The retail space had lots of display cabinets (Photo 2) each with a light (Photo 3). The individual lights generated heat— enough to warm each case compartment to about 140°F (60°C)—a bunch of hot spots by anyone’s standard. So now I have a hypothesis. I bet the lights are generating enough heat to cause the cabinetry to smell. The cabinetry was some kind of “was-wood-once” composite with a “who-knows-what” finish. Then it was time to test the hypothesis. Being a Canadian, I never go anywhere without beer coolers and duct tape—it really is a cultural thing. This allows me to construct a portable environmental TM ® Steam and Hot Water “Flexible Tube” Boilers • Exclusive “Flexible Water Tube” design • Full non-prorated 25 Year Warranty protection against thermal shock • High efficiency performance • Simplified maintenance • 15 to 300 lbs. working pressure • 6 to 500 HP • Oil, Gas, Dual Fuel, Electric Contact us for complete information Photo 4: Portable Site Constructed Environmental Chamber. Duct tape holds together some foam coolers containing a lightbulb attached to an extension cord. Disassembled cabinetry is placed inside the chamber and heated to the operating temperature of the cabinets. Bryan Steam LLC — Leaders Since 1916 783 N. Chili Ave., Peru, Indiana 46970 U.S.A. Phone: 765-473-6651 • Internet: www.bryanboilers.com Fax: 765-473-3074 • E-mail: bryanboilers@iquest.net www.info.hotims.com/16018-17 BRYAN BOILERS ® chamber in the parking lot in the rear of the store (Photo 4). The environmental chamber has a “trouble light” inside of it to create heat. A portion of the cabinetry was disassembled in placed into the chamber and heated to around 140°F (60°C). This got the cabinetry to “stink.” We were able to recreate the reported odor inside the chamber (Photo 5). Now what? Source control. Getting rid of the cabinets would work but would be expensive. Rewiring the lights and replacing with LEDs would work but would also be expensive (at the time, this technology was not available to us). The solution we chose was to depressurize the cabinetry relative to the retail space using an exhaust fan vented to the outside. We drilled holes in the individual display chambers connecting them to one another creating a single pressure field. Each bank of cabinets got its own fan. We regularly store hazardous chemicals in laboratories in cabinets maintained under a negative pressure. We used the same approach here. After all, jewelry is hazardous to the pocketbook. How did we know the approach worked? The odor problems disappeared. But we never identified the specific “thing” that caused the odor. So? Who cares? The October 2008 86 ASHRAE Journal
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