retrofit for new lab

[cev]

All,

I am in the early stages of remodeling an office space into a laboratory (the space is generally quite amenable to the intended application). The intended user would like to minimize dust, but we do not have the financial resources to do a true cleanroom.

The room gets HVAC from the system that runs the whole 5-floor building. There is a VAV and thermostat for just this room (Titus DEDV, 7" input, 650 CFM max capacity). The room is 600 square feet with a 9' suspended ceiling.

The building HVAC is infamous for putting out black soot, so one of the "must-haves" is filtering (prefereably HEPA).

I'm just looking for some general guidance so that I know where to start and what to tell our building managers. My questions are these:

1. Will I be able to retrofit filters into this system?
2. If so, where do they go? How much capacity will I lose?

Thank you,
CV

 

[redgdon]

1. Yes.
2. You can buy terminal outlets that have a HEPA enclosure (don't know where you are in the world but have a look at the Krantz website ttp://

http://www.krantz.uk.com/default.aspx).

As for how much you would lose - don't know, you would have to check the pressure drop across the filter.

 

[lilliput1]

What cleanliness class is required? Is the entire room required to be clean or only a laminar flow station as redgdon stated. Class 10,000 room requires 30 ACPH which is 2700 CFM. You can put in about 4 HEPA Fan Fiter Units (FFU) to recirculate air using plenum above the ceiling and wall return plenum. They would add about 100 to 400 watts each to the building load, about 62 to 248 CFM assuming 20°F primary air temperature rise. You have to include all the other room loads and see if 650 CFM is enough. You probably need to increase the VAV box size. You must have positive pressure in the room. Seal all cracks to the envelope and make the door reasonably tight. Adding an air lock would help.
Process in the room may requiring cleaner environment and you still may need to provide laminar flow station in addition to the Class 10,000 room.