Custom 22 m³ Dry Room for the University of Bologna

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Il Disgelo designed and built for the University of Bologna a custom Dry Room of approximately 22 m³, installed at the Energy, Environment and Sea Research Centre in Marina di Ravenna, developed for research activities requiring extremely dry and controlled environmental conditions.

The solution was designed to maintain an internal temperature of approximately +25 °C and a −40 °C dew point throughout the entire environment, with a dedicated airlock for the entry of operators and equipment and an air-treatment system developed to limit moisture ingress during operating phases.

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Developed Solution

The Dry Room is built using modular insulated sandwich panels with high-density expanded polyurethane insulation and an insulated floor finished with anti-slip chequered aluminium plates.

A dedicated airlock has been integrated into the structure to allow controlled access for personnel and materials, reducing the impact of door openings on the thermo-hygrometric conditions of the main room.

The drying system uses a self-regenerating silica-gel rotor, combined with direct-expansion air treatment, pre-cooling and post-cooling coils, and air distribution through perforated ceiling ducts. The room is maintained at slight positive pressure to limit the ingress of humid air from outside.

The solution is designed to ensure:

• controlled environment with dew point down to −40 °C;
• internal temperature maintained at approximately +25 °C;
• extremely low relative humidity levels;
• uniform air distribution through perforated ducts;
• slight positive internal pressure to limit moisture infiltration;
• dedicated airlock for controlled access of operators and materials;
• automated management of air flows in the airlock;
• possibility of carrying out air-purge cycles before access;
• self-regenerating silica-gel rotor drying system;
• air treatment with pre-cooling and post-cooling;
• provision for connection to an external glove box;
• dedicated area for handling samples containing small quantities of solvents;
• continuous monitoring of temperature and dew point;
• logging of process parameters;
• remote supervision via Ethernet and VNC Viewer.

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Main Technical Data

• usable volume: approx. 22 m³;
• external dimensions: approx. 2540 × 3740 × 2610 mm;
• internal dimensions of main room: approx. 2400 × 3600 × 2470 mm;
• internal dimensions of airlock: approx. 1200 × 1400 × 2470 mm;
• internal temperature: +25 °C;
• temperature stability: ±1.5 °C;
• dew point: −40 °C throughout the entire environment;
• relative humidity: approx. 0.4% RH;
• humidity stability: ±1%;
• internal pressure: approx. +5 Pa;
• insulation: expanded polyurethane, approx. 70 mm thickness;
• insulation density: approx. 42 kg/m³;
• floor: insulated with anti-slip chequered aluminium finish;
• clear door opening: approx. 900 × 1200 mm;
• refrigeration unit: semi-hermetic Dorin compressor, approx. 7.5 HP;
• refrigerant: R134A;
• air treatment: AHU with pre-cooling, post-cooling and dedicated filtration;
• drying system: self-regenerating silica-gel rotor;
• absolute humidity of dried air: down to approx. 0.05 g/kg;
• internal lighting: LED, approx. 500 lux;
• power supply: 400 V ±10%, 3PH + N + PE, 50 Hz;
• maximum installed power: approx. 55 kW, plus the power available for electrical sockets;
• control: touch panel and PLC with PID logic;
• data logging: CSV files exportable via USB;
• supervision: Ethernet and VNC Viewer.

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Result

The project enabled the University of Bologna to implement a very-low-humidity research environment, designed to maintain a stable −40 °C dew point and controlled conditions during experimental activities.

The integration of an airlock, rotor-based drying system, perforated air distribution, controlled positive pressure, and provisions for glove-box connection and sample handling makes it possible to carry out flexible activities on moisture-sensitive materials while maintaining continuity and stability of the environmental conditions.