Controlled environments are used in a range of industries and businesses, whether you realise it or not, and they are vital to specific production processes which can impact our everyday lives. But what are the types of environmental control and their uses?
What Is Environmental Control?
Environmental control refers to the regulation and measurement of specific parameters. In controlled environments, also referred to as critical environments, these are designed to the specific requirement of a business or customer.
A wide range of industries utilise environmental control, including agriculture and growing, food production, medical and pharmaceutical, automotive and aeronautical, testing and more.
Types of Environmental Control
In controlled environments, there are a range of aspects which can be controlled and monitored to create the internal conditions required by your business, industry, or process.
Temperature Control
Temperature controlled rooms can encompass everything from walk-in fridges and walk-in freezers to ambient areas and warm rooms. Cold rooms are widely used, particularly in the food and drink industry for the storage of food and drink products.
Temperature controlled rooms and cold rooms can maintain a range of temperatures:
• Walk-in fridges, also known as walk-in chillers: walk-in fridges maintain positive temperatures of +1°C and +8°C
• Ambient areas: generally maintain temperatures between +18°C and +22°C
• Warm rooms: temperatures above +15°C
• Walk-in freezers, also known as freezer cold rooms: walk-in freezers maintain negative temperatures from -0°C to -40°C
• Extreme low temperature rooms: below -40°C
• Ultra-low temperature rooms: below -80°C
Walk-in fridges and walk-in freezers are most versatile in their uses and are found more commonly in businesses. Ambient areas are often used in pharmaceutical industries; warm rooms can be used for curing foods, growing, drying products, testing and more; extreme low temperature and ultra-low temperatures are often used in cryogenics and testing.
Atmospheric Control
Atmospheric control is the control of anything in air, including air flow, air cleanliness, air locks, and gas levels within the air. Examples of atmospheric controlled environments are:
• Cleanrooms: designed to control the cleanliness of the air and adhere to strict classifications measured by the amount of particles per cubic meter of air.
• Compounding chambers: used to compound pharmaceuticals and drugs, in sterile and non-sterile chambers
• Hyperbaric chambers: regulating the level of oxygen in the room, these are used in medical procedures and processes
Humidity Control
Humidity control is commonly used in growing plants and produce. Plants generally like a higher ambient level of humidity – ambient temperature humidity is 20°C with 50% relative humidity, but plants commonly like 50 to 80% relative humidity for optimal growth.
There are different types of humidification – including evaporative, ultrasonic, and steam – which create humidity in different ways and quantities. Some require treated water to prevent blocking pipework and other issues.
Pressure Control
There are two forms of pressure control – positive pressure and negative pressure.
• Positive pressure is often used in cleanrooms and segregated areas to prevent contaminants entering the cleanroom.
• Negative pressure is also used in cleanrooms and segregated rooms, but to stop contaminants from leaving the area.
Some applications have varying air pressures to control contamination – this is easier if the air temperature is the same throughout the controlled environments.
Light Control
Light controlled environments can have a range of variations and designs dependent on the specifications of the business and its processes. For example:
• Basic on / off control
• Timed lighting
• Varying intensity lighting
• Lighting to replicate the rising and setting of the sun
•Different colour lighting systems
• & more!
Light control can be used to impact that yield of various produce and shorten growing times.
MTCSS can design and build a wide range of controlled environments, from cold rooms and ambient rooms to atmospheric and humidity controlled rooms, our expert team will work with you to design the perfect controlled environment for your application.
If you’d like to discuss your environmental control project, or request a no obligation quote, get in contact with the team today! Call us on 01886 833381, email us at sales@mtcss.flywheelsites.com, or fill in an enquiry form below!
