Genetech’s, a pharmaceutical company’s new 50,000 sq ft. warehouse facility in Louisville, KY did not pass the Food and Drug Administration’s required Temperature Validation Tests with the originally designed HVAC system. The top levels of the pallet racking were exposed to 22.5°C air, too high a temperature for the inventory.

This was a major problem, the facility was due to open and the space was badly needed. The HVAC contractor had tried everything they could think of and had no answers for the problem short of starting over with a re-designed system. A senior facility engineer had been told of the Airius destratification systems by an Airius sales agent and suggested the use of them for this application. The HVAC Contractor was very sceptical the devices could raise the cold air levels and maintain them. Airius personnel were called in to review the situation and it was determined for this large application that 50 Airius model 25 destratification fans would be required and were air freighted at the customer’s request within 2 days.

The facility quicky agreed and the installation was a success. In spite of the fact that the destratification fans were originally developed to de-stratify heated air, and the fact that cold air naturally sinks, it can be seen by comparing the ‘Base Case’ image to the ‘Base Case With 50 Airius Fans Installed’ image that the use of the Airius fans has balanced the level of cooler air in the room to the point where the upper rack levels are no longer in jeopardy – Thermal Equalisation!

Once installed, a complete equalisation of temperature around the pallet racks was achieved, supporting literally billions of dollars of inventory from floor to ceiling meeting FDA regulations and approval.

This Airius installation allowed the warehouse to pass FDA Validation Testing and helps ensure the safety of the products for the manufacturer and the consumer. It has been reported to Airius that the temperature variance from the bottom of the 18’ racks to the top with the fans running over the last year is only 1 to 2°C.

This case is a graphic example of how the Airius destratification systems can work in air conditioned environments as well as heated environments and testifies as to how well they truly do equalise nearly 100% of the air temperature in a given space.

The results of this original installation; Airius is now specified in the next two warehouse projects, for this same pharmaceutical company.