The Guardtech Group have opened up a partnership with dry room specialists Dry Air Ltd to take the UK Battery industry’s facility installations to exciting new heights.
The Suffolk-based cleanroom construction specialists have been installing controlled environments across a wide range of applications for 25 years now.
From Aerospace to Medical Device manufacturing, Optical provision to Pharmaceuticals, there aren’t many industries Guardtech haven’t provided cleanrooms for.
And whilst they have forayed into the world of battery tech on occasion over that time, the new arrangement to work alongside Dry Air Ltd is set to be a game-changer for both companies.
Guardtech are set to combine their overall cleanroom envelope expertise with Dry Air’s niche HVAC and sealing specialism to create a ‘dry room supergroup’.
The partnership has already borne fruit – with a stunning 60sqm dry room installation in Bristol for dry battery electrode coating.
Despite being a relatively modest facility size-wise, the project has seen Dry Air, with support from Guardtech, deliver a room that achieves remarkable results.
“It’s based on a -65C supply rate with a -40C return,” says Phil Laking, Dry Air’s Design Consultant. “During testing, whilst the space was unoccupied, we achieved -63C, which is pretty darn good. We ended up with eight grams of infiltration, which is incredibly, incredibly low.”
But how exactly do they achieve such incredible performance?
“Well, the methodology is obviously Dry Air’s intellectual property and that proprietary knowledge is part of our USP,” Laking continues.
“But we can say at the very least that it’s all down to specially engineered, advanced sealing techniques that have been tested, honed and perfected over a number of years in the industry. These enhanced sealing techniques far, far exceed the industry standard.
“The infiltration, or leakage if you like, is so incredibly minimal, it’s gone beyond three decimal places in terms of recording the data.”
But what is it that’s so special about these sealing techniques? Laking attributes “attention to detail” as one of the core tenets of the methodology.
“With our process, which is far more technical and sophisticated than standard cleanroom sealing methods, it’s all about how you build up the layers and the attention to detail you give to that,” he adds.
“So when it comes to cleanroom installations, what we do is a far more thorough and complex multi-stage process. There are more silicone beds, more sealing points and various inside secrets that we can’t divulge as well as our own propriety ducting penetrations.”
Laking and his team, who used the Bristol Battery dry room project to train the Guardtech Installation Engineers in the Dry Air methods, was keen to stress just how critical it was that their thorough process was replicated to the nth degree.
He says: “The reality is, when it comes to dry rooms and the level of complexity that’s involved, if you don’t follow our procedures, you can potentially lose air through the structure – so it’s critical that you do everything the right way in order to get that incredible low dewpoint that we achieve.
“It’s all about attention to detail and committing thoroughly to that multi-stage approach to sealing – there’s a lot more silicone in one of our dry rooms than in a standard cleanroom build.”
Given the extremely high level of sealing that the rooms have, it also means the facilities operate as ‘green solutions’ – which is ideal for potential clients looking to meet new regulations and standards pertaining to energy efficiency.
“Obviously, ultimately, the tighter the room, the less it costs to run – it doesn’t take as much energy to run. So it’s an energy efficient solution,” Laking adds.
“We pulled the room down in under 30 minutes, which for a single rotor system is completely unheard of. Normally you need half a day or so to get there and to and stabilise. If we’d utilised our dual rotor tech, we could pull a room that size down in 15-20 minutes. This allows the client to shut the unit down more frequently, so you don’t have to run it all the time out of hours and on weekends.”
Laking is excited about the future of the new Dry Air-Guardtech partnership and what it will mean for Battery technology and research, adding that there is a “greater and greater requirement for drier and drier spaces”.
And he was full of praise for the Guardtech team that worked so effectively with Dry Air to deliver that stunning project in Bristol.
“We were supported by two experienced Guardtech Installation Engineers on this project – who were extremely well versed in best practice when it comes to cleanroom installations,” he concludes. “But because this job was all about introducing them to our unique dry room sealing techniques, we used this as an opportunity to train the Guardtech team in the way we do things. So it was a great opportunity for them to learn new skills that will help to level up the teams on both the Guardtech and Dry Air sides of the partnership – which in turn elevates the provision we can offer to a wider client base.
“They worked hard and did everything we required of them – so we’re really happy with how the relationship has taken off.
“Now the Guardtech team have that training, we’re looking to forge a strong dry room turnkey partnership, where we design and manage the HVAC side of things and Guardtech build the room. That way the client gets the best of both worlds – in terms of elite-level skills and experience across the full spectrum or dry room design & build.”
