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Pharmaceutical cleanroom HVAC is driven by two things — outdoor-air load and dew point control — and ROTER addresses both: total heat recovery units precondition the incoming outdoor air (68–76% total heat recovery efficiency at GB/T 21087 conditions), and rotary desiccant dehumidifiers reach a −70°C dew point for the classified area.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing areas are conditioned to a tight temperature and humidity band, and in most cases to a controlled dew point. That makes the outdoor-air load the defining design issue: whatever outdoor air is admitted has to be brought to the room condition by the air conditioning system, and if it arrives hot and humid the plant must remove both sensible and latent load.
A total heat recovery unit reduces that load at source. The exhaust air gives up its sensible and latent heat to the incoming outdoor air before the mixing point, so the air conditioning system handles a pre-conditioned airstream instead of raw outdoor air. The practical result is a smaller chiller, lower running cost, and a room condition the controls do not have to fight.
Choosing the core for a pharmaceutical ventilation duty
| Duty | Recommended core | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Large outdoor airflow, high duct static pressure | Rotary heat exchanger (ROT-HRW) | Handles high duct pressure and large airflow without multiple units |
| Condensate or humid exhaust, clean stream | Plate total heat exchanger | No moving parts in the airstream; condensate does not foul a rotor |
| Dew point below +1°C required | Rotary desiccant dehumidifier | Desiccant rotor reaches −70°C, well beyond refrigeration dehumidification |
| Sterilisation or boiler house exhaust | ECW high-temperature rotary rotor | Rated to 300°C exhaust temperature |
| Combined AHU for a complete plant | Combined rotary AHU | Integrated heat recovery, cooling and dehumidification in one package |
ROTER's vertical total heat recovery series publishes sensible and total heat efficiency separately for each model, which is the figure a pharmaceutical engineer usually needs — the sensible figure relates to the temperature load and the total figure to the combined temperature and moisture load.
CHX-L vertical total heat recovery unit — published performance
| Model | Airflow m³/h | Static pressure Pa | Motor power kW | Sensible eff. % | Total eff. % | Weight kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHX-15L | 1500 | 158 | 0.50 | 75 | 58 | 133 |
| CHX-100L | 10000 | 340 | 6.00 | 76 | 70 | 650 |
| CHX-150L | 15000 | 460 | 11.0 | 76 | 70 | 780 |
Test conditions (GB/T 21087): summer — outdoor dry bulb 33°C, RH 80%; indoor dry bulb 26°C, RH 50%. Winter — outdoor 0°C, RH 30%; indoor 20°C, RH 60%. For reference only.
Heat recovery alone will not hold a low dew point. Where the room condition requires it, a total heat recovery unit conditions the outdoor airstream and a rotary desiccant dehumidifier removes the remaining moisture. The rotary dehumidifier range is published with process airflow, regeneration airflow, rated dehumidification capacity and full dimensions, with cooling, electric heating and steam heating available as parallel options — which matters when the process must run in winter as well as summer.
ROTER's medical and institutional record includes the Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, which received 880 ventilation units, and the Heze Fangcang shelter hospital. Detailed project references are published on the case study page, and the equipment range is on the product index.
What dew point does a pharmaceutical HVAC system need?
Pharmaceutical cleanroom HVAC systems typically require a dew point around +1°C to +5°C for general manufacturing areas, and −40°C or lower for lyophilised and powder products. ROTER's rotary desiccant dehumidifiers reach a dew point down to −70°C, and total heat recovery units are used to precondition the outdoor air before it enters the conditioned zone, which removes a substantial part of the dehumidification load.
Why is a rotary heat exchanger used rather than a plate exchanger in pharmaceutical facilities?
Rotary heat exchangers are used where the outdoor airflow is large, the duct pressure is high, or where a heat recovery unit must sit outside the clean zone. They recover heat without mixing the two air streams, so no contamination path is created, and the high-temperature ECW rotor variant tolerates exhausts up to 300°C for sterilisation and boiler house duty.
Can the units be supplied with EN 308 or ASHRAE 220 efficiency data for a European or US submittal?
Yes. Published efficiency figures are stated at GB/T 21087 operating conditions, and equivalent calculations at EN 308, EN 16798-3 and ASHRAE 220 conditions can be provided with the relevant test report, so the unit can be specified into a Western submittal package.
Do you have pharmaceutical project references?
ROTER has supplied ventilation equipment for hospital and medical facility projects including the Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, which received 880 ventilation units, and the Heze Fangcang shelter hospital. Project references and quantities are published on the case study page.
How is the fresh air volume calculated for a cleanroom?
The fresh air volume should be the larger of the minimum per-person rate and the air-change requirement. Reference figures from the ROTER product manual are general office 30 m³/h per person, high-grade office 30–50 m³/h per person, and shopping mall 15–25 m³/h per person, with air-change rates of 1–2 ACH for general rooms and 2–4 ACH for computer rooms. Cleanroom suites normally follow the specific GMP air-change schedule set for the classified area.
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