QUATRO AIR TECHNOLOGIES (Quatro)

Company Background

Purifier Basics

Filter Basics

Humidifier Basics

General Specifications

Sizing Charts

Filters & Filter Kits

Other Options

Warranty

Company Background

Quatro Air Technologies is a Canadian corporation established in 1990. Quatro is considered a pioneer in "micro-environmental air purification". They are experts in providing air quality solutions to various air related problems concerning both productivity and health. If you are unable to find the answer you need here please visit Quatro Air Tedchnologies' web site and then contact Gryphon to order.

Productivity - As technology is advancing, stringent air quality may be required in certain areas of a facility to alleviate various quality related problems. Typical problems can be related to dust and dirt impeding the proper operation of equipment or work activities. Other problems can be related to chemical reactions affecting productivity by lining or corroding sensitive areas of equipment.

Quatro has taken an approach to identify the contaminant and its consequential problems. In doing so we can either:
1) scrub out the contaminant in the specific room through re-circulation;
2) positively pressurize the equipment or room with purified air;
3) negatively pressurize the equipment or room with purified air;
4) or capture the contaminant at its source.

Health - Many processes emit high amounts of particulate or chemical matter into the micro-environment surrounding that process. Fine particulate can be very harmful to the lungs. Chemicals can be anywhere from a simple nuisance to toxic.

Each can be properly purified in order to create a healthy environment. In many cases, the solution will combine contaminant capture at its source and whole room purification.

Purifier Basics

Enormous quantities of particulate matter are generated from operating presses due to the high speed continuous movement of paper. Ultimately the dust will find its way into the prepress environment either through the ductwork or merely via the opening and closing of the doors between the two spaces.

The most economical way of maintaining the purity of the air in the prepress area is through the use of portable industrial grade air purifiers. Revamping the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in a building is much costlier, cannot easily conform to changed layouts, and may not solve the problem over the long term. Successful air purification depends on:
* the use of a multistage high efficiency air filters;
* achieving and maintaining a high number of air exchanges;
* positioning the air purification equipment for an appropriate airflow pattern.

High efficiency filtration requires the use of three stages of appropriate filters. The first stage must remove any large particlate. The second stage should be a deep bed filter (6 or 12 inches thick) to remove particlate missed by the first stage. The final stage filter should be no less than a 99.97% (@0.3 micron size) deep bed HEPA filter. This staged approach assures longer filter life at appropriate levels of particulate elimination.

Typically, the area between the press and prepress rooms is an extremely high traffic area and as a result particles are induced from the press roon into the prepress area. To address this constant influx of particulate matter, a greater quantity of air exchanges is required to keep up with this ingression and maintain a relatively dust free environment.

Air exchange defines the number of times per hour that a room's total air is drawn through the purifier. Typically, the higher the number of hourly exchanges, the lower the dust contamination level. As the air filters accumulate dust, the air flowing through the air filters decreases due to the restrictions in airflow. This decrease in airflow can negatively affect the hourly air exchanges to a point where the target dust levels cannot be maintained.

Airflow patterns are extremely important when selecting and positioning a purifier in a room. During installation of a standalone room air purifier it is important to remove any obstacles that might impede the air from exiting the top of the air purifier, travelling along its targeted route, and returning to the bottom of the air purifier. The ideal positioning of a standalone room air purifier is against a wall with the airflow from its exhaust grills directed towards an opposing wall.

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Filter Basics

All reputable filter manufacturers warranet their filters to a certain level of filtering ability. Therefore, the filters used by purifier manufacturers have the same inherrant ability to filter the air stream (as long as their ratings are identical). What is different among purifier manufacturers is the way the filters are engineered into the purifiers.

A poorly designed purifier will allow air to evade the filter. For example, an improperly designed filter housing may crush the filter imparing its abilities. The way the filter is held in the purifier may not be secure enough to preclude air from getting around the filter. The filter change door may not form a tight enough seal to stop air infiltration. Quatro utilizes a gravity based channel system to hold the filter securely without any clips or springs. This system will not allow the filter to move when the filter is first installed, and cannot be compromised over time, thus assuring that all air flows through the filter.

Filters get better over time. As more particulate gets captured, the air paths through the filter get smaller thus enhancing the ability of the filter to capture particles. The only way to determine when a filter needs to be changed is to sense the decrease in air movement through the filter. You should only change filters when the air volume leaving the filter is no longer sufficient to accomplish the filtering task.

