Setra Blog

Vivarium Defined

Vivariums are enclosed areas designed to provide a stable environment for animals and plants for observation or scientific research. Often, vivariums contain a portion of an ecosystem for a particular species with controlled environmental conditions on a smaller scale. A vivarium you would find in an academic research setting contains multiple racks of various sizes depending on the species it contains.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way people run their homes. More and more devices are becoming available to consumers that allow them to automate their thermostats and regulate their power consumption, often-times controlling these systems from the phone in their pocket. Products like the Nest thermostat and the Sense home energy monitor provide homeowners convenient tools that also help save utility costs.

Building Automation

In commercial and industrial buildings, there are similar (albeit far more robust) systems and protocols used for the same purposes called building automation. Building automation is the automatic and centralized control of a building’s heating, ventilation, air conditioning, security, electrical, and other systems through a Building Automation System (BAS).

Ensuring the accuracy of transducers used in the measurement of room pressure in critical environments is extremely important in order to maintain patient safety. Because the differences in measured pressure are so small (only fractions of an inch of water column) calibrating these devices can be very tedious and usually difficult to perform without the right tools and processes.

In general, there are two industry standard methods of low pressure calibration: hand pump calibration and automated calibration.

The Joint Commission (TJC) is a non-profit organization that evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations in the United States, ensuring that hospitals and other medical facilities are providing safe and high-quality care to their patients. Inspections occur every three years and take between 2 to 3 days. In most jurisdictions, Medicare and Medicaid funding is contingent on accreditation by TJC.

One of the most important standards scored in a Joint Commission evaluation is room pressurization (EC.02.05.01). According to ASHRAE Standard 170 (used specifically by TJC as its standard), over 60 different areas of concern within a facility need to be either positively or negatively pressured. Pressurization in these spaces is tested simply by holding a tissue at the bottom of a door and determining whether the tissue is blown back away or sucked towards the gap.

In hospitals, pharmaceutical compounding centers, and other sensitive healthcare environments, one of the biggest threats to patient health is the spread of pathogens. Exposure to viruses, bacteria, pollen, and fungi all pose hazards to patients and care providers and can compromise critical spaces like operating rooms and other procedure areas.

Many environments within a health care facility require pressure monitoring in order to protect patient health. Even spaces like hospital linen closets require some sort of indicator of positive or negative differential pressure.

It is commonly known that gowning procedures and air flow requirements are essential to maintaining a sterile clean room environment. Workers and operators don’t realize how crucial employee training is and the enormous impact employees have with the sanitation of the cleanroom. Unfortunately, humans are considered to be the biggest threat to the cleanroom and the largest source for contaminants, accounting for 75% to 80% of particles and microbes generated in a room. Understanding how personnel create particles and microbes or bring in contaminants, can help structure proper employee training, greatly bringing down the risk for clean environment contamination.

Thank you to all who visited us at Booth C1452 in the Building Automation and Controls section of the AHR Expo this year in Las Vegas, Nevada! We enjoyed seeing both new and familar faces! The world's largest HVACR event was anything but boring and we think the 60,000 attendees would have to agree.

In HVAC/R applications it is helpful to understand the methods used to determine air velocity. Air velocity (distance traveled per unit of time) is most often expressed in feet per minute (FPM).  Multiplying air velocity by the area of a duct allows you to determine the air volume flowing past a point in the duct per unit of time. Volume flow is generally measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM).

Unidirectional Pressure Transducers

Unidirectional pressure transducers measure between zero and a positive pressure. The diaphragm of the sensor should only move in one direction and will produce a positive voltage or milliamp output.