Research, Development, and Testing Facilities
Facility Renovations of 2012
Based on 50+ years of experience in Tucson, AZ, testing and demonstrating Krueger products,
Krueger’s new Research, Development, and Demonstration Center has incorporated a number of
various cells and labs to showcase and evaluate Krueger products. The facility features open
ceilings, not only for aesthetics, but to display the complex duct systems required to supply
the various spaces with conditioned air.
Throw Bay
The unique air flow characteristics of each Krueger diffuser, grille
and register are measured in the Primary Test Room. Visitors to the Technology
Center use this area to gather throw (velocity) data and to visualize air flow
patterns.
Performance data can be obtained over a wide range of operating conditions.
For instance, performance data for a diffuser can be acquired during
cooling, heating or isothermal conditions at any air flow and operating pressure.
Outside conditions are simulated using a thermal wall, capable of simulating
outside air temperatures of -10° F to 115° F.
Reverberation Chamber
The Reverb Room is key for the acoustical testing of air distribution products.
Its construction, like our previous Reverb Room in Tucson, AZ, began by physically
isolating the floor and ceiling from the rest of the building’s structure to eliminate
any structure induced sound intrusions. The new room is larger, which allows us to test
larger pieces of equipment, provides more accurate low frequency sound data acquisition,
and gives us the ability to test at higher airflows. We also enhanced the silencing to
reduce the possibility of supply-fan generated sound reaching the test chamber.
Before the room could be used to test products, it was independently tested for
compliance to the Engineering Accuracy of the ANSI Specifications for reverb rooms.
Specialty Products
The Krueger Specialty Products Demonstration area is a showcase for special
and innovative air distribution concepts. Separated from the main Throw Bay by
a Cold Wall, the room is configured with fully operational ceiling mounted Chilled
Beams, both active and passive. The room has the capability to adjust humidity
levels in the space to demonstrate the performance of the Chilled Beams at different
design conditions.
Feeding the DesignFlo® along the Cold Wall is the KLPS-D Chilled Series Fan
Powered Terminal Unit designed for DOAS applications. This unit features a cooling
coil that, much like a Chilled Beam, provides sensible cooling to the space, making
it a natural partner to use with Chilled Beams on a project.
The room also features a raised floor that is configured to demonstrate different
design solutions for raised floor applications. There is a pressurized plenum that supplies
FPD-R swirl outlets. There are several types of VAV terminal units located beneath the
floor that supply different layouts of FPD-D/FPD-HC plenums for 1850 linear bar grille diffusers.
The final product that is featured in this room is Displacement Ventilation. The
room can be configured to demonstrate different models and layouts of Displacement
Ventilation units to show the performance.
Hospital Operating Room Environment
The Krueger Operating Room (OR) Demonstration Cell contains a full scale Sterilflo® OR Air
Distribution System. (This consists of both the center laminar flow panels over the operating
table, the proprietary air curtain around the operating theater, and low sidewall room exhausts.)
The room has typical airflow obstructions often found in operating rooms, including special
surgical lights that are mounted on movable booms.
The demonstration area has a separate space for showcasing the performance of a 4’ x 8’ array of
laminar flow diffusers or fan filter units. This array is located within the same space for direct
comparison with the Sterilflo® System, as the use of laminar arrays is typical in some OR air distribution
layouts. Additionally, Krueger is able to mock-up a work bench under the array to further demonstrate clean
room products in more realistic environments.
Clean Room Environment & Laboratory
The Critical Room Lab Mock-up space shows how Krueger’s critical environment products can provide
a safe environment for scientists working with fume hoods in laboratory spaces. The room contains
two variable volume fume hoods as well as a biological safety cabinet. The air is supplied through
a Total Air Diffuser® (TAD) and a Radiaflo™ ceiling mounted radial displacement air outlet.
Providing a non-inductive air supply into the room assures that no contaminants will be drawn
out of an open fume hood by drafts created by the air supply system. The room has sufficient
flexibility to be configured for a wide variety of real-world situations to provide a realistic
preview of any design configuration, including supply-exhaust tracking and other conditions.
Insitu Room
The In-Situ Acoustical Evaluation Room simulates a standard conference room in an
office building, which is typically the most critical acoustical space in an office.
The room exhibits the acoustical predictions in AHRI 885. For most applications, AHRI
885 has shown to be able to predict sound levels in the room with great accuracy.
Designed after a requirement for an acoustical mock-up for an office in New York in the
early 1980’s, this room (at its particular size) has become a de facto standard for
evaluating the radiated sound of fan powered terminals. Measuring 2400 cubic feet,
with a 9 foot suspended ceiling of standard mineral tile, it has an open plenum depth
of 36”. This requirement has since been adopted by acousticians, building owners, and
mechanical engineers for many projects over the past 30 years.
The Krueger facility has the capability of rapidly changing the terminal unit installed
above the ceiling. This allows for the evaluation of multiple units during a single
visit by a prospective customer. The air supply is designed to be quiet and the discharge
can control static pressure, diverting a percentage of air back into the space.
Product Showcase & Training Room
Featuring theater-style seating, Krueger’s Training Center is well equipped to handle
large training groups up to 40 people. This room contains an overhead projector and 150”
motorized screen. Indirect lighting and Armstrong® Soundscapes® acoustical sound panels have
been installed across the ceiling for sound absorption and aesthetics. The audio system consists
of four speakers, an amplifier, and two microphones, all of which are capable of presenting different
sound levels for educational purposes.