Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1278896
AUGUST 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 39 filter people like to sell filters. There's really never been anybody who wanted to solve the problem. Johnson: What's it like to clean out a coil? Metropoulos: A cardinal rule with equipment is you never work on a piece of equipment while it's on. You do lock-out, tag-out. When I first saw this system, I followed that protocol and shut it down. I knew there was going to be biofilm in there based on my other experienc- es, so I asked myself, "How do you get to this coil?" The answer is that you don't. No one does. Then, I started thinking, "Why have it turned off?" Lock-out, tag-out is to protect you from mov- ing parts in hot equipment as well as voltage. When you work in the air handler, you're pro- tected because the coil acts as a protective wall. You can't get sucked through a coil; it's just moving air through. It's not high pressure or anything like that, so it's very safe. They use lock-out, tag-out because if you're on the other side, pressure washing the backside, it makes sense. I talked to the engineers about it. They said there was no way to leave the equip- ment. After an hour debating with them, they said, "Go ahead, do it, but don't tell anybody." I proved the efficiency of leaving it on by 40% on just the first time. It was key to solving the problem. Feinberg: This is captivating and very cool. As you were explaining all this, I imagined the coil was a sinus, and you're basically clearing out the congestion in the sinus. Metropoulos: That's a very good analogy. Think about it this way: the coils are the lungs of a building, and the air in that building goes through those coils in the HVAC system. That building right now has asthma. Johnson: You were talking earlier about how fine you could go with your filters, and that requires a bigger motor to push the air harder through those filters, of course. Are there filters that get down to the viral level? Metropoulos: The biofilter makes a Petri dish. In hospitals, there are two different sides: the pa- tient side with the doctors and nurses, and the mechanical side with the engineers. Those two groups don't talk to each other. The engineers are responsible for making sure the facility is open 24/7 and never shuts down. Doctors and nurses have no idea where the air is coming from. Look into a surgery center, like an oper- ating room, and they're scrubbing themselves head to toe. They're disinfecting the walls, floors, equipment, etc., and yet what about the air coming into the room? You can trace it back to the air handlers, and you would throw up if you saw that air handler. It's that dramatic. Feinberg: Where do you make these? Metropoulos: We make them ourselves in the U.S., and I'm making a point of that. I don't have to worry about any supply chain issues. It's funny because COVID-19 changes every- body's thought process on whether you really The view from inside an HVAC air handler.