Benefits
Modern evaporative cooling systems use the natural adiabatic process to efficiently regulate indoor air conditions while minimising energy use. With the ability to deliver powerful cooling from minimal electricity, they offer a cost-effective solution for air handling units. There are three primary in-duct cooling strategies—direct, indirect, and exhaust air—each designed to optimise performance based on system design and climate.
Direct cooling efficiency
Adds humidity directly to the incoming air stream to lower temperature and boost cooling performance in AHUs.
Indirect cooling power
Uses humidified exhaust air to transfer cool energy through a heat recovery system without adding moisture to the supply air.
Exhaust air optimisation
Recovers cooling energy from humidified exhaust air to pre-cool incoming air, reducing load on mechanical chillers.
In-duct evaporative cooling
Direct evaporative cooling: powerful adiabatic cooling with low energy demand
Die direkte Verdunstungskühlung sorgt für eine hocheffiziente Temperaturabsenkung, indem Feuchtigkeit direkt in den einströmenden Luftstrom eingebracht wird. Dieser adiabatische Prozess senkt die Zulufttemperaturen und verbraucht dabei nur einen Bruchteil der Energie, die herkömmliche Kühlsysteme benötigen. Er eignet sich ideal für Lüftungsgeräte in industriellen, gewerblichen oder missionskritischen Umgebungen, in denen sowohl die Kühlleistung als auch der Feuchtigkeitsausgleich von entscheidender Bedeutung sind. Die Kanalbefeuchter von Condair gewährleisten eine präzise Regelung und einen zuverlässigen Betrieb auch in Anwendungen mit hohen Anforderungen.
Indirect evaporative cooling: boost efficiency without compromising humidity control
Indirect evaporative cooling allows facilities to reduce air temperatures without adding moisture to the conditioned space—making it a perfect fit for environments that require tight humidity parameters. By pre-humidifying the external air before it passes through the heat recovery unit, Condair’s systems enhance heat exchange efficiency and extend the operating range of your AHU. This strategy supports year-round performance improvements, even when ambient temperatures rise, while keeping energy use remarkably low.
Exhaust air evaporative cooling: energy recovery that reduces mechanical load
Exhaust air evaporative cooling reclaims energy from the exhaust airstream to pre-cool fresh intake air through a heat recovery unit. This method decreases the burden on chillers or DX systems, cutting both energy consumption and peak demand. Condair’s evaporative technology provides consistent performance across a variety of climate conditions, offering an effective, sustainable way to retrofit efficiency into existing ventilation and cooling systems.
Discover Condair in action
Weatherite, UK
When Weatherite needed to develop an innovative cooling solution that didn™t rely on man-made refrigerants, it turned to Condair™s adiabatic cooling expertise. The partnership resulted in Weatherite™s innovative AdTec-D direct cooling system, which is now a highly proven free air-cooling unit, used by leading telecoms and data centre clients.
Facebook / Meta, Sweden
This data centre in Lulea Sweden is one of the world™s most efficient and sustainable data centres. It is powered with locally generated hydro-electric energy and uses the cold Nordic air to cool the servers that store Facebook users˜ photos, videos, comments and likes.
Condair evaporative humidifiers add up to 22,800 litres per hour to the air in the penthouse ventilation systems to maintain the humidity to ASHRAE standards across the data halls.
Condair evaporative humidifiers add up to 22,800 litres per hour to the air in the penthouse ventilation systems to maintain the humidity to ASHRAE standards across the data halls.
Microsoft, Ireland
Microsoft Dublin uses an "open air cooling" system rather than mechanical chillers to maintain the low internal temperatures required around its servers. Fresh air is continuously introduced into the building and mixed with recirculated indoor air.
35 Condair evaporative humidifiers provide up to 8°C of energy-efficient evaporative cooling to its huge data rooms. This combined use of fresh air and evaporative cooling has enabled the data centre to eliminate the need for mechanical cooling for 95% of the year.
35 Condair evaporative humidifiers provide up to 8°C of energy-efficient evaporative cooling to its huge data rooms. This combined use of fresh air and evaporative cooling has enabled the data centre to eliminate the need for mechanical cooling for 95% of the year.
A cool recovery with Konvekta
The Condair ME evaporative humidifier is being used by energy recovery specialists, Konvekta, as one of its standard adiabatic cooling solutions. As an example, a recent installation at a clinic in Tyrol, Austria, resulted in a confirmed annual energy recovery across the Konvekta systems of 92% for the building. A single Condair ME humidifier contributed more than 60,000kWh/a of cooling during this period from just 3,800kwh/a of consumed electricity.
Apple Campus, Cupertino
Cupertino, California, located close to San Francisco, is home to the headquarters of American technology company Apple. The building was designed by British architect Norman Foster, who realized the idea of an oversized ring in connection with the former Apple Campus at Infinite Loop No. 1 in Cupertino.
At a diameter of almost half a kilometre (461 m), the building complex offers a gigantic usable area of 260,000 m2 and space for 12,000 employees. The ring contains a 130,000 m2 park with rest areas, cafés, sports facilities and a rainbow-coloured festival stage, which was inaugurated by Lady Gaga in 2018. Powered entirely by renewable energy,
the building features a 17-megawatt rooftop solar energy system and energy-efficient evaporative cooling from Condair.
At a diameter of almost half a kilometre (461 m), the building complex offers a gigantic usable area of 260,000 m2 and space for 12,000 employees. The ring contains a 130,000 m2 park with rest areas, cafés, sports facilities and a rainbow-coloured festival stage, which was inaugurated by Lady Gaga in 2018. Powered entirely by renewable energy,
the building features a 17-megawatt rooftop solar energy system and energy-efficient evaporative cooling from Condair.
Frequently asked questions
In which environments or applications is in-duct evaporative cooling most effective?
What is in-duct evaporative cooling and how does it work in air handling units (AHUs)?
What maintenance or operational considerations should be addressed when deploying in-duct evaporative cooling?
Get free expert advice
If you want to explore your options for humidity control, Condair's expert sales engineers will visit your site, review your project and talk you through their recommendations.
Alternatively, if you would prefer a call or online meeting, our team are always happy to discuss possible solutions and offer free technical advice.
You may also be interested in
Custom evaporative systems
Looking for a custom evaporative system designed precisely for your unique application? Condair’s expertise in developing tailored solutions means you get a system that maximizes efficiency, fits seamlessly within your space, and meets your specific performance goals. Whether it’s for industrial, data center, commercial or other specialized environments.
Condair ME
The Condair ME provides low energy humidification and evaporative cooling to an air handling unit or duct. A single unit can provide up to 1,080kg/hr of humidification and 740kW of evaporative cooling to an air stream while operating on less than 1kW of electricity.
This system is designed with advanced hygiene technologies, including aerosol-free humidity control and optional UV water treatment.
Kuul FirePro
Kuul FirePro™ Evaporative Media is a cutting-edge solution engineered to deliver unparalleled performance and efficiency in cooling systems, especially in the high temperature environments found in Data Centers.
Built to withstand the most demanding environments, Kuul FirePro is engineered using the highest-quality inorganic materials and a proprietary design and manufacturing process. FirePro’s unique construction ensures exceptional durability, allowing the media to deliver consistent and reliable performance over extended periods of time. FirePro boasts the lowest pressure drop on the market, resulting in significantly reduced energy consumption and operational costs.
Kuul FirePro sets a new standard in evaporative media technology, ensuring reduced power usage effectiveness (PUE) and maximizing the longevity of your cooling system. FirePro meets rigorous quality standards and is ISO and UL900 flammability classified, complying to international benchmarks for performance and safety.