High-efficiency electronic filters have been supplied to the Grand Hyatt Hotel project by Sameer Abbas General Trading, a member of the SAT Group of companies.

The Dubai-based trading firm deals exclusively with air-conditioning, refrigeration, plumbing, air and water treatment and heat recovery equpment and cooling towers.

The company says it specialises in air treatment and has excellent equipment including electronic and ozone machinery to undertake professional jobs. The electronic ioniser has proven to be ideal for air treatment, it adds.

The company supplied electronic filters manufactured by the US-based Trion for the kitchen exhausts and meeting rooms at the hotel.

The company is the exclusive distributor for Trion air purifying products in the UAE.

"Trion has more than 50 years of experience in manufacturing air purifying products," says business development manager Salah Khalili. "They are of special relevance to the Gulf and the Middle East region because of the high ratio of pollutants and dust particles in the air.

"Our company is contributing to the preservation and protection of the indoor environment in the country as Trion products also feature germicidal capabilities - thus providing a healthy lifestyle for the population. Indoor pollutants are a major cause of asthma ands airborne disease and by keeping indoor air clean, one can reduce the risk of getting infected with these diseases."

SAT exports Trion products to the Gulf and other Middle East countries and has attained very good references in the UAE such as the Grand Hyatt Hotel Dubai, which is one of the first to use Trion air cleaning products. It has also supplied to the Meridien Hotel, Al Sundoos Meridien Hotel, Emirates Hills, Al Rawabi Dairy, Jumerah Beach Hotel and Dubai airport.

There are four categories of Trion products. The first comprises electronic air purifiers for residential and commercial use such as houses, offices, hospitals, restaurants, bars and smoking rooms. The second category includes electrostatic air cleaners for light industrial applications such as small factories as well as small kitchen exhausts and small buildings. The third category includes electrostatic air cleaners for heavy industrial applications such as large factories as well as huge kitchen exhausts and shopping centres. The fourth category encompasses media filters for commercial and industrial applications for dust collection.

Highlighting the special features of electronic filters, Khalili says: "Large particles are trapped by a mechanical pre-filter while small particles continue through the unit to a collecting section where they are attracted to a series of earthed plates. The polluted particles are held in this section until washed away during cleaning.

"The size of airborne particles is measured in microns (one micron is 1/25,000 inch or .001 mm in diameter). Typically, a mechanical filter will collect particles of 5 microns size and upwards, such as cement dust, pollens, fly ash and bacteria. However, a Trion electronic air purifier will collect particles down to .01 micron in size. So efficient is the Trion electronic air purifier that up to 99 per cent of airborne impurities that enter the unit are removed."

Last year, SAT launched the Infinity modular air purifier cell, a patented invention of Trion. These cells are designed to replace media filters in air handling units.

"It is a next-generation commercially-engineered electrostatic air-purification system that gives the power and performance of an industrial-designed system with the flexibility and efficiency of a commercially-sized unit. The Infinity easily adapts to air handling systems used in airports, arenas, high-rise office buildings, hospitals, hotels, institutions, indoor stadiums, malls, museums, schools and theatres, to collect various atmospheric contaminants.

"The new modular electrostatic cell is a hybrid between commonly-used electronic air cleaners applied to ductwork and large expensive industrial units. It is low-cost and highly adaptable for retrofit in today's commercial HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) systems - the only known technology of its kind.

"Trion engineers have developed a unique innovative system with a modular, self-aligning and locking power distribution system, which means it's quick and easy to install with no field wiring or special cabinetry required.

"The Infinity modular air purifier cell is designed to replace traditional media or bag filters. Unlike traditional media filters whose efficiency changes over their useful life, the Infinity reaches peak efficiency immediately upon installation and sustains a constant and consistent high level of air purification (up to 95 per cent ASHRAE 52.1).

"The Infinity maintains a static pressure of 0.25 inches of water (62.3 Pa), resulting in virtually unobstructed airflow throughout the HVAC system, thus reducing electrical consumption by demanding up to 50 per cent less fan motor HP. Additionally, lower static pressure means less system noise and vibration. The combination of higher useful life filter efficiency and lower system static pressure is a revolutionary breakthrough in IAQ and energy savings.

"Additional savings may also be achieved by more efficient cleaning of the system air, which keeps the cooling coil cleaner, thus improving the heat transfer surface area. Therefore, the overall energy savings can be increased due to the reduced demand on heating and cooling.

"A standard media filter is catalogued at a higher efficiency than the actual start-up efficiency. Therefore, for a given amount of time after start-up, the media filter efficiency operates below the catalogued efficiency. On the other hand, Trion's Infinity modular air purifier cell operates at a constant level of efficiency (up to 99 per cent) throughout the annual cycle."

The SAT Group has been providing premium products to the market for over two decades.

The group has now been penetrating the industrial field. Sister company Sat Insulation Materials Industry, a new venture, has been established to produce pre-insulated panels for air ducts or building insulation. Sat Ozone A/C Systems Supplies Manufacturing Company produces high quality flexible air ducts in different sizes and materials under the brand name Satflex.