CASE STUDIES
London hot spot is UK fi rst for heat pump air curtain
M
adison restaurant at St Paul’s in London is the fi rst venue in the UK to install a ground-breaking new heat pump- based air curtain, which provides high effi ciency heating and cooling.
The restaurant, renowned for its buzzing atmosphere and spectacular city views, wanted to deliver a high-quality indoor environment for customers, while ensuring low energy and servicing costs.
Installed above the main front door, the air curtain provides a high velocity continuous down-draft of air, creating an invisible barrier that maintains internal comfort conditions for customers and staff .
It is connected to the restaurant’s Toshiba Super Modular Multi System (SMMS-e) VRF air conditioning system, enabling it to benefi t from its high performance, low energy heating and cooling. Following a site survey by Toshiba’s technical staff , the system was installed by Chapman’s Refrigeration Limited. The colour-coded casing was matched to the customer’s RAL code, ensuring it blends in
perfectly with its surroundings.
The air curtain was developed by Fred Shaw & Co and engineers from Toshiba Air Conditioning UK, specifi cally to meet UK requirements. It was subjected to a battery of live tests at BSRIA’s laboratories in Bracknell to evaluate its thermal effi ciency, acoustic and air-fl ow performance under internationally-recognised test conditions. The results prove the technology meets the performance requirements of the UK government-backed Energy Technology List (ETL) for air curtains, and it has been accepted onto the scheme. This gives end users an enhanced capital allowance on the purchase of ETL-listed equipment.
The air curtain can be connected to either a Digital Inverter split type outdoor unit or a VRF outdoor unit with a simple dip switch setting, and is available in two chassis lengths, 2200mm and 1500mm, both suitable for surface or recessed installation.
Surface mounted units have an optional mounting fl ange accessory for use with ceiling tiles. There is an optional electric back-up
heater, which automatically switches on during heat pump defrosts to ensure year-round operation.
Ease of installation and servicing by a single engineer is a key design principle. The unit has a hinged front panel that gives engineers full access to the coil, drain tray, fi lter and electrics, and can be opened by one person for servicing. Other air curtains require the whole front panel to be removed, requiring two people for safe working.
For enhanced energy effi ciency and performance, the air curtain uses EC motors with full 0-10V speed control, enabling air speed to be precisely matched to the unit’s mounting height. Precise control of motor speed also gives low operational noise.
Gavin Chapman, of Chapman’s Refrigeration, said: “The installation was straightforward, with connection to the restaurant’s VRF system via a standard pulse modulating valve unit. The air curtain gives easy access to electrics and fi lters through the hinged underside panel, which makes servicing really quick and easy.”
www.acr-news.com
April 2018 57
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
