Case History 1 - Project: Commercial Dehumidification System

Objective: Their client wanted to increase market share by making their product more compact and easy to use. They also wanted to take this opportunity to improve reliability and lower costs.

Challenges: This company had been using bulky finned tubular heaters for over 20 years. This type of heater greatly restricted airflow, which decreased product performance. The bulkiness of the heater created a lot of weight and added to the overall product size. The life of the heater was just marginally acceptable. The heater system needed to be made more efficient in order to support the overall goals of the project.

Solutions and their impact: Farnam designed an open coil duct heater which is more compact, lighter and more efficient. It extends life, improves performance, and lowers cost in the following ways:

· Their heater reduces obstruction by 50%, which significantly decreases back pressure, increases drying performance and lowers the strain on the blower.

· The new smaller design reduces cost by 33%.

· While the process air temperature was intentionally increased, their efficiency helped lower the actual circuit temperature by 50%. This multiplies the heater life and gives their customer a new advantage.