic

Similarly, in water treatment plants, it is possible for underground water and temperatures of lakes to be lower than the dew point of the air, which can cause condensation on the outside of pipes, valves and controls of the plant. Supplying the plant with dry air prevents condensation leading to the growth of mould, and reduces costs such as painting pipes and regular replacement of controls and valves.

In addition, the health benefits of eliminating the mould and bacteria are increasingly important as consumers become ever-more sensitive to water quality problems.

A few references:

Consorcio de aguas de Bilbao       MPWiK Lublin

The wind energy industry is faced with a range of challenges in which climatic conditions and environmental factors have a direct impact on the quality and performance of wind turbines.

Worthy of special mention are environments and conditions with excessive humidity levels, over and above the resistance levels of the materials employed.

The challenges resulting from excess humidity in the wind energy industry have an impact at every stage of the value chain:

Quality at the manufacturing, and storage and transport stages, and following installation.

Wine is stored in wooden casks during the production process. Wood is a hygroscopic material that emits humidity if the relative humidity of the air in the surrounding environment is low. The container takes this humidity from its contents, that is to say, the wine. That is why, if the barrels containing the wine are stored in environments without any kind of humidity control, a major reduction in the quantity of product can occur, which leads directly to a fall in the quantity that can be sold.

The vast majority of wineries have adiabatic humidification systems. FISAIR has worked with a large number of them.

A few references:

Barbosa       Jaume Serra      Freixenet