Textile ventilation socks deliver gentle controlled ventilation

Textile ventilation socks from Euro Air UK deliver conditioned air to digital print company Digital International without draughts and with low cost of ownership. They were selected by consulting engineers J. E. Evans Associates. The 6500 m2 facility includes four large open spaces for printing, finishing, fulfilment and storage. Conditioned air, heated or cooled as required, is delivered to each space through textile ventilation systems arranged in zones that can be operated independently to allow for variable usage of the spaces. To optimise air distribution, John Evans of the consulting engineers specified a system using a combination of permeability and direction airflow through nozzles. When the ventilation socks are pressurised, conditioned air passes gently through the weave of the fabric and falls to floor level. This airflow is supplemented by nozzles in the fabric that deliver air at a higher velocity in specified directions. The weave of the fabric and the positions of the nozzles were selected to provide the required volumes of air. Each ventilation system comprises three branches served by an air-handling unit, which also introduces fresh air to the system. In finishing and fulfilment areas, the socks are circular and coloured blue to complement the company’s corporate colours. In the print area, they are D-shaped in a grey fabric to ensure there is no distortion of colour when printed materials are being inspected. In the print room, paper offcuts are drawn into an enclosed system to prevent dust and paper fragments contaminating sensitive digital machinery. They are shredded and drawn through ductwork to containers outside the print room. The air used to drive the system is filtered and returned to the print room through an additional textile ventilation system.