Problem
Luggage is an extremely important component of travel. When travelers arrive after a flight they expect their luggage to be at the other end waiting for them without disturbance. Who keeps things running smoothly for passengers and are equally important components of any airline? The airline staff, such as the pilots, ticket agents and bag handlers. Bag handlers are responsible for directing luggage from the plane, onto the correct bag claim belt. If something goes wrong during this process it can lead to a multitude of holdups and some very unhappy customers. Consequently, keeping airline staff productive and comfortable when they are tasked with handling customer luggage is imperative.
Assistant Project Manager, Ryan Cox, highlighted safety as a top priority for Brandt. He explained that they knew immediately that keeping an exposed area, such as this new baggage handling area, cool in the extreme Texas heat would turn out to be a vital part of the projects success. Brandt wanted an extremely efficient and reliable means of moving air in this area so that airline employees would be able to work efficiently regardless of the temperature outside.
Solution
Brandt, being the resourceful organization that it is, began meeting with companies to find the best solution available. Through a series of demonstrations the team elected to install 20 Serco HVLS Fans in the newly constructed outbound baggage claim area.
The beauty of the Serco HVLS Fan is in its unique design, which is comprised of lightweight one-piece extruded aluminum blades to optimize fan performance yet never putting strain on the fan itself. This feature also enables the use of a smaller motor resulting in a more energy efficient fan. In addition to better performance, this light 6-blade design also creates considerably less torque compared to the 10-blade competitive fans available in the market. The Serco HVLS Fan’s lightweight design extends the life of the fans’ working parts resulting in substantially reduced wear which equates to little or no need for servicing. The fan’s six blade even spacing allows for maximum air draw. The increased energy-savings, operational efficiency and superior functionality were all features that attracted Brandt to purchase the fans.
Serco ATEC™ High Volume Low Speed Fan
“With all the challenges we wanted the best engineered fans that could move the most air, the guys get hot down here and there’s no way you can run A/C because as you can see the area is fully open, commented Ryan. “Instead we decided to run the Serco HVLS fans 24 hours a day, sounds like a lot but these fans are extremely energy-efficient, the air movement makes it bearable down here,” he added.
Result
The Serco HVLS fans move large volumes of air and produce what has been coined as the “horizontal floor jet”. This horizontal floor jet is produced when the fan creates a large cylindrical column of air that flows down to the floor and outward in all directions, it then circulates the air vertically up the walls and draws it back in a central column, where it again flows toward the floor. This unique circulation technique comes with its own benefits.
“It’s cool in here, we have workers that just walk through this area to cool off, you can really feel the air that comes off these fans it’s powerful but they don’t make any noise.” mentioned Ryan.
To read the entire case study and discover the additional benefits provided by the Serco HVLS fan click here.