Product category:
Humidity and moisture sensing systems
News Release from: Spirax Sarco | Subject: Hygromatik CompactLine
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 August 2004
Helping to keep historic aircraft in top
condition
Spirax Sarco humidifiers from the Hygromatik CompactLine range are helping to preserve historic aircraft at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in Cambridgeshire
The accurate control offered by the Hygromatik CompactLine units ensures that the Relative Humidity (RH) inside the American Air Museum remains at a stable 45-50%, whatever the conditions outside Designed by Lord Foster, the spectacular glass-fronted American Air Museum is home to the unique Duxford collection of American combat aircraft, and stands as a memorial to the 30,000 Americans who died flying from bases in the UK during the Second World War
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 30 Jan 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
New integrated flowmeter for steam applications
Spirax Sarco has launched Diva, the first spring-loaded variable area flowmeter to integrate a flow sensing device, temperature sensor, connection accessories and flow computer into a compact unit
Steam trap replacement saves chemical plant GBP50k
A Spirax Sarco survey of the steam system at Great Lakes Chemicals at Trafford Park in Manchester have led to substantial energy savings and improvements in maintenance procedures
To preserve the collection, the building was already equipped with a dehumidification system, from international climate experts Munters, to minimise corrosion of the aircraft.
However, the American Air Museum is an increasingly popular venue for conferences and other events, so the Museum decided to install a new heating system for use in cold weather.
The Museum called in Munters, which has its UK head office in Huntingdon.
Further reading
Steam system survey helps Busy Bee win funding
A Spirax Sarco survey has helped Busy Bee Laundry win a 100 per cent, interest-free loan from the local development agency for a programme of energy saving changes to its steam and hot water system
Slow opening valve brings fast savings
An automatic slow opening valve from Spirax Sarco has helped textile dyer Bulmer and Lumb to halve the cost of the steam it uses for processing and space heating at its Bradford site
Mr Maurice Weller, Munters sales engineer, realised that simply raising the temperature in the winter months would cause the RH to fall.
"The RH must be kept below 50% to protect the aircraft metal from corrosion," he says.
"On the other hand, too low an RH can deteriorate other materials, such as paint or cloth.
Fluctuating RH can make materials unstable as moisture is either absorbed or released.
Artefacts are preserved best when temperature and humidity are kept constant".
So Munters opted to install two Spirax Sarco Hygromatik self-generative humidifiers in the building.
These use electrodes to generate up to 58 kg/h of steam by heating an internal reservoir.
According to Mr Weller, the company chose the Spirax Sarco units because they offered the relatively tight control of RH required by the museum.
"These humidifiers respond quickly and are very easy to control".
Hygromatik CompactLine units are microprocessor-controlled to ensure that the set humidification level is precisely maintained.
The controller also automatically selects the most economic mode of operation for the water quality as well as controlling the frequency and level of blowdown to reduce contamination in the cylinder.
"Nearly a year on, the system has performed really well, maintaining a constant RH of 45-50% in a temperature of 18 to 20C," says Mr Weller.
Duxford is the premier European aviation museum and is home to a unique and fascinating collection of some 200 aircraft, from WW1 bi-planes to current combat aircraft.
It also showcases one of the finest collections of tanks, military vehicles and artillery in Britain and is a celebrated centre of excellence for aircraft restoration.
The American Air Museum won the GBP20,000 Stirling Prize to become Building of the Year in 1998.
• Spirax Sarco: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Processingtalk email newsletter
• Processingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
