Case Study 1: Electronic protection in server room
Hardware failure in electronics due to oxidative damage by corrosive gases is a gigantic hurdle for businesses relying heavily on information technology and automation. Such businesses bleed money and time in replacing and maintaining these complex and expensive electronics that control their entire process.
We were recently approached by an American multinational digital communications technology corporation to help them address electronic failure in their server rooms. These server rooms house electronic hardware worth millions of dollars used for various critical applications such as communication network testing. This company was suffering a huge capital loss in replacing the electronic hardware and also was not able to meet project deadlines because of operational glitches.
Our team visited the site for an area survey to discuss with the customer and understand the nature of the issue. We suggested a Corrosion Classification Coupon (Purafil CCC) analysis of the area to be initiated to know the type and the concentration of gases that accumulated in the indoor space. Since the customer had to resolve this issue immediately, along with Purafil Corrosion Coupons (30 days study), a demo online atmospheric corrosion monitor (Purafil OnGuard Smart) was also placed parallelly to understand the level of severity in the air.
The results proved the presence of high levels of corrosive gases in the area. This information helps us design and manufacture an appropriate filtration system to achieve the ISA class G1 environment.
As seen in the image, there was an elevated increase in copper corrosion and a steady increase in silver corrosion which proves the presence of Sulphur compounds in the air. The Purafil CCC report suggests the presence of hydrogen sulfide is expected to be in the range between 10 and 50 ppb, sulfur dioxide between 100 and 300, and chlorine between 2 and 10 ppb. This means that the corrosion levels were in ISA Class G3: Harsh as per ANSI/ISA 71.04-2013.
Now that we have detected the “miscreants”, the next step is to remove these gaseous contaminants from the indoor space and ensure there is no further contamination. ANSI/ISA 71.04-2013 suggests the level of pollutants that are allowed at different ISA classes.
The best way to achieve ISA Class G1 level is by recirculating the indoor air through chemically engineered filtration media that is stable, efficient in gas removal, durable for its intended period, and safe for the environment.
In this case, we manufactured, a recirculation system called CARE™ (Clean Air Recirculation Equipment) that recirculates the air through the Purafil chemical media at a specific air velocity. This ensures that maximum air volume is exposed to the chemical media and all the gas contaminants are removed.
Our CARE™ systems are designed to house our innovative V bank Chemical filters that contain Purafil Chemical media. In this case, we used two types of Purafil chemical media, Puracarb (PCB) and Purafil SP (PSP). PCB is an activated carbon-based chemically engineered media with proprietary binders and PSP is activated alumina impregnated with 12% Sodium permanganate and other chemical binders. PSP is the only chemical media in the market to have the highest gas removal capacity for a range of different gases. Please click on the hyperlinks to see the removal capacities. The CARE™ system air velocity is controlled by EC fans which are energy efficient and durable.
These systems were placed at strategic points to cover the vast area of 10,000 sq. ft of the server room and the area was monitored by the Purafil OnGuard Smart online corrosion monitor (supplied with the equipment) to check if the system is working efficiently. Our CARE™ systems were able to remove all the gaseous contaminants efficiently in a short period assuring our customer safety from corrosive damage.
At Ripple Effect, we provide comprehensive solutions from gas reactivity measurement, to gas-phase filtration, to continuous monitoring to control corrosion, odor, and toxic gases. If you are facing such problems or if you want to avoid such problems from occurring, please get in touch with our team.
Purafil Inc. is an American-based gas-phase filtration solution provider. They design and manufacture patented chemically engineered activated carbon-based and activated alumina-based chemical media. These media are designed to specifically remove problematic gases through a process called “Chemisorption” where the gases are adsorbed, absorbed, and rendered chemically inactive to base salts so that there is no residual off-gassing of the gases. Purafil chemical media has the highest gas removal capacity in the market which means that less media is required to remove the gases and helps us manufacture more compact equipment which saves space and is cost-effective for the customer.