CleanRoom-SmokeStudies

More recent fogger technology has been put into use, referred to as DI Water Foggers, Portable foggers and Nitrogen-Di-Water foggers. The more recent fogger technology incorporates fog volume control, velocity control of the fog output and wireless remote control, all which are important control elements to evaluate the airflow performance in a smoke study.

Of these different foggers, the Nitrogen-Di-Water foggers produce the most fog density and fog volume for smoke studies; while ultrasonic foggers produce the less fog, they are easier to operate and set up for operation in a smoke study. The four Nitrogen-Di-Water foggers compared above are the AP35, AP50, AP100 and AP150, produced in Germany by Sistema, offered by Applied Metrology. Each of these foggers operate the same with velocity control, water temperature control and fog volume control; the only difference being the volume of the liquid nitrogen Dewar at 35 L, 50 L, 100 L or 150 liters.

For discussion, we will refer to the AP35 Nitrogen-Di-Water fogger, which produces about 5 cubic meters dense fog per minute, and includes a rolling trolley for easy movement around a clean room or ISO Suite. It uses 11.5 liters water and 35 liters liquid nitrogen to produce fog over a typical 45 minute fog cycle. The AP35 Nitrogen-Di-Water fogger provides adjustable fog volume, adjustable fog velocity, and it also includes an optional wireless remote control Key FOB. The AP35 produces an dense, paper white fog at about 2-3 micron fog droplet diameter with very high fog density, where as the typical ultrasonic fogger produces larger fog droplets from 5 to 8 microns but at much lower fog density. The AP35 Nitrogen-Di-Water fogger can visualize airflow turbulence and balance airflow between rooms. The Nitrogen-Di-Water fog is generated by heating water to form water vapor, and then allowing nitrogen vapor to combine with the water vapor to form a very dense fog at much smaller droplet diameters.  Water vapor combined with Nitrogen vapor forms a 2-3 micron diameter fog vapor droplet. Liquid Nitrogen readily boils at room temperatures, producing high volume of nitrogen vapor. The older Nitrogen-Di-Water foggers of 2001 vintage had no adjustable controls, which is why the older smoke generators are being replaced with newer ultrasonic and Nitrogen-Di-Water technology with adjustable controls, making the AP35, AP50, AP100 and AP150 very effective tools in smoke studies in ISO Suites and clean rooms.

The chart above compares the ultrasonic and Nitrogen-Di-Water fogger used today in smoke studies around the world. The SMST-12 is the lower cost, entry level fogger, and used in small volumetric smoke studies such as 2×4′ airflow hoods and in fume hood airflow studies. As you go down the table, each ultrasonic and Nitrogen-Di-Water fogger shows performance attributes, which help metrology engineers and airflow technicians identify the smoke machine  that best supports their smoke study requirements.

The ultrasonic fogger with the highest fog volume per minute is the AFM40 ultrasonic fogger. It is a very effective portable fogger, quick to set up for a smoke study and has two 80mm fog outlets so that a maximum amount of pure fog is emitted for a typical smoke study in a barrier isolator or small ISO Suite airflow visualization test.  The AP35 is the next step up if fog volume, fog density and fog purity, followed by the AP50, AP100 and AP150. All of the AP series Ultrapure Foggers use DI (de-ionized) water, WFI (water for injection) or sterile water; and also uses Liquid Nitrogen to produce an ultrapure fog. The AP35 uses 35 liters Liquid Nitrogen, the AP50 uses 50 liters Liquid Nitrogen, AP100 uses 100 liters of Liquid Nitrogen, while the AP150 uses 150 liters of Liquid Nitrogen. Each of these foggers provide a Control Unit, that includes a 13.5 liter water cavity, combined with water temperature control and fog velocity control and fog volume control.

The higher the fog density, the more visual fog distance is provided, and our AP35 provides 2 times more fog density than our best AFM40 Ultrasonic Fogger. Our Nitrogen-Di-Water foggers produce the highest fog volumes with the most fog purity, combined with useful accessories to conduct smoke studies in your clean rooms and ISO suites. The AP100 Liquid Nitrogen Nitrogen-Di-Water Fogger produces 16 cubic meters a minute of dense paper white fog and provides two 5M x 80mm fog outlets, while the AP150 provides up to 24 cubic meters of dense, paper white fog per minute and offers three 80mm fog outlets. hose outputs. Our Nitrogen-Di-Water foggers are designed for high volume, dense paper white fog with controllable fog output and 12 different accessories for use in a smoke study.

Some companies and engineers do not want to use liquid nitrogen or do not have access to it. If you do not want to use liquid nitrogen,  but want high volume fog, consider the AFM40 Smoke Studies Fogger. The AFM40 is an ultrasonic fogger and provides about 2 cubic meters of pure fog per minute for about35-40 minutes through two 80mm fog outlets, providing 13-15 feet of visual airflow using the appropriate fog wands and 80mm hoses. It provides an adjustable fog volume and airflow velocity, touch pad control and wireless remote control. Alternatively, we provide our SMST-12 Smoke Studies Fogger for low cost solutions to provide airflow visualization in 2×4′ fume hoods, Bio-Safety Cabinets and Aseptic Isolators. Our ultrasonic and nitrogen foggers are priced according to fog volume produced. 

It does not make sense to buy a smoke generator unless you match the fog output to your smoke study requirements. If you do not know how much fog volume is needed for a smoke study, and if you have varying requirements for fog volume, consider the AFM40 or AFM35 Smoke Study Foggers. These foggers use ultrasonics to produce fog, thus have a simple set up sequence to conduct an airflow visualization study. Use De-ionized water, Distilled water, WFI water or sterile water, or any pure pharmaceutical water. DI-water foggers are more simple to operate but produce less fog and fog density than our Nitrogen-DI-Water foggers. Our SMST-12 Smoke Studies Fogger support airflow visualization and airflow recovery tests as defined by ISO 14644-3, B12. The AFM40 Smoke Studies Fogger is ideal for airflow visualization in clean rooms, ISO suites, medical operating rooms and sterile rooms. Contact Applied Metrology LLC at TEL: 1-720-635-3931 or 1-303-999-6837.