When we were children, we thought: when we be led in TZUM (Central Department Store) to play with the air at the entrance. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about – I am speaking for air curtains in the antechambers of the store.
Air curtains are devices that are most often placed at the openings (doors, passageways or technological openings), which often or for long period of time remain open, conterminous with external air or with premises with different temperatures. They provide an air barrier between the two areas, not allowing the exchange of air between them. Thus they help to keep the parameters of the air in the premise, in such a way undoubtedly contribute to the energy efficiency of the building.
During the winter, the heated indoor air is less dense than cold outside air. This raises specific differential pressure in the opening. The movement of air in both directions is much more intense when the temperature difference is higher. Without air curtain that fact would have an instant effect on the climatic conditions in the premise.

Construction

The air curtain can be compact equipment ready for installation, or be incorporated in the elements of a building. The most commonly found curtains are that pumped air from the top down, but they can supply air laterally or from the bottom upwards, depending on technological requirements.
The curtains generally include a metal corpus provided with a set of fans (2), the number of which depends on the length of the equipment. Depending on the purpose and planned installations on the site, they can have water or electrical heater or to be without heating.
The curtain sucked the air from the premise (4), after which this air passes through the heater (3) – a heat exchanger, if there is such one. Pumping of air going through a long and narrow opening with a constant cross-section (1) and with the initial speed (measured in the near vicinity of the discharge opening) of 8 ÷ 20 m / s.

	GENERAL COMPONENTS OF AIR CURTAIN
	1. Discharging diffuser
	2. Pressure fan
	3. Electrical / water heat exchanger
	4. Sucking grille

Application

Central entrances of shopping malls, hotels and restaurants, supermarkets, cinemas, theaters, public and administrative buildings, hospitals, entrance foyers of gymnastics rooms, banks, swimming pools, etc., are just some of the places where air curtains are applicable. In industrial buildings, the curtains are used to input ramps, expeditionary openings, passages between production areas with different microclimates, dryers and refrigerating halls, greenhouses and warehouses.

Ticket offices	Hair – dressing salon	Restaurants	Shops	Hotels	Open counters
Buildings	Auto service center	Warehouses	Truck service center	Ticket desks	Petrol stations

Choice

When selecting the air curtains the following conditions must be taken into consideration:
– Size of the opening / door passageway /;
– The temperature difference between the two zones;
– Purpose of the premise.
The air curtains are produced with a length of 1 m, 1.5 m and 2 m, enabling installation of several curtains sequentially so as to cover larger doors or openings. It is necessary the length of the slot through which the air shall be supplied to be equal or greater than the width of the door in order to ensure the preservation of parameters of the air in the premise.
Important requirement as well is the length of the airflow to be greater than the height of the opening.
As a rule, the air curtains are mounted on the inner wall (in case of external openings) or on the side of the premise that is warmer. In case of refrigeration chambers, the curtains are installed above the entrance to the chamber on the side of a warmer room.

Modes

We present you range of air curtains of Spanish company Soler & Palau:

Cold curtains

COR F models are 1 and 1.5 meters in length, dealing only with internal air and are designed for commercial and public buildings. They are equipped with tangential fans of high-performance and the outlet speed of 10.5 m / sec. of the diffuser ensures the establishment of an effective barrier preventing of energy loss through the open doors. Their maximum height for installation is 4 meters. They are used for isolation of open stalls or open shops.

Electric air curtains

The models COR N are again of 1 or 1.5 m in length, as they are working with internal air, but if necessary, the embedded electrical heaters include. They are suitable for shops, entrance foyers of public and commercial facilities. Highly effective dual-speed tangential fans allow to switch on lower speed when increase of the temperature is required. The power of the electrical heater depends on the specific model, and may be from 3 to 9 kW.
COR IND M are designed for any type of industrial doors, passageways, etc., These air curtains are available in two sizes – 1 and 1.5 meters – and can be installed sequentially. The output speed is 12 m / s.

Curtains with water heat exchanger

Air Curtains of Series COR NW with integrated water heat exchanger are intended for the installation on a height of up to 4 m in a variety of public and commercial buildings. They allow installation of several successive curtains, which makes them suitable for installation on the doors with any length of openings. Tangential fans of high-performance provide low levels of noise and ensure a high flow rate of the air. This creates an effective air barrier. This type of air curtains, require connecting the heat exchanger to the central heating or air conditioning.
Industrial air curtains Series COR IND mounted to a height of up to 10 m. In order to apply to any openings in industrial premises, they are developed in two sizes, allowing again to be installed in series to cover the required length. The flow rate of the outlet air reaches 20 meters per second. Providing of heat carrier for the heat exchanger of air curtain becomes through the heating or air conditioning installation of the site.
Since 2012, “TANGRA” Company offers air curtains for revolving doors. The curtains are produced, depending on the size and radius of the door. The curtains are with electric heater and perfectly fit to any new or existing revolving doors. The most common application of them are office buildings and shopping centers (read more about these curtains HERE).