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Dear Paul,

Thanks that is a very helpful list.

> 1. I would try to dump the heat generated from your argon lasers directly to some other management system located outside the microscope room. This will reduced the noise and capacity required by any air conditioning system for just keeping the room temperature stable.
We do this in our actual facility rooms and we plan to have a direct exhaust/dump connected to systems that generate a lot of heat such as argon lasers, OMX-system, MP,…

> 2. Make sure you specify to the planners what temperature stability is required from your microscopes. (+/- 1 degree C ?)
I listed 23°C +/- 1° in bold basically on every sheet where I could put it. I try to get this binding for the planners. If we do not reach those specs they will have to adapt to a better version.

> 3. Make sure your air conditioning control is capable of running 24/7, especially if you are planning to do longer term time-lapse imaging.
That will be the case and I already asked for mobile/wireless temperature sensors for precise regulation.

> 4. Avoid air drafts directly onto your microscopes. Cool air inlet at ceiling height or warm air entering at floor height can cause considerable problems.
That’s why I am in favour of a diffusor based solution because then the air should be nicely distributed.

> 5. Specify humidity control, especially if using an IR multiphoton laser.
Good point. So far I did not include that to the part in BOLD letters. What would you recommend as humidity max.? 60%?

> 6. If you can, filter all air entering the room. This will help keep dust levels to a minimum.
Another point I will have to clarify...

> 7. Also calculate heat generation from humans that are likely to be in the room at any one time. This can be significant.
That is why I want an overhead in terms of cooling power. Also, it is often better to run higher power cooling systems at a constant low level than switching them on and off al the time. The latter generates terrible temp. oscillations, noise and cold air falling down.

> 8. Avoid conditioning systems that switch on and off to control temperature - inverter systems will cause less temperature fluctuation problems.
> 
> Be fussy! Specify better control than you might really need, because you rarely get what you ask for. And it will make a difference down the track.

Totally agree!

Thanks again,
Oliver



Oliver Biehlmaier, PhD | Head of Imaging Core Facility  | Biozentrum, University of Basel | Klingelbergstrasse 50/70 | CH-4056 Basel
Phone: +41 61 267 20 73 | Email: [log in to unmask] | www.biozentrum.unibas.ch | www.microscopynetwork.unibas.ch




On 02 Oct 2014, at 07:51, Paul Rigby <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
> 
> Hi Oliver,
> A few quick comments/suggestions:
> 1. I would try to dump the heat generated from your argon lasers directly to some other management system located outside the microscope room. This will reduced the noise and capacity required by any air conditioning system for just keeping the room temperature stable.
> 2. Make sure you specify to the planners what temperature stability is required from your microscopes. (+/- 1 degree C ?)
> 3. Make sure your air conditioning control is capable of running 24/7, especially if you are planning to do longer term time-lapse imaging.
> 4. Avoid air drafts directly onto your microscopes. Cool air inlet at ceiling height or warm air entering at floor height can cause considerable problems.
> 5. Specify humidity control, especially if using an IR multiphoton laser.
> 6. If you can, filter all air entering the room. This will help keep dust levels to a minimum.
> 7. Also calculate heat generation from humans that are likely to be in the room at any one time. This can be significant.
> 8. Avoid conditioning systems that switch on and off to control temperature - inverter systems will cause less temperature fluctuation problems.
> 
> Be fussy! Specify better control than you might really need, because you rarely get what you ask for. And it will make a difference down the track.
> Hope this helps.
> Cheers
> Paul
> 
> Assoc. Prof. Paul Rigby
> Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation & Analysis (M510)
> The University of Western Australia
> 35 Stirling Highway
> Crawley  WA  6007
> Australia
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Oliver Biehlmaier
> Sent: Thursday, 2 October 2014 12:03 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: What is the best solution for microscopy room cooling?
> 
> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Around the end of 2018 our light microscopy facility will move into a new building. Even though the date of the move is still quite far in the future, I have to provide the planners with numbers. Whereas the number of electronic and internet plugs as well as IT connection speed etc is no problem, it seems to be quite difficult to find an adequate solution for room cooling / air conditioning.
> I searched the list for the topic and only found a thread from 2009. As this is a quite important issue for any microscopy facility, I'd like to take the opportunity to ask for some feedback and if possible images of your solutions. All comments on what to do and what definitely not to do are very welcome!
> 
> The new Biozentrum building will be a low-energy-consumption building (Minergie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minergie) which means that there will only be a minimal exchange of air in the rooms.
> The new rooms will be approx. 20sqm large (215 square foot) and I am planning to put 3 systems max. into each room. A confocal with an argon laser generates approx. 4kW, so in a worst case scenario we will have to be able to cope with 12kW/room. Referring to this calculation, I told the planners that we will need 15kW of cooling capacity per microscope room. 
> 
> So far the planners offered 2 solutions for cooling:
> 
> 1) the conventional convection cooling solution:  3 big boxes at the ceiling, each with a center inlet and 4 surrounding lamellar outlets => very loud, cool air "falling down", difficult to reach homogeneous temperature distribution. 
> 
> 2) a more sophisticated version: based on roller-type fans with long textile tube outlets This solution can be combined with a diffusor covering the entire room ceiling thereby providing a more homogeneous air distribution and less noise. 
> However, to accomplish this, we will have to agree to a room height of 230cm (7.55ft). Except for our 2PH system this should not be a problem.
> I think that solution 2) could be a reasonable solution. 
> 
> Please let me know how you solved your room cooling, especially in relation to low-energy-consumption buildings with little air volume exchange.
> 
> Cheers,
> Oliver
> 
> 
> Oliver Biehlmaier, PhD | Head of Imaging Core Facility  | Biozentrum, University of Basel | Klingelbergstrasse 50/70 | CH-4056 Basel
> Phone: +41 61 267 20 73 | Email: [log in to unmask] | www.biozentrum.unibas.ch | www.microscopynetwork.unibas.ch