Some purifier manufacturers use elapsed time to determine when a filter needs changing. A timer cannot tell the condition of the filter. Obviously, a filter in a dirty environment will need changing in a shorter time than a filter in a cleaner environment.

Quatro uses the only reliable way to determine when a filter needs changing. Quatro measures the air pressure differential between the input and output of the filter. As the particulate captured by the filter builds up, it gets harder to push air through it. Therefore, the pressure on the input side increases and the pressure on the output side decreases. When the differential between those pressures is such that the purifier can no longer do its work, the Quatro pressure sensor will signal the need for a filter change.

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Humidifier Basics

Humidity is introduced into an air purifier through the heating of water until steam is produced. The difference between purifier manufacturers is how the steam is injected into the air stream and where in the purification path that steam is introduced.

Some manufacturers simply spray the steam into the air stream after the filters. Steam is not pure water! Steam contains all the impurities that the original water contained except that the particles are now airborn. Also, the water molecules in the steam need a chance to disperse into humidity. Injecting the steam into the output of the filters runs the risk of allowing the water droplets in the steam to reach the equipment the purifier is trying to protect.

Quatro uses a patented nozzle to inject the steam into the air stream. This nozzle maximizes the probability that the steam is evenly disbursed across the entire air stream and that the water droplets in the steam are as small as possible. Quatro injects the steam before the air stream reached the filters. Therefore, any particulate injected with the steam is filtered out. Also running the steam through the filters will assure that there will be no water droplets in the purified air that reaches the equipment being protected.

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General Specifications

Quatro models can be ordered as a standalone dust only purifier (suffix "sd") or as a standalone dust purifier with humidity (suffix "sdh"), see "versions" in the table below. On special order and depending on the chemistry involved, Quatro can provide a standalone unit with odor control as well as dust purification. Quatro also provides integrated models for direct connection with specific prepress equipment (suffixs would be "id" or "idh"). Contact Gryphon for your specific application.

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Sizing Chart

If you know the cubic footage or the dimensions of the area to be cleansed and the operation runs 24 hours per day the following sizing chart will help in determining the appropriate Quatro model(s).

All model should be preceeded by "Qtr" and "AF". For example the "-500" is actually "Qtr-AF500". The numbers preceeding the "/" are the quantities of each model required.

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Filters & Filter Kits

Quatro provides a 2 year filter kit consisting of the three filter stages. The kit contains 8 1st stage filters, 2 2nd stage filters, and 1 3rd stage filter. These replacement filters are specifically designed for the Quatro purifiers and must be replaced in accordance with Quatro's recommended replacement schedule to maintain the purifiers efficiency and the room's low particulate level.

In addition, Quatro supplies 1 year replacement filter kits designed specifically for PAT, Printing Air Technologies, air purifiers. Also, for when the filters in those kits get out of balance, Quatro can supply individual filters instead of full kits.

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Other Options

Quatro has designed other options into their air purifiers such as humidifiers, odor eliminators, specially engineered conduits for connection to specific pieces of equipment. Contact Gryphon with your special requirement for a quote.

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Warranty

Quatro warrants that its air purifiers, humidifiers, filters and other consumables, are free of defects in material and workmanship for a period of 18 months from shipment provided that usage, operation, maintenance and service are in accordance with Quatro's written recommendations. The warranties shall not apply to defects in the equipment arising from repair, alterations, misuse or abuse. The warranty is also conditional upon purchaser buying only Quatro recommended filters, that such filters are purchased from Gryphon, and that the filters are replaced in accordance with Quatro's recommended filter replacement schedule.

Quatro will provide necessary parts and/or labor performed by Quatro in Montreal to repair or replace (at its option) any element of the items so warranted subject to the purchaser shipping the defective part to Quatro's plant freight prepaid. If labor is required on-site it will be charged at a reasonable rate. The foregoing warranties are in lieu of any other warranty, express or implied, including without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither Quatro nor Gryphon will be liable for any consequential, incidental or indirect damages of any kind.

Finally, if for any reason PAT is unable or unwilling to honor their 18 month warranty, Quatro has agreed to service those units. Specifically, any PAT units sold by Gryphon prior to 6/15/2002 can be serviced by Quatro under the Quatro 18 month warranty program.

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