Air Handling Unit – Components and Purchase Considerations

In commercial setups as well as homes, there is a vital need of fresh, uncontaminated and temperature controlled air. It forms the basis for a suitable environment to perform a particular operation. Generally, industrial complexes have various equipment installed to control the quality of air such as air conditioners, heaters and ventilators. An essential equipment mounted to operate in conjunction with these devices is an Air Handling Unit or an AHU. It is a very significant device that can modify and condition the air as per needs. These days, many Air Handling Unit manufacturers produce these devices with varying capacities and unique features such as smoke detecting systems and more.

The Air Handling Unit or an AHU is designed by incorporating different functional units that perform specific jobs. If you are planning to integrate an AHU into your commercial plant or home premises, here is some basic information about the device for you to know its functionality.

Mixing chambers – The important task of exhausting the air from the inside of the building and mixing the air from the outside is performed by the dampers installed inside the mixing chambers.

Conditioning element – Just like the air conditioners used in homes do, the conditioning element does the task of conditioning the air and adjusting its temperature to hot or cold. Components like heating coils and cooling coils are used to achieve the desired level of temperature. The elements like water at high

temperature, a stream of hot or cold air and cold water are commonly used in this part.
Filters – Filters take the vital responsibility of cleaning the air present in the atmosphere. Air Handling Units consist of filters that perform the task of removing all the dust and other contaminants present in the air. The air stream coming out of the filters is absolutely sanitized and dry.

Humidifier – As the name suggests, the task of this part is to humidify the air. In applications where extremely dry air results due to regular heating, the humidifier performs the task of adjusting its moisture content.

Blower – The chief purpose of this part of the AHU is to recycle the air present in the area. For enhanced functionality, more than one blower can be integrated into the unit.

Apart from these major components, there are many other smaller modules such as sound attenuators, vibration suppressers, heat recovery device, duct pressure control devices and smoke detectors present in an AHU. These devices are equally important in ensuring the overall functioning of the device. According to the application, different sizes, shapes and installation type of the AHU equipments are available.

Before contacting Air Handling Unit manufacturers for purchasing the device, you should know your requirement. For the premises where the unit is to be used is smaller in size, a low capacity AHU would be enough. If the installation space is a constraint, opt for the equipment with compact shape and small size.

Source by Sumit Awasthi