| Press Release December,
2007
The AccuValve™ by Accutrol, LLC - AHR 2008 Innovation
Award Winner
Tek-Air Systems Inc. AccuValve™ by Accutrol, LLC is an
electrically operated airflow control valve for critical environments
such as laboratories and clean rooms. The valve, created for sustainable
“green” design, offers very low pressure drop for energy reduction and
savings along with safety by utilizing true airflow measurement.
The Tek-Air AccuValve™ AV2000 airflow control valve is a revolutionary product
in which Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was utilized to aid in its
design. This resulted in a valve that maximizes turndown while maintaining
high accuracy throughout the flow range. The AV2000 is the first truly
new design in airflow control valves in decades.
Accutrol’s new airflow control valve incorporates high accuracy airflow
sensing with a revolutionary but simple design. The AV2000 is designed
for use in applications where turndowns of up to 8 to 1 are required
while maintaining accuracies of 5% of reading over that flow range,
ensuring precise airflow control. R&D laboratories, process pharmaceutical
manufacturing and vivariums are just a few applications for the Tek-Air AccuValve™.
The AV2000 divides the airflow into two equal chambers with an airfoil
shaped compression section. When the air is divided into the chambers
it accelerates and compresses becoming laminar. The laminar airflow
improves the accuracy of the airflow sensor enabling better turndown
as well. Much like a silencer this also results in a valve that is very
quiet.
The Tek-Air AccuValve™ also incorporates high accuracy Vortex shedding airflow
sensors in each chamber. The sensors are located to give a high degree
of accuracy throughout the flow range. The higher velocities in the
chamber also allow for greater turndowns than is possible in a conventional
valve.
The unique design of the Tek-Air AccuValve™ provides true flow feedback while
avoiding the drawbacks of other valve designs. This feature provides
the end user the benefit of the highest degree of safety in knowing
that the critical space is accurately monitored and controlled.
The AV2000 incorporates a compression section with a streamline design
with a static regain section on the downstream side. This design provides
a low pressure drop requiring less fan horsepower and better noise performance.
There are no straight duct runs required before or after the valve
making application of the valve very simple. The air compression in
the valve provides laminar airflow throughout the airflow range providing
repeatable airflow measurement regardless of the inlet or outlet conditions.
The design also provides large turndown capability, thereby allowing
a large range of applications. All parts are accessible from the front
of the valve simplifying installation requirements.
The Tek-Air AccuValve™ is designed to provide many years of maintenance free
operation. Unlike the other airflow valves which have many critical parts, such
as springs, cones and linkages in the air stream, the Tek-Air AccuValve™ was designed
with few moving parts which are out of the air stream, increasing the overall
reliability and lifetime of the valve.
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